VALLEY VINE valley presbyterian church
April 2015
Volume 60, Number 3
Dear friends, Dr. Richard Olsen chairs the Communications Department at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington. I met him when our daughter, Madeleine, now a sophomore at UNCW, was there for a college visit. He said many wise things about university education, but I was particularly struck by his comments about the profession of journalism. He explained that in the 21st Century, journalists are almost never the first to report a story or an event. The era of smartphones has made everyone into a reporter! The internet has made instant information and comment available via blogs and social networks. So what role do journalists now play, we asked, since they are rarely first time conveyors of new information? “Journalists,” he said, “Provide the context for events, giving the meaning by fitting the facts into a story.” Journalists, in other words, are storytellers and interpreters! The world we live in is information rich but suffers from a poverty of meaning. We draw in a superabundance of facts unless we can place them in a context.
In fact, we have a great advantage over ordinary reporters. We are keyed into the great story that frames reality itself, a narrative of tragedy and comedy and pathos that ultimately becomes a tale of universal love. Sharing the faith means understanding the stories of the people around us and helping them see their own lives in light of the God story that has its center in Jesus Christ. Individual destiny develops in relationship to him, and our lives interlock with his purposes. This is what the New Testament calls “entering the Kingdom.” After Easter, beginning on April 19, we start a series called “Each One Reach One.” We will explore how to be 21st Century witnesses or reporters on behalf of our gracious Lord. On the morning of Saturday, April 25, 2015, there will be an all church seminar to provide some tools and ideas for the glorious challenge of gathering others in Jesus’ name. Look for more details to follow. You are invited! I hope you will engage with this great theme and pray that VPC will become a place where many people find a role in God’s great Kingdom story! Yours faithfully,
Now this is illuminating for the task of sharing our faith. The role of a 21st Century witness is like a 21st Century reporter. We don’t just convey facts about Jesus; we provide a meaningful context for discipleship. We are storytellers too.
VALLEY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
6947 E. McDonald Drive ▪ Paradise Valley, AZ 85253-5342 Phone: 480-991-6424 ▪ Fax: 480-991-6427 Email: church@myvalleychurch.org ▪ Website: myvalleychurch.org
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