Corpus Christi pastor
seeks online dialogue

Will Rice uses blog
to record thoughts,
extend ministry

By Claudia M. Williams
Staff Writer
Within hours of finishing his first sermon at Grace UMC, Corpus Christi, in June, Associate Pastor Will Rice logged onto his computer and tapped in the following:
Today was the first Sunday for John and I at Grace and everything went wonderfully. It is a bit nerve racking to lead worship at a new church since you are the one in a charge and the one who has been there the shortest amount of time.
More soon
will
Thus began Rice’s online chronicle of this next chapter of his life.
Rice is one of a growing number of pastors who use blogs in their ministries.
Blogs (the word is shorthand for Web log) are electronic journals, virtual open books of the blogger’s thoughts, ideas and opinions. Rice’s blog is one way he hopes to connect with the 1,000-plus member congregation he began serving June 12.
“When you serve a large church,” Rice said, “you might not have the chance to talk to every person.”
His blog allows ongoing interaction, Rice said. Readers can comment on the information he posts. People see not only Rice’s commentary but responses from other readers. When responses build upon responses, a conversation develops.
“This is an attempt to let people get to know me better,” Rice said. His blog entries range from reflections on Hurricane Emily to a photo taken at his graduation from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary—and, of course, thoughts and ideas on Christianity.
Rice began blogging while serving as associate pastor of Oak Hill UMC, Austin. He conducted the contemporary Sunday evening service there and created a blog as an extension of it.
“I would post a scripture reference before the service,” Rice said. “Then right after the service I would post the sermon and highlight some of the topics.”
Rice is posting his sermons in Corpus Christi on line, too. While sermons are available in print from the church office, not everyone can get there to pick one up, he noted.
Rice posted his July 17 sermon the next day. Later that Monday, he received this feedback:
I appreciate this service. I couldn’t make it to church yesterday, but now when my church family discusses the sermon, I can join in. Thanks for taking the time to bless those absent.
Feedback like that shows how a blog can be a bridge to the community, Rice said, not just to the church family.
“Anytime we use electronic or other alternate media,” he said, “we have the opportunity to reach people who we either haven’t reached before, or we reach them in a new way.”
Rice said he hopes people who don’t go to church but see his blog consider it an invitation to look around—like checking a store’s Web site before shopping there.
“It’s unthreatening,” he said. “You’re not committing to anything.”
According to Rice’s July 5 blog entry, as he was preparing his July 17 sermon, he thought about the song lyrics “inch by inch, row by row, gonna make this garden grow. …” He added this challenge:
Name the tune, who sang it, or the show it was sung on and win. (Once again, I have no prize.) Name the album it was eventually on and you get double points.
Within 30 minutes, he had three replies. Not many, but it’s a start.
Rice said he has received e-mails from people who say they read his blog but aren’t comfortable posting responses where anyone can read them. Generally people who comment in blogs do so under their first names only or by identifying themselves with a screen name that provides anonymity.
Rice said he hopes the “technologically savvy” members of the church will join in the online dialogue.
“The more people who do post, the more people will post,” he said. “They find out it’s OK to post. Once somebody posts, they’re more likely to post again.
“The best case is for someone to post a thought about a sermon and for other people to reply. Then you get a dialogue, people talking to each other.”
According to data from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 7 percent of the 120 million U.S. adults who use the Internet say they have created a blog, and 27 percent say they have read one.
Pew research specialist Amanda Lenhart said most people keep blogs to share their personal experiences and opinions.
To post a comment, “you don’t have to be a member of the blogger community,” Rice said. Anyone can post. He maintains editorial control, though, and will remove any posting that he deems inappropriate—although he rarely has to.
Rice said his blog will become part of the Web site Grace UMC is building. Until that site is open, he invites people to read the blog at http://willatgrace.blogspot.com.
“Comment away!” he said.