To communicate: "The exchange of thoughts, messages, or information"

 Well, that's as good a starting point as any for a blog posting, albeit a terse one.  So much of what we do, in the church as in our daily lives, involves communication.  Life events, social events, church events, testimonies, personal doings, personal reflections, both large and small, constitute the bulk of what gets conveyed in church communications, either via announcements during service, via email, or person-to-person, which is all very well and good. 

The announcements page, and the weekly email announcements, are by nature well suited to addressing external happenings and events.  They are brief, concise, timely, and by investing 30 seconds and reading an email that our faithful admin assistant Peter sends out, you can have a pretty good idea of what is going on in the church.  For example, let's say you've formed a new small group, and would like to extend an invitation to everyone within the church... you could inform people via conventional means; making an announcement during service, send out an email blast, etc.  Take a quick peek at our announcement guidelines to see what would be considered a likely candidate for an announcement.

However, what if you want to share a thought in depth, or engage in a meaningful conversation, and do so not just with your usual friends but the church at large, or even with the outside world?  Ah, then is when a blog comes in handy.  Want to know what the guidelines for blogging are?  Ideally we won't ever have to put any in, as evinced some very different postings which have come in for the past couple of months; they have been spiritual, informational, personal, and entertaining, and usually all of the above.  I admit to being very biased towards blogging, even though I have never succeeded in maintaining a proper blog.  But blogging implicitly invites a dialogue and exchange of thoughts, via comments between visitors and author, and often the conversation itself extends far beyond what the blogger could have originally anticipated.

So, if you happen to be a church member who has been itching to share your thoughts regarding a particular subject, or just want to document an aspect of your life which is larger than yourself... I would encourage you to ask Peter to set you up with a blog.  On a selfish note, as council chair this year I would like to ask ministry chairs, small group leaders, Sunday School teachers, and all others within the church who have taken it upon themselves to serve, to consider maintaining a blog.  I know you are busy, and this may seem like a burden, at least initially.  Yet you each have a unique perspective, and by writing a blog the church at large is able to vicariously experience your aspirations and achievements for your ministries, both so that they can be informed, engaged and support you, but also to prepare them to be leaders and servants themselves at a later time.  I am sure you will find the act itself of blogging rewarding, and very complimentary to the regular channels of communication which you use to raise awareness of the various happenings within the church.

 Take care, Terry