One of the advantages of working in the Synod Administration Building is that we have weekly “chapel” talks by staff here each Wednesday morning. Today Bryan Gerlach was up who is the Administrator for the Commission on Worship. He shared a recent experience he had with his barber who shared with him that her relatively young father had just passed away. Struggling for what to say Bryan shared with her a piece of Scripture that struck him at a recent funeral he had attended. This prompted her to ask if he read the Bible a lot? He eventually asked her the same question. Her response was a typical one, “I tried once, but it was hard.”
The Bible can be hard because it shares some “hard” things. It’s also big and one might have trouble knowing where to start. So Bryan, in his dialog with her, needed to provide a suggestion. He could have suggested perhaps looking at a particular book of the Bible, perhaps one of the Gospels. He might have even suggested a book that would have helped her better understand the Bible like Luther’s Small Catechism. But in a circumstance like that what would be the chances of her actually going out a buying something like that.
What he did recommend is something that I’d suggest we all make better use of – a website. He suggested she visit www.whataboutjesus.com. This is an excellent resource for anybody trying to “figure out” the Bible and this Christianity thing. This resource, created and managed by our synods Commission of Evangelism, is expressly designed for just such situations. Take a look. I think you will be edified by it, but even better…share it. It’s an easy address to remember as many we meet are asking this very question, whether they know it or not – What About Jesus?
Thanks Bryan for the reminder of this great evangelism tool.
I’ve been writing a lot lately about internet social media sites and how the church might consider using it. Just wanted to share a nicely done slide presentation I ran across this morning. You can find it at: http://churchcrunch.com/social-media-tactics-for-non-profits. It covers all the major social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube. While there is nothing earth shattering here – lots of common sense kind of stuff – it does highlight the need for planning.
Most churches are considering how to get into this space and are “trying it out.” I believe a bit more thought should go into it. Think through how you want your church to appear on these sites, who you expect to reach and finally the investment of time you are willing to make in the effort. You will also want to pay close attention to how your investment is paying off. You can only measure this if you set goals for your social media strategy…presupposing of course that you have developed a strategy. Think it through. Talk it through. Then see it through.
The happy couple is standing in front of the presiding minister. She looks lovely in her white wedding gown – he dashingly handsome in a tuxedo. The church is filled and everybody is eagerly awaiting the pronouncement of marriage. Just as the announcement is on the lips of the pastor, the groom holds up his hand as if to say, just hold on a minute. He reaches into his vest pocket and extracts a cell phone…then another one…for his bride. Then over the next sixty seconds they both furiously work the keyboards on their phones as the pastor announces to the somewhat amused congregation, “They are updating their relationship status on Facebook!” After they are done, the pastor says “They are now husband and wife on Facebook and my book too.”
The video on YouTube has received almost 1,000,000 views. Don’t think Ben and Tracy will be the last to do this. Social networks like Facebook and Twitter are now a part, a big part, of the lives of many people. The natural question is are we going overboard with all of these social networks? The statistics are astounding. A study earlier this year completed in the UK estimated that teenagers spend 31 hours a week online, mostly on social networks. My guess is the hours spent on homework aren’t that high.
So is it a parental oversight issue? Perhaps, but parents are spending more and more time online as well. You can be sure that as our digital natives grow up, they will bring their online habits (addictions?) with them. Spending time online is no different than any other pursuit. When I was a boy I enjoyed spending time in video arcades…probably spending more quarters than I should have. But this might be different.
This is not a pastime, but to many the preferred way to communicate. It used to be letters, then email, now networks. There will be something next. There always is. As a Christian technologist the interesting part is trying to find appropriate uses of “whatever’s next” to spread the Gospel and share your faith.
I guess the point of all this is make sure we are asking the right questions. The right question probably isn’t “are we going overboard”, but “are we going overboard in our efforts to share Jesus?” 1 Corinthians 9:19-23
One of the advantages of working in the Synod Administration Building is that we have weekly “chapel” talks by staff here each Wednesday morning. Today Bryan Gerlach was up who is the Administrator for the Commission on Worship. He shared a recent experience he had with his barber who shared with him that her relatively young father had just passed away. Struggling for what to say Bryan shared with her a piece of Scripture that struck him at a recent funeral he had attended. This prompted her to ask if he read the Bible a lot? He eventually asked her the same question. Her response was a typical one, “I tried once, but it was hard.”