Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Online Monthly Newsletter is Here!



“...And the gospel must first be published to all nations...”_ 
(Mark 13:10, KJV)

For over 2000 years, Christians have sought to find effective ways to communicate the “good news” of the gospel with those around them.  In the earliest days this took the form of in-person, word of mouth communication to and with individuals and groups.  But even in these early days, there was always a need to communicate to those who were not directly present. That’s why early evangelists like Paul and Peter wrote letters to express their thoughts and feelings to Christians in churches and places far away -- the “Epistles” of our New Testament (books like Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, 1 and 2 Peter) are all examples of this kind of communication.

Much later, Christians in the Middle Ages used stained glass windows in cathedrals to communicate Bible and church stories, ideas, and theology to multitudes who were illiterate.  With the Renaissance, however, came a resurgence of literacy, along with the invention of the printing press, allowing for the mass publication of papers, books, and tracts to share news of the gospel.  Along with the printing of scripture, churches soon also started printing news of what God was doing in their midst -- printed congregational announcements, if you will.  By the 20th-century, these “announcement bulletins” morphed into what we today call church “newsletters” to let folks know what was going on in the life of a congregation. And now, nearly twenty years into the 21st-century, many are experiencing the next stage in this story of gospel and church communication: electronic communication, including online and emailed e-newsletters

Most of you probably already know that starting with this issue, our church’s “FLAME” newsletter will only be printed and mailed once per month, and that during the interim of each month, we will increasingly do more communication electronically. 

We’re not doing this to leave anyone out – we know that we have a significant number of members who either are not online at all, or who still prefer to receive printed content from the church via snail mail.  So, we’ll still have print copies available and mailed out. However, we also recognize that the majority of people today have the capability of receiving information online and/or via email.  Therefore, we’ll be adding email addresses to our current e-distribution list, as well as encouraging you to sign up to receive the FLAME electronically (to do this, visit our church's website and click on the red "Sign Up for Email Updates" box at the bottom right of the homepage).

This change not only reflects how most of our culture now processes information, but allows us as a church to be better stewards of our resources: it be more efficient from a resources standpoint; more importantly, it will help us “get the word out” more quickly, as well as allow us to provide more information than before. For example, in addition to the current content, we’ll have new monthly church calendars, regular column articles from ministry areas that we’ve not had regular columns from before, and other new items.

And while we won’t be adding weekly e-updates at this time (we don’t want to junk up your email box!), do be on the lookout for occasional emails during the month when there is important information we want to communicate with you about church activities and/or opportunities.

We pray that this new monthly format with occasional emailed updates will help you stay better connected with the work of Christ here at LaGrange First UMC as we go about fulfilling our mission of being “Christians… SERVING in love, CARING with compassion, and SHARING with boldness.”


For questions, comments, or suggestions about this transition, contact our Administrative Assistant Dodie Patterson via email or call her at the church office. In the meantime, we pray that you will enjoy this new way to keep in touch with the work of God through our church!  And remember, God loves you and I do too!

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