Welcome to the Blog

Contributors: Brad Waggoner, Children’s Director and Pastor Melanie Fierbaugh

Hi Friends! Welcome to the first of our brand new blog! Each week on Thursday morning we will be releasing a new blog post full of little nuggets of encouragement and hope. Our blog contributors will be the ministry staff from Keystone United Methodist Church and guests. We hope you’ll join us each week on this journey and see what our blog contributors are saying.

You may be wondering why we are doing a blog? Let's dive into that. Today we are joined by Pastor Melanie Fierbaugh and Brad Waggoner, Children’s Director both from Keystone United Methodist Church. To make it easy for you to follow our conversation we will put the names of who is sharing when our words are not a joint statement.

Why is doing a blog important right now?

Brad: I think a blog is a great way for our team to share things that God has laid on their heart. We don’t always have time to share everything on Sunday morning or Wednesday nights. I think it is a great way for members of our ministry team to connect with some of you that we may not see all the time. As an example I spend a lot of time with kids but I don’t get to share much with our adults. Plus a good blog is a great way to spend a cozy morning with some coffee.

Melanie: I love when technology allows us to connect to our people in new and fresh ways. While blogs have been around for awhile, they are certainly enjoying a dramatic increase among younger believers. I see this as an additional way to assist our people in deepening their faith in Jesus and in learning how to follow Christ.

How do you hope people will engage with the new blog?

Brad: I hope that people will engage by finding encouragement and hope through our post. I would love to see people sharing the post with their friends that they think need to hear what that week's post was about. Our readers can ask questions or comment their own thoughts and we will have our contributors respond to them. I hope we can form a community conversation through each of our posts.

Melanie: I am praying that people will read our post and then engage with us in robust discussion. This is one of the ways we grow, to engage in deep theological discussion. In church it can be difficult to ask questions, especially if we think everyone else already knows the answer. This will create space for people to grow their faith in another forum.

What kind of things will the Blog cover?

Our Blog contributors will be given lots of flexibility to cover topics they feel God is laying on their heart. Our Blog will focus on these four pillars: worship, faith formation, church history, or biblical perspective. It is our hope that through each week's post you will find encouragement, hope and know that you are Loved by your creator.

How will I know when a new Blog post is available?

New posts will be available each Thursday at 8:00 AM (You will have access to these any time after they post though). Links will be posted on our social media as each new post is available.

What do you plan to do for your first couple of posts?

Brad: I am still thinking about this but I know one of mine will be aimed at parents and technology with their kids. I think that with today’s ever-changing landscape, our kids continue to have massive amounts of information thrown at them along with having unprecedented access to information. This is a big topic though and may end up being a series from me. I am not 100% sold on any other ideas right now but I know a lot of my post will be about faith formation with children or something that I think will be helpful for parents. It’s hard out there and they need encouragement now more than ever.

Melanie: I am still discerning, however, I can see exploring practical ways to grow your faith and develop new spiritual practices. I also want to do a question and answer series where people can submit hot topics they have always wanted to ask.

Closing Thoughts…

That’s all for now. Be sure to keep checking back and connect with us through our blog. We hope that it will bring you encouragement, hope, and allows you to know that you are loved by your Creator. If you have questions or comments, please leave them in the comments or email us, we are always here for you. We would also love to hear your feedback about what topics you would like to see us write about! Until next time we hope you have an awesome week!