Dear Friends,
As I mentioned last month, we are going through a transitional time, not only here in Clover Hill but throughout the world in how we communicate and what we communicate. As with most transitional times we can’t clearly see what will emerge and what will fall to the side of the road (most houses still have VCR recorders, few have Betamax machines) and I remain skeptical about things like pay-radio, but I have been wrong before as my old collection of 8-tracks would indicate.
The first thing that we are doing is expanding the use of email. For a number of years we have emailed the weekly prayer list calling ourselves to prayer each Wednesday, beginning a few weeks ago we shifted that to Monday as an immediate response to our Sunday worship. Each Thursday we now send a weekly “Coming Up at Clover Hill” email which will include the upcoming activities including the next two Sundays. I suspect that this email will become something of a mini-Belltower, as we move forward with it. If you would like to receive the prayer list and/or the “Coming Up” sheet please send me an email at CHRCJACK@PATMEDIA.NET.
The second thing that we are working toward is providing ways in which we can increasingly use our website (CloverHillChurch.org) for both internal and external communications. Already copies of sermons (I will often receive emails with comments or questions about my sermons from folks who live in distant places) and my Belltower letter, as well as links to some of our mission partners, are available on line. In the coming months we will be placing things like the worship schedule, the Church calendar, and other pieces of the Belltower on line. We are also trying to place video clips of worship and other Church activities on line. To that end Bob Valinski, who has quarterbacked our DVD production system needs some volunteers to learn how the system works so that we can continue to provide copies of worship for baptisms, weddings and other special occasions. Please speak to Bob as soon as possible if you would be willing to help with this.
Once we have more of these pieces in place we will be contacting you directly to ask if you would be willing to get your Belltower electronically or if you would be willing to pick up your copy at the Church each month. All of this is being done for the very pragmatic and faithful goal of cutting down on our postage costs, freeing up funds for our mission work, locally and globally.
We may not know or be able to see where all of this is taking us, but we do know that the message we will be conveying will be the same message that God has always wanted to convey to the world: “Fear not, for I bring you good news of great joy!”
Shalom,
Jack
