“...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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