It should be no surprise that I take an interest in how Presbyterians world-wide are adopting and using social media, especially those with some official ecclesiastical capacity.  So today I note a few new additions to the roll of Presbyterian officers on web 2.0.

The one that I am most excited about is a new blog from the freshly-installed Moderator of the General Assembly of the Uniting Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa.  The Rev. George Marchinkowski is letting us follow him around on his moderatorial term with a blog appropriately titled Moderatorial Moments.  My own excitement comes from the fact that we now have a window into a Presbyterian branch that doesn’t pop up on the interwebs too much, at least that I have been able to track.  So far Rev. Marchinkowski’s writing has been mostly narration of the visits he has made, but even that provides interesting insights into that particular branch.

As I said, this is one of the Presbyterian churches that does not get as much exposure from what I can tell (although it may have something to do with multiple languages in Southern Africa and there may be more that I can’t read and my searches don’t find).  The denomination was formed eleven years ago with the merger of the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa, which was established by settlers coming into the region, and the Reformed Presbyterian Church, which originated from Scottish missions with the indigenous people.  A good article on the uniting of these churches and the UPCSA’s history can be found on the blog Grace and Mercy, written by the pastor of Centurion West Presbyterian Church, the Rev. Andries Combrink.

Turning to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, the Rev. Gradye Parsons, is breaking new ground for that branch with his weekly videos on his own YouTube channel.  So far he has tackled the election of elders, a three-part series on becoming an elder, and this week he posted the second part in his future of the church series.

I also realized that while I have pointed out the monthly columns web page of the PC(USA) General Assembly Moderator, Vice-Moderator and Stated Clerk, I neglected to also inform you of the official blogs for GA Moderator Cynthia Bolbach and Vice-Moderator Landon Whitsitt.

So enjoy these new sources of information and insight into the workings of Presbyterianism.