Blogs, Web pages where you can publish your thinking, are perfect “story containers” — easily updated, categorized, searchable, always available, hyperlinked story containers.

And the church? It has the best stories to tell, indeed the “Greatest Story Ever Told,” along with countless personal stories — stories of great faith, triumph over addictions and persistence through illness.

But what about using the blog to post notices of upcoming events and sermon topics? By all means — blog about those, too. One of the great things about blogs is that, like “Sansabelt slacks,” blogs will stretch to fit any amount of content you’re able to stuff into them.

But don’t stop there. Using the Internet, our church begins to reach further than its property lines, and this new audience needs to hear more than “things are happening at our church and you really should come to a Mass or service.”

It’s those personal stories that this new audience needs, and they need to hear those stories told first-hand by the real people who call our church home. Those stories are going to provoke a response, a conversation, a relationship and ultimately move people closer to God.

So let’s stop using the Web to present our churches like products (Relevant! Great Music! Fresh Coffee!) and start using it to tell the stories of what our church, our faith and our God have meant to us and the true change seen in our lives because of it.

C’mon. Tell me a story of when God was good to you. Oh ... before you start ... I’ll bet there are other people who would like to hear it, too. Can I put it somewhere where they will find it when they need to?

By the way, I know there are parishioners out there who would like to relate their story. You also can become a regular feature blogger on the pages of this Web site. Please get in touch with me at
(585) 224-8931 or e-mail me at webmaster@stceciliasonline.org.

--- St. Cecilia's Webmaster

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