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This is the Message from the Minister, as published in our Church magazine, The Survey, Summer 2010 Dear Friends, I recently came across a viral video on Social Media. I will now translate the previous sentence into words that those who feel technologically challenged can hopefully cope with: a viral video is a short film on the Internet – the World Wide Web - which seems to get everywhere very quickly as it is passed person to person in a similar way that viruses are transmitted and passed on. This particular viral video dealt with the way that people now interact electronically far more today through social interaction websites like Facebook or by following Twitter feeds. I know that I’ve probably lost some of you again with such language but the points that were being made are relatively straight forward. More and more people are communicating and meeting through electronic means today. Almost everyone between the ages of 12 and 30 in our part of the developed world is using these tools and very often doing so through their mobile phone. Just think of how great a difference the ability to talk to anyone from anywhere has made to our lives and I’m not just talking about a minister being rung in the middle of his sermon in the pulpit! Although the possibilities that such mobility has already brought are impressive, the potential of such social media to affect the way we live is mind boggling. I recently met someone who told me that the church he attended usually had 40 persons present on a Sunday but it had a Facebook following of over a 1000 who would download and interact with the sermons that had been preached. He then asked the question, did he belong to a small or a large church in UK terms? People were being ministered to, even if there was little or no physical contact. It makes the question of identifying what constitutes a community far more difficult. If the church, which has a very important message to share, is not using the means of communication that everyone else does, can it claim to be relevant to today’s society? If people are not meeting together as they used to, it’s a moot point whether the rate that pubs are closing is higher than that of churches. This is not a statistic to celebrate but one that needs prayerful reflection. People do not gather in small groups as once they did! Consequently, interpersonal skills are not as well-developed. It seems as if some young people can only interact with the aid of alcohol and drugs. How else does one try to understand what happens in our city centre over a weekend? We are living in challenging times as our society tries to make sense of a rapidly changing world where we can see and hear what is happening on the other side of the world almost instantaneously, but are not quite sure what is taking place a few doors away down the street. I don’t think, however, we can ever replace the personal touch. I am reminded of the closing words of John’s Third letter: I have a lot more things to tell you, but I'd rather not use pen and ink. I hope to be there soon in person and have a heart-to-heart talk. Peace to you. The friends here say hello. Greet our friends there by name. (3John 1:13-14 - The Message) There’s still no substitute for face to face meeting; we can do so much more together than we can apart. We do really need to know each other personally, in more than just electronic ways! Yours in His Service Robert Bebb
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