Brave New World

Miranda:

O wonder!

How many goodly creatures are there here!

How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world

That has such people in't!

Prospero:

'Tis new to thee.
The Tempest Act 5, scene 1, 181–184

Have you ever had the feeling that you woke up one morning and the world had changed while you slept?  At risk of identifying myself with some unpronounceable psychotic condition, I admit I have experienced this phenomena many times.  Since I have encountered this wonder off and on since childhood I don't think it has anything to do specifically with growing older although it does have to do with the world constantly changing around us.  You may have encountered this strange development in perusing the new car market.  When did the cost of a car exceed the cost of the home you grew up in?  Yes, the world had changed and no one asked our permission.

There is nothing mysterious going on here.  The world keeps changing and we don't always keep up with it.  Then one day we get a surprise.  This is what has happened to a lot of us when it comes to technology, and its impact on the church and on how we minister in the world around us.  Back in the first decade of this century we began to see the impact of church web pages.  At first they were little more than electronic interactive business cards.  Today they have evolved to serve as message boards, video and audio libraries, and various other functions that work to express the individuality and uniqueness of the church congregation they represent.

Somewhere along the way a new, strange creature came along that began to impact the world of church ministry.  The creature bears the title "social media". The world literally changed when MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and a host of copycats and competitors flooded the internet.  As with the internet or any other media, there is good and evil within these social media outlets.  Whether we do or do not like these new media, they are there and they do not appear to be going anywhere.  The church has a responsibility to be salt and light in the world.  Here is a venue that needs much salt, and light to disperse a heavy thick darkness.  Here is a means of communication we must tap into, try to understand, and use for the glory of our God and the advancement of His church.  Linda and I are trying to develop and improve our "virtual presence".  Here are some of the things we are doing and how they can help you.

We have a very basic web page with a plethora of tools and an abundance of untapped potential we are only now beginning to unlock.  For some time we have had the electronic business card and the audio library function up and running.  Now we are going to be utilizing the page for its ability to communicate, mobilize and present an image of who we are.  When you visit our page at http://www.mainstreetpres.org you are going to see a sort of rotating billboard that is being used to promote upcoming events, sermon series, and special announcements. An electronic calendar is available under the <EVENTS> button at the top of the page.  You can go there to look for upcoming events.  Click on the link for any occasion and get more details.  This is very helpful should you misplace your copy of the printed calendar from the Main Thing, or if last minute changes have been made to these events.  Each week sermon audio files are added under the <RESOURCES> button.  If you want to download a sermon onto your MP3 player or stream to your smart phone and listen to them on your drive to work, they are here for you. Usually, by Friday afternoon, the bulletins for the upcoming worship services are posted here.  You can download them to see what we are singing, what the message will be on, and what readings we will be observing in each service.  You  can actually prepare yourself for worship.  In coming weeks we will be adding more and more photos of church life here so that you can direct friends and interested individuals to the page so that they can get an idea of what MSPC is like.  Visitors and new comers to the community can "check us out" here and decide if they want to get to know us better with a personal visit one Sunday morning.  The page is a work in progress.  You can help us out by visiting it regularly and checking out the functions being made available to you.

Many of you, if not most, have a Facebook page.  You have been using it for some time to share pictures of cats.  We would like you to use your Facebook page to minister in the world around you.  Main Street Presbyterian church has a Facebook page that has daily updates to it.  We are committed to using it as a bulletin board for our church, not a forum for theological debates or yard sale announcements.  The Facebook page is being managed for the church by Linda Simpson.   Linda has been posting upcoming events, pictures of church events, the family worship helps, inspiring quotes of reformers and theologians, choral videos, and other suitable items. You can help be a part of this ministry by visiting the church Facebook page.  You can get to the page several ways.  You can go to our webpage and click on the Facebook icon at the bottom of the page, or you can enter this address in your browser (https://www.facebook.com/mainstreetpresbyterianchurch). Once you have visited the page click on "Like" and "Follow".  Then you will get all the updates posted there straight to your Facebook page.  There are two more things you can do to help unleash the potential of a Facebook page.  When you see one of our posts, as often as you are willing, "Share" that post on your Facebook wall.  This expands the reach of our page.  Right now, only those who "Like" and "Follow" our page get our updates.  If you "Share" a post, then all your contacts get the post. Anyone else willing to share from within your contacts geometrically expands our audience.  Whether it is an upcoming event, an inspiring quote, or a choral video, our post you share may reach someone and pique their interest in what is going on here at MSPC.  If you have updates for your organization, changes or corrections in event details or other information that might be suitable for the page you can contact the church office.  Diane will forward your information on to us.

Finally, you need to know about Twitter.  Twitter is a little harder to explain than Facebook.  Twitter is a personal network you build, the way you want it.  Your friends, celebrities, businesses, ministries, and organizations have Twitter presences.  Using your computer or smart phone,you can "Follow" any of these Twitter accounts and you will receive what they post.  If you want to get John Piper, Ligon Duncan, or anyone else's posts you can "Follow" them and receive every post they make. Posts are limited to 140 characters (including spaces) so they have to be brief. It is very handy for sending out a quick announcement like a last minute change of schedule, a closure due to bad weather, or to pass a link along.  We are using the Twitter account of Main Street Presbyterian Church to expand our Facebook presence and pass along links to the webpage, information on upcoming events, and prayer notifications.  If you have a Twitter account you can access Main Street Presbyterian Church's feed by following "@MainStreetPres".  Go to our webpage and click on the Twitter icon at the bottom of the page.  If you have Twitter and are logged in, it will take you to our feed and you can click on "Follow".  If you don't have Twitter, or are not logged in, a page will open allowing you to sign up or log in.  You can help us expand our Twitter audience by clicking on the "Retweet" icon underneath a post.  (It looks like two arrows forming a square shape.)  When you "Retweet" a post, everyone in your Twitter network gets the post as well.  Once again our audience gets expanded and more people see our posts and can be drawn back to our church webpage.

I suppose the question many of you will have is, "What is the point of all this?  What is the main thing we are trying to achieve?"  As mentioned before, some time back the world changed on us.  We all know the power of advertisement.  Word of mouth has always been proven to be the strongest form of advertisement of all.  The reason companies pump millions of dollars into advertisement it to expand word of mouth.  If you like the Geico Gecko commercials, or Flo, the Progressive girl, or catch yourself singing that horrible "Marshmallow World" song, then the advertisers have succeeded and in one form or another, by word of mouth, you will discuss their product (just like I did here).  Their product gets more exposure and they sell more of their product.  Through the internet we have free advertisement that is an expansion of word of mouth.  The more people, "Follow", "Share", "Retweet", and visit links we send out, the more exposure our church gets and the more interest is built in it.  It may take a thousand clicks of the mouse, but eventually one of those people will be a local person who will visit our webpage, get interested in what is going on, give us a visit, and who knows, may even come to know the Lord.  That, is the main thing.