Social Media Evangelism

(reposted from Pastor’s Posts on HudsonUMC.org)

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We are made to be in relationships.

We know this, intuitively, about God and ourselves.  Social media can enhance our relationships and create new connections. If you feel comfortable on the web you can make church a part of your online identity.

When you use a church cover picture or share a post, tweet or video: you are extending the reach of this church:  people in the community will learn about our after school program, come to the church, or, maybe, contribute to our missions.  Your virtual activity has real-world consequences.  Why not make your online opinions and relationships a force for good?  Here are a few ways you can connect your faith and your on-line life:

Facebook

These are ways that you can help get word out about our church, engage with friends and family about issues of faith, and keep yourself abreast of the happenings and theology of our local church.  By writing a 5-star review of our church, you are helping potential church-goers to see our church in a positive way and feel more comfortable visiting for the first time. There is one more way to extend our church to the world:  When we have a special event or holiday approaching at the church, of if there is something about it that touches your spirit, download our cover photo and use it on your timeline.

Last, but not least:  When you are in the building, at worship or any church event (in or out of the building) you can check in using your mobile phone.  If you snap a great picture at church, make sure you have permission of the person (or their legal guardian) and share the picture on Facebook with our church tagged as the location.  It will help people peek into the life of our congregation and make them want to be a part of it!

Yelp

Yelp is one of the first places a person might go if they have moved to the community.  Go to our church page on yelp to see our church as others would see our church.  Know someone looking for a church?  Sure, tell them about our church, encourage them to our website, but also suggest that they look us up on yelp.

Twitter, Instagram, pinterest, and others

By following the church’s twitter feed, you will not only learn about the church but connect to events of faith, United Methodism and our larger community.  It is also a great way to connect to theologians and church leaders. By following your pastor or other church people on twitter, instagram or pinterest you get a peek into others’ life and theology.

Youtube

When you find a video that you enjoy…or that connects to your faith…you can share it with friends.  Oh, and by subscribing, yourself, to our channel you will always be alerted when a new video is uploaded.

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I Have this Feeling…In My Gut, part 2

I guess I should continue where I left off, huh?

I went to the GI specialist on Tuesday.  He was pretty sure it was appendicitis.  He thought that the appendix may have even burst and I’d been walking around with a burst appendix.  He sent me for scans on Wednesday morning.  Upon seeing the scans I was sent straight to the Emergency Department at BroMenn for surgery.


If you are wondering how a person walks around with a burst appendix, it is a good question.  Here is the story of Martha Little, news director for WBUR.  She lived with a burst appendix for weeks!


The appendix had not ruptured so they were able to do the surgery laparoscopically and was in the hospital overnight.  I cannot praise the nursing staff enough.  They took good care of me…and got me home quickly where my wife could continue caring for me.

I’m doing well, now.  I’m in some pain, but I have medicine to help with that.  I’m being well-cared-for and my church is in good hands.  My wife and other clergy are covering for me while I recover, but my congregation is amazing and I can also count on the people of the church to make sure everything and everyone is cared for while I am gone!

Blessings,

I Have this Feeling…in My Gut.

For a few days I had noticed some pain in my abdomen, but they were fleeing.  On the twenty second of December, I began having more severe pain on my left side.  My doctor’s nurse practitioner had a last-minute cancellation and I left work early and went straight down to my doctor’s office.  The pain had subsided a bit by the time I got there and the pain was on my left side.  The nurse diagnosed me with diverticulitis and gave me a prescription for antibiotics.

I started feeling better and within a week I was feeling pretty good…until I finished my antibiotic regimen.  On New Year’s Day I began having some pain, again.  We went to an urgent care doctor.  Because of the diverticulitis diagnosis, they suspected it was probably something I ate. They sent me home and told me to see my primary care doctor.  After a few days I got in with my doctor and he sent me for a scan.  My appendix was mildly inflamed.  The antibiotics from the misdiagnosis of diverticulitis had reduced the inflammation, and he recommended a more aggressive course of antibiotics for the appendicitis.


If you are like me, you haven’t heard of treating appendicitis with antibiotics, but it is a real thing!  Here is a WebMD article that shows 80% of patients may find medicine effective rather than surgery. Apparently, this has been a standard practice in Europe for some time, now, and America is just coming around to this standard of treatment.


I consented to trying the more aggressive course of treatment and got started right away (Friday).  At 3:30am on Saturday morning I woke up intensely sick.  I got to the bathroom, somehow, but I was nearly incapacitated with nausea, intense pain, and my head was spinning.  Though my wife had left town for the weekend, luckily, I was not alone! My mother drove up to stay with me because my wife was concerned for me.  Carrie is so wise!  I yelled for my mother to call an ambulance.

Thankfully, the ambulance was quick to respond.  They were great.  They got me down the stairs, out of the house, out through the cold and bright flashing lights, onto the gurney and rolled me into the back of the ambulance.  I thought to myself, “the whole neighborhood is awake watching this.  How embarrassing!”

I was rushed to OSF Saint Francis and proceeded to sit in the Emergency Department for hours.  Good thing my appendix didn’t burst!

Once I got to a room in the Emergency Department, the doctors didn’t know what to do with me.  They would not or could not look at scans done by another hospital system and the doctors wouldn’t call to consult with my primary care doctor.  It just so happens that the doctor on-call for my primary care doctor’s office called me to check-in.  I put him on the phone with the doctors at St. Francis.

One doctor came in to say I had appendicitis and was going for surgery and then another doctor came in to say that I didn’t. Then a surgical resident came in to talk to me about my ‘pending’ surgery and then a GI doctor came in to tell me that there would not be surgery and it was not appendicitis.  I felt like a ping-pong ball.

I was admitted to the hospital and they kept me off food and ran some tests.  Worse than boredom is boredom with a completely empty and loudly growling stomach!  They never sent me for scans, but instead they watched my vitals, ran blood panels and tested my urine.  I’m so frustrated that they haven’t really consulted with my primary care doctor, as far as I know, or even looked at the scan taken on Friday.

I was discharged by the hospital on Sunday with instructions to come back and have an appointment with an OSF GI specialist.  I already have an appointment tomorrow with a GI specialist over in Bloomington (that appointment was set up when I saw my primary care doctor on Friday).  I just hope this specialist can figure things out and give me a diagnosis.

It’s bad enough that I don’t know what’s wrong with my GI tract, but on top of it all: I was hospitalized on a Sunday morning.  But it is worse than that, even.  This was the week I was supposed to preach a sermon for my doctoral program!  Luckily, I have an advisor who will understand and colleagues that made sure my pulpit was covered.  Rev. Lori Bultemeier immediately offered to preach and lead worship so that I didn’t have to worry about anything!

Thank you, Lori!