J.K. ZEMAN
From 1978 to 1986, the CBC broadcast a weekly series of one-hour radio programs under the overall title of “Celebration”. The subject-matter was religious faith, but they never attempted to proselytize or to preach; nor did they ever use their air-time to broadcast services from churches or temples — it was assumed that most worshippers would attend such services in person, if they could, and would regard a radio transmission of the services as a poor substitute for attendance.
By contrast, what the programs did try to do was to reflect the various ways in which religious faith has expressed itself, in the active and the contemplative life, in liturgy, literature, music, drama, and the other arts, in examination of theological and social matters, and in reconstruction of historic events. Materials were drawn from the major religious traditions, and some minor ones, both past and present; and new materials were commissioned from contemporary authors, composers, and thinkers. This made for a great diversity of form: there were, for example, performances of religious compositions and plays; there were readings of religious poetry and fiction; there were scripted documentaries about important religious personalities and events in the past, tape documentaries about pressing issues in modern religious life, and panel discussions of such issues.
That diversity gave the series broad audience appeal. Primarily it appealed to believing listeners, Christian, Jewish, and other. But because of the high quality of the content, artistically and intellectually, it also appealed strongly to many listeners who had no religious beliefs. Because of this double appeal, it built up an audience of significant size: in fact, towards the end of its eight-year run, its audience response was higher than that of any other series on the network. However, in that connection, it should be noted that no attempt was made to seek higher ratings for the sake of ratings themselves: the high ratings were simply an incidental by-product of the quest for excellence. There is, in this, a lesson that clearly has not been learnt by CBC management in subsequent years: nowadays, the bean-counters in charge water everything down in the quest for ratings, with shoddy results; it is hard to avoid the conclusion that this reflects their own low level of taste and ideals — to put it bluntly and colloquially, their collective intelligence isn’t worth a hill of beans. What they seem to have lost sight of is the CBC mission, which has nothing to do with the Easy Listening so beloved of the private stations, and everything to do with the provision of a rich and challenging alternative.
It must be conceded, of course, that good creative work costs money, and that the CBC budget has been woefully shrunk, over the last forty years, by a succession of governments that care little for cultural programs and even less for programs of commentary voicing independent criticism of Ottawa. But even with a shrinking budget, creative minds can still find ways to do self-respecting work. When. “Celebration” premiered, it was funded well enough to mount large-scale musical programs with orchestra and chorus and soloists, or drama with large casts. Later, when its budget was cut in half (as were budgets for other series), there was no need to dilute the quality of the content: that could be maintained by choosing only materials which required smaller forces. This adjustment, unfortunately, meant a reduction in the number of authors, composers, and performers who could be employed, and that had disturbing implications, then and even more so today, for the cultural well-being of Canada; but at least the listeners continued to be served with programs that could be taken seriously.
Throughout its eight-year life, “Celebration” was lucky to receive moral support from two executives who were an anomaly in management circles, in that they clung to an old-fashioned view of CBC’s proper function as custodian of everything established and everything progressive in the artistic and political culture of Canada. Support was also forthcoming from listeners, who wrote in with comments and inquiries. One of the most valuable forms of support, though, was that given by the CBC’s Religious Advisory Committee. This was a group of inter-faith leaders who undertook to listen to the Corporation’s religious broadcasts and to respond, in an annual meeting, with constructive criticism and advice.
During those years, there were four notable members of the Committee whose responses were especially valuable: the Right Reverend Howard Hunt, Bishop of the Anglican Church; Sister Veronica O’Reilly, General Superior of the Community of St Joseph; Rabbi Jordan Pearlson, Founding Rabbi of Temple Sinai in Toronto; and the Reverend Doctor Jerold Knox Zeman, Professor of Church History at Acadia University and sometime Moderator of the Baptist Church. All four of these people were assiduous listeners and benevolent critics. They brought to the meetings a fund of knowledge and experience, and a quality of intellect and sensibility that was a refreshing oasis in the cultural desert of the institutional boardroom. Program producers, attending the meetings, were mightily encouraged by this generous feedback: it validated their work, and it strengthened their hand in resisting the apostles of mediocrity.
The CBC was especially fortunate to have recruited Dr Zeman to serve as a member. Born and raised in Czechoslovakia, he came to Canada for post-graduate study shortly after the Communist takeover of his country in 1948. Remaining here, he was ordained as a Baptist minister, and served his Church devotedly, both at the national level and locally as a loving pastor. A distinguished scholar, he became the world’s foremost expert on the Protestant reform movements of the late Middle Ages. As a teacher, he was beloved by his students and cherished by his colleagues. But for all his accomplishments, for all his public esteem, he remained to the end of his days a man of profound modesty, immense charm, transparent sincerity, and unfailing warm-heartedness. In short, he was a good Christian; and he lived his entire life as an unswerving pilgrimage to God.
