If you travel by car on the road between Whenuakite and Cooks Beach in February, you miss what is often referred to as the sound of silence.
During my summers living on the Coromandel, I would often bike the round trip from Whitianga to Ferry Landing and take in everything the district had to offer.
At one particular point on the road, even with Spotify in my ears, the sound of crickets was so overwhelming that whatever I was listening to was drowned out.
Which is why I always smile when people use the phrase “the sound of crickets” to describe silence. Anyone who has stood among them knows there is nothing quiet about a chorus of crickets.
Twelve months ago, a small and enthusiastic team sat down with an idea: a daily online news site called CVNZ News.
Our goal was simple. We wanted to create a publication unlike anything else in New Zealand, one that reported the news through a biblical lens while remaining relevant to everyday Christians living in a rapidly changing culture.
We wanted stories that were current, thoughtful, challenging and distinctly Christian. Stories that covered both the secular world and the life of the Church.
Twelve months later, after countless hours of writing, editing, publishing and promoting, we believe we have accomplished that goal by God’s grace.
So what does all of this have to do with crickets?
Because despite all the effort, when it comes to engagement from much of the Christian community, the sound has been remarkably familiar.
Crickets.
Over the past year we have contacted churches, Christian organisations and Christian-owned businesses across New Zealand. We have promoted the publication through every avenue available to us. We have asked for neither large sums of money nor grand commitments.
In many cases we have simply asked for involvement.
Send us a testimony. Tell us what God is doing in your community. Share a milestone. Contribute an opinion piece. Forward a photograph. Let us know about an outreach event. Even send a brief note acknowledging an email.
The response?
Mostly silence.
Not hostility. Not opposition. Not disagreement.
Silence.
That reality raises a question that needs to be asked.
If Christians will not tell their own stories, who will?
If churches will not share what God is doing in their communities, where will those testimonies be heard?
If a Christian news platform cannot attract the participation of Christians, does the Christian community actually want a Christian voice in the public square?
These are uncomfortable questions, but after twelve months they are fair questions.
We live in a time when many Christians lament the loss of Christian influence in our culture. Yet influence does not disappear overnight. It fades when voices fall silent and when opportunities to engage are ignored.
CVNZ News was never intended to be “our” project. It was intended to be a platform for the wider Christian community. A place where churches, ministries, businesses and believers could share their stories, celebrate victories, address challenges and contribute to the conversation.
The invitation remains open.
But a platform only works when people choose to stand on it.
For the past year, a small team has continued to write, publish and persevere because we believe New Zealand needs a credible Christian news voice. We still believe that.
The question is whether the wider Christian community believes it too.
Because if it does, now would be a good time to show it.
And if it doesn’t, then perhaps the loudest thing we have heard over the past twelve months has not been the sound of crickets.
It has been the sound of opportunity passing by.