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Building digital bridges
During my last visit to the doctor, I prefaced a conversation about a minor new symptom by admitting, “I already Googled some information about it.”
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I wasn’t claiming to be a medical expert, but I had a concern and began by searching online for answers.
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Maybe you’ve done the same.
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Consider what the people in your community are looking for online. A mom scrolls parenting blogs after the kids are finally asleep. A young adult watches a video that answers a question he has been afraid to ask. A grieving widower searches for support, connection, and hope. A couple quietly looks for help because the marriage feels strained.
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Many of them are not searching for “the nearest Lutheran church,” but they are searching for hope, meaning, truth, parenting help, answers, belonging, and peace.
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A Pew Research Center report this year noted that four in ten US adults say they are almost constantly online.¹ In our increasingly post-Christian culture, many people do not have a church background or a habit of turning to Scripture when life gets hard. Before they ever walk into a worship service, they are more likely to encounter a congregation first through a Google search, a social media post, a live stream, or a text message from someone they trust.
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So how can congregations and their members faithfully use digital tools to reach people with the gospel?
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Everyone has a story. “How did you get here? Where did you come from?” From little on, we learn to tell stories about ourselves. Yet your story is not told in isolation. Your story is linked to the the stories of others who have gone before you. In some families like my own, . . .
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Every spring, we give thanks as new graduates from Martin Luther College (MLC), New Ulm, Minn., and Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, Mequon, Wis., receive their first calls. It is a joyful time as we watch Christ send workers into his harvest field. For . . .
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Is it fine to worship online? This may be your summer vacation plan. You look at your destination, and you discover no churches close by that share your public confession of faith. What do you do? You could use your regular style of family devotion or even . . .
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