United Methodist ‘Vision’ now online only
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- September
- 15
I’ve written some recently about pressures facing the newspaper industry and my transition from a full-time religion reporter to general assignments.
Interestingly (at least to me), the longtime newspaper of the New York Conference of the United Methodist Church has just announced that it is suspending publication and moving entirely to the Web.
This is significant because so many dioceses and conferences have depended for so long on their weekly or monthly newspapers to get the word out. The United Methodist Church, at least in New York, gets virtually no coverage in the mainstream media (except from me, of course).
So what does it mean that “The Vision” is going online?
Certainly, a large proportion of United Methodists in New York are seniors. Many of them, you have to figure, are online at this point. But some are not. They will lose The Vision.
I should mention, though, that the online Vision is available in a large-type version for “pastors to download and print for their parishioners who have a harder time reading the paper.”
Good thinking, there.
Religious denominations have to become more tech-savvy if they are going to connect with younger folks. We all know that mainline Protestant denominations, in general, are struggling to do so in New York.
The Sept. 18 version of the online Vision, in fact, includes an article about getting the word out to youth. It says: “I’m here to confirm what you already suspect: kids don’t check their email. To them, email is old technology, only good for formal communications with teachers, bosses, and other adults. For high schoolers, it’s all about texting and Facebook.”
True. It’s probably a good sign that United Methodists realize this kind of stuff.
Otherwise, the online Vision has the same sort of content as you’ve seen in many religious publications: a calendar page, a piece about Bishop Jeremiah Park running to raise awareness for a charity, a couple of shorts about of church anniversaries, and notices of several retreats, including one to Oberammergau, Germany, for the famous Passion Play.
There’s a box about three upcoming lunches on Long Island to talk about the Great Immigration Debate. I hope The Vision reports on what people have to say.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 at 2:54 pm by Gary Stern.
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The world of religion, we don't have to tell you, is vast. The purpose of this blog is for Stern to note, flag and comment on some of the more interesting religious developments on the scene – weighty and quirky, somber and laughable, far away and just down the road. He won't interpret Scripture, take sides in conflicts or judge anyone. But he will take advantage of the journalist's license to observe.
