  |
St. Peter's Lutheran Church
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
|
Pastor's Message - July/August 2010If you are not an Internet user (which obviously you are since you are here) and don’t know anything about email or Facebook or the likes … please keep reading … this article is not really about the Internet. Have you heard about Facebook? It is an Internet site that allows people to set up connections with their friends and family to keep up to date with what ever is going in each other lives. It has been around since 2004 when a few Harvard students built it as a trial project. In the words of the Internet speak ‘it went viral’ … meaning it got passed from internet user to internet user just like a virus would pass from person to person. I have been a somewhat reluctant joiner of Facebook because I had been wondering if I have the time to look after yet one more way to connect with people. However I’ve joined Facebook now and I was amazed at how interconnected the users are. Facebook users connect as “friends” but then you can connect with your friend’s friends etc. and before you know it you can have hundreds of connections. It reminds me of when I first came to St. Peter’s when every week I learned a new connection of who was related and connected to who. Facebook and other Internet tools like email have become an important part of how people stay connected with each other. I know that many people do not use the Internet for this kind of social network connections, but it is becoming as important as the telephone as a method of staying connected with family and friends. So I got curious and wondered - would jesus have a facebook page - (type that into Google). One Jesus Facebook page has 34,560 friends listed. It is kind of playful to ask question like ‘would Jesus have a cell phone’ or ‘would he have an email address’. The internet commentators mostly say “Yes, but that would not be his primary method to communicate – face to face and personal would remain primary”. I didn’t read any comments that say “no he wouldn’t use the internet. We don’t’ have any record of Jesus’ written word with John 8:1-11 being the closest we get to that. The only time in our bible that we get to read God’s direct words are from the tablets of stone that Moses carried down the mountain. The rest of the time … God leaves the communication up to us to write down what God inspires us to write using the tools and the language of the day. However speaking the original languages of the bible of Greek or Hebrew won’t help us spread the gospel in Brodhagen in 2010, neither would speaking the German language of the founders of this congregation. We need to speak the gospel in way that people can hear it today and it needs to sound like ‘good news’ to them. Communications is a big part of what we do as church together – with each other and also with the wider world around us. With that in mind – this somewhat reluctant Facebook user has joined in – and more so … I’ve also set up our congregation on Facebook again as a means to communicate the gospel of Jesus in what ever way people can hear it and as good news. Building and maintaining community is also a big part of what we do as church together – that was much of Jesus’ earthly ministry too. In the last week of June I was sadden to hear in a letter (yes received by email) from Ruth Magnuson, Executive Director of Evangelical Lutheran Women Inc. (ELW) of the dissolution of the National ELW. I don’t believe anyone is surprised by this decision and it is not seen as giving up, by rather it is “the most responsible path” says Ruth. A big part of what the ELW do as church together is to build and maintain community and there will now be a hole in that community connection especially between congregations. This loss of a National ELW structure does bring us to ask a wider question, “How do we as Christians stay in touch, build and maintain community?” What ever the answer, it will involve work on our part. Here are three things you can participate in as we build and maintain a Christian community: 1. Look for the “Back to Church Sunday” information in late August / early September. St. Peter’s is participating in this program with all the congregations in our London Conference by inviting new people to church on 26th September. One set of research data states that 82% of the people that do not regularly attend are at least somewhat likely to attend church—if someone would simply invite them. 2. St. Peter’s Outreach committee is also working on an “outreach week” in the fall to encourage our congregation members to reach out to people the know and also to recognize how others have reached out to us. 3. Join the St. Peter’s Facebook page and help to build up a community of local Christians and share this with your other Facebook friends. I believe that spreading gospel using all the tools
available to us is part of what we need to do as church together to
help build and maintain a Jesus community.
Peace – Pastor Steve Peace |
|
||
|
|
||||
