Empowering the Church to

TRANSFORM CULTURE THROUGH MEDIA

Influence Lab News AND Updates

Thousands Impacted and New Opportunities Opened—Brazil Update 2023

When the invitation first came in for Phil and Kathleen Cooke to speak in Brazil, we knew the trip would offer great potential to train Brazilian pastors and Christian business leaders. Still, the full scale of the impact was far greater than we could ever hope or...

A Dream to Help Pastors and Leaders in Indonesia

One of the greatest needs of Indonesia is more mature spiritual leaders1 and a new translation of Phil Cooke’s book, Maximize Your Influence—How to Make Digital Ministry Work for Your Church, Your Ministry, and You, is a catalyst toward that growth. The Indonesian...

Amsterdam2023 Update – An International Gathering of Ministry Leaders

Phil and Kathleen Cooke were thrilled to be in Amsterdam this June for Amsterdam2023, an Empowered21 historic global gathering of leaders focused on evangelism. Christine Caine (A21), Rick Warren (Saddleback Church), Sam Rodriguez (New Season Church), Bobby Gruenewald...

Global Opportunities Expand as MEDIAlliance International and The Influence Lab Announce New Partnership

A new alliance between MEDIAlliance International and The Influence Lab offers expanded opportunities to strengthen and train Christian pastors and media leaders in global settings. Los Angeles, CA (May 23, 2023)— The power of partnership is being realized as...

Influence Women Expands from Hollywood to Film Production Hubs Across Nation

This past year has been a year of exploding growth for Influence Women. With The Influence Lab co-founder Kathleen Cooke leading the way, this branch of The Influence Lab is mentoring women around the world in their careers in the arts and entertainment industry....

Excellence Required—Equipping Christian Communicators in Amsterdam, Brazil and India

Excellence. In a day when Disney, Netflix and other online video platforms compete for viewer attention, pastors and their media teams are understanding the greater need for excellence in their outreach. The Influence Lab is responding to the call to come and assist...

Influence Women at NRB 2023—Hollywood Decentralized

Are you attending NRB 2023 in Orlando? If you’re a woman working in media, entertainment, arts, music or leadership, here’s a special Influence Women event you won’t want to miss! Hollywood Decentralized: Why You Don’t Have to Live in LA to be a Female Filmmaker...

Translation of Phil Cooke’s “Maximize Your Influence” Equips Russian Evangelical Pastors in Time of War

Look how God is using the Russian translation of Phil's book! Here's the official press release of the new developments - all made possible by the generous partnership of those who are joining with us in the mission of The Influence Lab to train and equip pastors in...

Impact – GKPN South Africa Trip and Russian Translation Project Update

Your partnership is having a global impact! Phil and Kathleen Cooke traveled to South Africa this month to participate in a gathering of marketplace and ministry leaders as part of the Global Kingdom Partners Network (GKPN). Through these meetings, they were able to...

Do Not Travel: The Increasing Importance of the Russian Translation Project

You Can Still Make a Difference On February 12, 2023, the U.S. Embassy issued a travel advisory for Russia: Do not travel.1 They’ve also told U.S. citizens to leave Russia immediately. "U.S. citizens residing or traveling in Russia should depart immediately," the U.S....

THE VISION

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At The Influence Lab, we believe it’s time to change the perception of Christianity in today’s media-driven culture. To make that happen, we’re mobilizing a powerful global strategy to teach and train the next generation of pastors and leaders how to effectively use media to share the gospel in today’s digital age.

Founded by media experts Phil and Kathleen Cooke, The Influence Lab focuses on regions like Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and South America, while also creating a pathway for Christian influence in entertainment and media with an ultimate goal to impact global culture by changing the way we tell our story.

"The need to share our message never changes, but how we share it does. This is the moment to embrace the digital age.”

– Phil Cooke, Producer, Media Consultant, Co-Founder – The Influence Lab

THE STRATEGY

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INFLUENCING THE WORLD

Redefining Global Mission Strategy in Today’s Digital Age

The digital revolution, accelerated by the challenges presented by COVID-19 in 2020, has created immense opportunities on the global digital mission field. With the increased opportunity comes the necessity to train a new generation to reach the world through ever-evolving and ever-increasing digital platforms.

Through partnerships with the largest Christian media organizations around the world, as well as international broadcast media platforms, we have created a global network for training the next generation of Christian media professionals – pastors, ministry leaders and their media and communications teams – to share the most important story of all, the good news of Jesus Christ.

“If you really love someone, you will figure out how to communicate with them, just as Jesus did, and for us that has to mean speaking the language of media and entertainment.”

-Eric Metaxas

New York Times #1 Bestselling Author, Host, Eric Metaxas Radio Show

INFLUENCING CULTURE

Impacting Culture by Changing the Way We Tell Our Story

Another of the primary goals of The Influence Lab is to use the various media platforms available to us in the digital age to change the cultural narrative about Christianity and the Church.

The Influence Lab helps create professional pathways for Christian influence in entertainment and media by challenging executive-level Christians established in the film and television industry to think critically about integrating their faith into their work. We assist Christian ministry organizations already making a difference through media, and through Influence Lab Women gatherings, events and email newsletters, we’re motivating and inspiring professional women to excel in the media and entertainment industries.

“Washington DC is the seat of power, but Hollywood is the seat of influence. The only way to have a spiritual impact on Hollywood is to change it from the inside out.”

- Karen Covell

Founder of Hollywood Prayer Network

THE MEDIA NEED

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ENTERTAINMENT

Hollywood is the most influential city on earth, and yet Christians are terribly underrepresented in that industry. The Influence Lab is working to create a roadmap to help talented writers, actors, producers, directors, and others carve a foothold in the entertainment industry.

MEDIA RELATIONS

Who’s telling the story of the Christian faith in the mainstream media? Through The Influence Lab, we’re making the connections, building the relationships, and showing the world accurate and timely stories of how Christians are positively impacting today’s culture.

SOCIAL MEDIA

If Facebook were a country, it would be the largest country in the world. The increased popularity of social media and YouTube has created a new digital mission field. Who’s planting churches in that country? Who’s sending “media missionaries” to that country? Christians must ramp up their knowledge and expertise in the new digital landscape to be good stewards of the opportunities of the digital age.

MEDIA PRODUCTION

In a visual culture, sharing our story through digital media is essential. Our goal is to inspire and train producers, directors, camera operators, video editors, and others to help shape powerful and compelling stories of transformed lives.

MEDIA TRAINING

We live in a media-driven culture, and that's why The Influence Lab is coordinating seminars and conferences around the world, as well as utilizing opportunities such as Zoom meetings and webinars to train a new generation of pastors and leaders how to share their story through media.

GLOBAL PARTNERS