Vera's Notebook |
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by Vera Moore |
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New World Outlook, September/October 2009 At age 60, I met and fell in love with the internet. One of my first discoveries was that United Methodist churches could apply for free web space on the General Board of Global Ministries' website. I decided that our church should have a webpage. After I submitted a sample design to my church's administrators, I received the reply, "You have our permission to proceed as volunteer webmaster." Our Church on the Internet I soon discovered that I could access a support group for beginning web-page designers through UMConnect, a webpage on Global Ministries' website. Through that email discussion site, with its warm, friendly atmosphere, I found experienced web designers and publishers who enjoyed sharing critiques and helpful advice with beginners. Oh, the joys of web publishing! It is like putting jigsaw puzzles together and then sharing the results of your efforts with the world. However, unlike jigsaw puzzling, in web publishing we find that the site is never really finished. In fact it is ever-changing and requires regular updating and routine maintenance. The simple design I came up with soon created enough interest and garnered enough support that the church assigned its site management to a paid member of the church staff. From the simple beginning of "here we are; here is our mission," Christ United Methodist Church of Mobile, Alabama, (http://www.christumcmobile.com/) can now not only offer a variety of features but even provide a streaming real-time webcast of its worship services for those who are unable to come to church. My husband, for example, is not a computer person and has limited vision, but he can still enjoy our worship services on DVD, viewing them on his special-needs television set. The church saves postage by publishing its 20-page monthly newsletter on the website, providing the opportunity for United Methodist Women and other groups and committees in the church to share their news in living color. Promotional announcements are designed on volunteers' computers and sent to a church staff member who formats each one to fit its allotted space. Not only does this keep church groups informed of their mission responsibilities, it allows the entire church community to know what its members are doing. The newsletter is printed and mailed to those with no internet access. Christ UMC has a significant outreach program that includes a recreational ministry which reaches out to church members and nonmembers alike. The recreation minister sends out an email announcement every Monday morning, usually including a personal memo and an inspirational message for those who have volunteered to be prayer partners for young people involved in seasonal sports teams. "The children and youth are informed that you will be praying for each of them by name every day throughout the season," the recreation minister writes. "Pray for their safety and for the Holy Spirit to be alive and evident in each life." Our congregation is connected by technology in so many ways today that we tend to take all of this communication for granted. Beyond the Local Church Just as our church reaches out to many through the web, people in the United Methodist connection beyond our local church reach out to me. I received New Year's greetings from the lay leader of the Alabama-West Florida Conference via an email message that invited me and other laity to join her in reading through the entire Bible in 2009. My free membership with Bibleinayear.org brings me reminders of each day's readings. But since I prefer to listen rather than read, I find the voice of Alexander Scourby, narrating the King James Version as provided by Audio Bible, a wonderfully worshipful experience. The Mobile District office emails daily notices of district happenings and prayer concerns to those church members in the district on its email list. Ongoing discussion about what content is appropriate for web transmission is shared within our district family by emails. Today, any local church member can connect to the church's national and international agencies in ways that were never possible before the creation of the internet. For instance, as newspapers and newscasts cover a disaster, Global Ministries gives United Methodists the opportunity to search through Advance projects by location or type of ministry. This means that I can immediately channel my online giving to the exact area for which we are called to offer prayer and provide support. If a special Advance number has been designated as a channel through which to send funds for emergency relief, information can be found on the website of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) or in the weekly UMCOR Hotline message sent out by email. You can sign up to receive the UMCOR Hotline on the UMCOR.org website. Frequently the UMCOR Hotline message makes me aware of a need before I hear or see news of it in the mass media. In fact, Global Ministries' webpages contain such a great quantity of information that it is sometimes a challenge to find what you are looking for. A trick I've learned is to send an email to info@gbgm-umc.org, which generally brings a prompt response and a link to the correct site. We don't even need to try to remember this email address because it appears at the bottom of every Global Ministries webpage. Simply click the button and ask your question. For those interested in volunteering to work at United Methodist or other mission projects, Volunteer-in-Mission opportunities are posted on Global Ministries' mission volunteers website. For those who are homebound and cannot travel to places where mission volunteers are at work, a visit to a project's website can be the next best thing. For instance, Bethlehem Bible College, a long-time Methodist mission partner, gives internet visitors an opportunity to view its craft shop online--and also to learn about the work of two United Methodist missionaries assigned there, Alex and Brenda Awad. MyGBGM, a Global Ministries email subscription service, sends off notices of items added to Global Ministries' webpages as soon as they are uploaded. On MyGBGM, I am able to choose which topics I want to receive notices about--such as evangelization or human rights--or I can choose to receive web stories that concern particular countries. Social Networking While email provides a constant communication with fellow church members and denominational friends, Facebook provides immediate viewing of what friends around the world are doing at any given moment. A student friend I know, who is studying in Spain, reports: "Having a great time in Madrid but also missing everyone back home!" and later notes: "Rough week of school coming up!" Social networking also provides the chance for great-grandmothers to brag a bit: "It's going to be a girl--11th ggchild (great-grandchild) and 2nd ggdaughter (great-granddaughter). A post like that is most certainly followed by congratulations from family, friends, coworkers, and even acquaintances near and far. No time or money need be spent telephoning--and everyone can receive the good news at the same time. I was delighted when one of my former Sunday school students found me on Facebook. After searching through keepsakes, I was able to post a picture of the pupil and her Sunday school classmates on my Facebook page. For those who are on Twitter, a free subscription messaging service, United Methodist Women posts missionary birthdays and prayer concerns daily. When I want to know more about a person in mission for whom I am praying, I visit the Mission Personnel website at Global Ministries. It provides a searchable database of United Methodist missionaries, with biographies and photographs for most of them. Does social networking produce passive participants? No way! Facebook, for instance, has all kinds of online games that members can play. Farm Town and African Safari are two of my favorites. If you play the African Safari game, the site will contribute something toward Nothing But Nets if you click on the site and tell it to do so. Nothing But Nets provides bed nets to protect people in tropical climates from mosquito-borne disease, especially malaria. Of course, you can always contribute directly to Nothing But Nets (Advance # 982015)--and to many other Advance projects--by visiting the Advance website and making a donation with a credit card. As a Farm Town player, I can plan a farm, grow and harvest crops, and help tend neighboring farms. A number of my friends play this game. We knew that Facebook was already contributing to Nothing But Nets through African Safari. So we decided to use our organizational skills and combine our efforts to encourage the owner of Farm Town to do likewise, allowing us to contribute to a worthy cause, such as ending world hunger. While I have no success to report at the time of this writing, I hope the suggestion will be adopted soon. I am a polio survivor. As attendance at meetings becomes more and more difficult for me, online support groups are there to fill my needs. I have found a website for polio survivors on which we can share our knowledge of new devices, news on medications, and new procedures in polio treatment. This kind of networking keeps polio survivors current even when there is no local physician who specializes in the aftereffects of polio. Connections with the World Technology provides immediate gratification for those seeking a book to read. A Facebook post revealed a friend was enjoying Colin Tudge's book, The Link. It's about "Ida" the 47 million-year-old complete primate fossil recovered from a shale pit outside Messel, Germany. A couple of clicks began the download of the preferred audio version (other versions are also available) and, within minutes, I joined my friend in reading the same book. Social networking enables participation in activities beyond our physical limitations. For example, I enjoy bird-watching with Nancy Carter as she posts photos of her latest spotting, I can collect virtual gems that never need dusting, and catch butterflies without damaging the species. I also relish theater reviews sent from New York City friends as soon as the performances are over. Such communication connects me to the world of those who are able to go places and do things that my physical limitations deny me. Connected with the World After eleven years of answering the General Board of Global Ministries' Mission Information Line, I enter the world of retirement knowing that I will remain fully connected with my church, my coworkers, and my friends. Perhaps I'll have time to develop a Sunday school game. I'm envisioning a virtual church with classrooms where students progress not by age level but by finding scriptures, becoming involved in virtual mission projects, and sharing the stories of Jesus with people all around the world. Lonely? Isolated? Bored? Never, when I am united with the world within my notebook! Vera Moore, of Mobile, Alabama, is a retired staff member of the General Board of Global Ministries, a polio survivor, an internet aficionado, and an expert in web communications. Websites Referenced Free Web Hosting http://gbgm-umc.org/churches/
Date posted: Sep 01, 2009 |
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The Mission Magazine of the United Methodist Church
