From Your “Become a Friend” Pastor…

"Friend Request"

I have just joined Facebook. Reluctantly, I have entered the “social media” movement that is changing the way we communicate in society. Having finally mastered email, I now feel like the ancient character of Sisyphus, condemned to push a great rock up a hill, only to have the rock tumble back again and again. People are not relying upon email anymore – they are on Facebook, or “tweeting” on Twitter, or texting on “smart” phones at a pace that mocks my arthritic thumbs. Social media is the present, and it is the gateway to the future.

It is a revolution. I have spoken to you of it in the abstract; now I’m coming to know it by experience. And, I’m humbled. None of my training or experience has prepared me for the deluge of personal information and expressions of opinion – serious and absurd – that Facebook contains.

“Friends” from every stage in my life are being drawn like a magnet to my “page.” Mike, with whom I grew up (our backyards merged); Diane and Decima from High School; Tom from seminary. I had lost contact with these folks. Now, decades later, we are finding each other. The waves of nostalgia Facebook has triggered are like the ocean tide. Deep history is suddenly current.

Borrowing from my new Facebook experience, through this old-fashioned newsletter, I am making a “friend request.” The American Baptist Churches of the Rochester / Genesee Region (ABCRGR) depends on its annual Friends of the Region Campaign. The recession has affected the budgets of every member congregation in ABCRGR. Less money is coming to support denominational ministries through church budgets. Our own Mission/Outreach Committee has agonized over the $17,000 reduction in mission allocation in the 2012 budget. We have been forced, by the congregation’s decision, to cut our direct denominational support by 18%. This translates to a loss to the ABCRGR of about $3,000.

I remember well from my days as Executive Minister that when the churches got a cold, the Region wound up with the flu! A remedy, if not a cure, is for our individual members to become “Friends of the Region.” I am requesting, with the blessing of the Missions/Outreach Committee, that our members donate directly to the ABCRGR. Thus, you will become a “friend.” But, you will be more than a friend. You will be a partner in the breadth of ministry our Region makes possible.

Send donations in any amount to ABCRGR, 1100 South Goodman Street, Rochester, NY 14620. There is a list on the Vitality Table. If you are already a “Friend of the Region” or if you decide to become a "Friend," please put your name on the list. This way we can feel the partnership grow, much like my “friends” list on Facebook! God bless you all for your generous support of ministry.

Pastor Ken