Monday, July 10, 2006

Ministers on the blog ...

A Wapo piece on blogging clerics. Cyber-Savvy Pastors Blog When the Spirit Moves Them. [Via Don Jim, who's mentioned in the article too.]
The Rev. James A. Tucker, a parochial vicar at Our Lady of Angels Catholic Church in Woodbridge, said his blog "Dappled Things" contains stories that he hopes provide spiritual lessons, but he tries to distance it from his official role as a parish priest. The site, which mixes daily homilies with discussions of new science fiction books, identifies Tucker as a Catholic priest in Northern Virginia but does not mention the name of his church. Only a handful of his 1,000 daily blog visitors are members of Our Lady of Angels, he said.

"I do think a lot of people keep their blog as a way to evangelize, but when I put mine up, it was specifically not to do that," he said. "This is personal, not professional, for me."

Both Tucker and the Rev. Richard A. Lord, rector of the Church of the Holy Comforter Episcopal Church in Vienna, said their congregational ministries benefit from their blogs' roles as portals connecting them with other ministers.

"I'm constantly trying to help people understand that this is ministry for me," Lord said. "It's virtual preaching, really," he said of his blog, "World of Your Making."
Preach on, Padre! :)

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