Watch video now! 500 years on from the Reformation, “God is doing a new thing among us,” Pastor Timothy Johansen of Temple Lutheran Church, Havertown, says of the Forward Together in Faith campaign. In living memory congregations have experience glory days, with packed pews and full coffers, as well as confusing years when endowments and...
God is calling us to do a new thing here in Southeastern Pennsylvania! It’s not easy being the church today. That’s why Forward Together in Faith is raising $2.5 million to help equip your congregation for the future of ministry. It’s an investment in our Synod’s leaders and congregations. (Click the image above to hear Pastor Bryan Penman...
At Faith Lutheran in Northeast Philadelphia, the congregation were admittedly “amateurs” at using social media when they won a communications audit from Forward Together in Faith at the 2015 Synod Assembly. “The consultant from Kairos was very affirming to us in that at least we were trying,” says Pastor Owen Griffiths. “We were stabbing in...
Images are worth at least 1,000 words in today’s digital communications. Photos and videos give viewers of your web and social media presence a sense of who you are as a congregation. But because of concern for the safety of children and the privacy of members, use of images can pose challenges. In this article we’ll...
Sunday, Oct. 25 is Reformation Sunday. And it’s also Social Media Sunday – a perfect opportunity to share your Lutheran witness and tell your church’s story. The concept is simple: encourage your social media connected people to share about your church’s activities and the Gospel message with each other and their social circles. All posts should...
Volunteers at Lutheran Church of God’s Love in Newtown and community volunteers spent a year converting a plain red shipping container into a colorful self-contained medical clinic that’s almost ready to be sent to Kisumu, Kenya. And as they neared the finish line, they reached out to CBS-3 to tell their story and help raise...
The school/program year is fast approaching – which means that winter isn’t far behind. Remember last year’s sudden Sunday morning icing event? Does your church have a plan for notifying members in case of foul weather schedule changes or other emergencies? The tried-and-true phone chain still works but can be labor intensive. And as calls...
We live in a visual culture, so you’re missing a big opportunity if you don’t use images to tell your church’s story. People respond to images. Facebook posts, web pages, e-mails and even print pieces draw more attention and shares when there is a compelling image. Recent research shows that the average person has an attention...
So many communications channels are available today, and they all can be used to share the Gospel. And therein lies the challenge for the church, says the Rev. Keith Anderson of Upper Dublin Lutheran Church, author of The Digital Cathedral. Introducing the Communicating component of Forward Together in Faith, Anderson noted that fewer people know what...
“Fewer people (today) know what being a Lutheran is about, what God is about,” so the church must use new social media channels and devices and “figure out how to use them to share the gospel,” said the Rev. Keith Anderson of Upper Dublin Lutheran Church, said at the campaign launch. The author of The...