In this week’s New York Times Magazine, there’s an article profiling Larry Ross, who is described as “arguably the top public relations man for Christian clients in America.” Some of his famous clients include Billy Graham and Rick Warren (author of the best-seller The Purpose Driven Life). Ross has also worked on P. R. campaigns for the “Left Behind” series of movies, and for Mel Gibson’s “Passion of Christ.”

A workaholic who puts in over 100 hours a week at times, Ross has some interesting insights into using public relations to promote religion:

Ross characterizes part of his job as finding the sweet spot where faith and the culture intersect, because religion on its own often isn’t enough, as he sees it, to generate mainstream press. He offers his handling of [bestselling author] T. D. Jakes as an example. Today Jakes is the pastor of the Potter’s House in South Dallas, one of the fastest-growing churches in the country, with 30,000 members; he is also behind the “Woman, Thou Art Loosened” novel, film and gatherings, and he created the Metroplex Economic Development Corporation, which sponsors homeownership conferences and organizes training sessions for would-be entrepreneurs. After listening to hours and hours of the pastor’s sermons, Ross realized that what might appeal to a broader audience were Jakes’s efforts to economically empower African-American youth — Jakes was a business story, in other words. Not lon after that, Jakes landed a Page 1 profile in the Wall Street Journal. It was the preacher’s first major national exposure.

Are you religious liberals out there taking notes? Are you out there looking for “the sweet spot where faith and the culture intersect, because religion on its own [may not] generate mainstream press”? Now go read the article; it will give you some fine ideas to think about.