Accessing church with


Connecting beyond church walls By Susan M. Lang


M


artin Luther is frequently cited as a role model for increasing access to church for the people of his day. He translated the Bible into German


and wrote the Small Catechism so families could easily study the Christian faith at home. If Luther were alive today, imagine how he might use social media tools and digital technology to connect beyond our church walls, especially with those who are homebound and/or disabled. “For a church,


if it is to be in any shape and form incarnational, we need to connect where people are


and need to use the


language they are using,” said Nathan Swenson-Reinhold, a pastor of St. Stephen Lutheran Church, Longwood, Fla. “We use social media less as a strategy and more because we are called


to be in relationship with the world. We are an expression of God’s heart and God’s feet.” St. Stephen uses various social


media channels to connect with congregants, including sermon podcasts, YouTube and Vimeo videos, Facebook, Twitter, a blog, and live streaming on UStream.


“We haven’t had an intentional homebound


focus, but the Internet is a natural connect- ing point for the homebound,” Swenson- Reinhold said. “We have people who want


16 www.thelutheran.org


MARTIN LUTHER STATUE COURTESY OF WARTBURG THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, DUBUQUE, IOWA/SHUTTERSTOCK


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