I have previously mentioned a couple of the official Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) blogs. These are hosted on Typepad. I have stumbled upon a list of several more blogs on the sight, one of them fairly new. Here is a rundown:
Main blog:
http://presbyterian.typepad.com/
When I first saw this it struck me as a “proof of concept” because it only had a couple of posts all from September, 2006. Checking again, I find that it is still sort of a trial, or minimal site, but it now has two videos about the work of General Assembly Council and the church mission structure posted back in February. They are several minutes each, but well done and a good intro to the national church. However, with a name like “Test Video” it still appears “not ready for prime-time.”
Linda Valentine
http://www.presbyterian.typepad.com/lindavalentine/
Since the debut of this blog for Ms. Valentine’s trip to Asia last fall she has continued to post to it about once a week. It provides a nice connection to the Executive Director of the General Assembly Council.
A more expansive view — Encounters with Presbyterians and our Seminaries
http://presbyterian.typepad.com/seminaries/
This blog, written by Lee Hinson-Hasty, Coordinator of Theological Education and Seminary Relations, appears to have been started at the beginning of November 2007 shortly after Linda started her blog. As the blog title, and Mr. Hinson-Hasty job title, suggest, it is about the interface of PC(USA) seminaries with the wider church. It is from his side-bar that I found a couple of the new blogs. And Lee got tagged and participated in the recent Presbyterian meme that went around, including an intellectual discussion of its origin.
Food and Faith
http://presbyterian.typepad.com/foodandfaith/
This appears to be the first regular blog on this site. It is maintained by the Presbyterian Hunger Program and has entries dating back to March 2007. It also is the only one with widgets in the side bars.
Swords into Plowshares
http://presbyterian.typepad.com/peacemaking/
This is a blog that I have previously referred to as well and has been written by representatives of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program since February 2008.
Reclaiming the Gospel
http://presbyterian.typepad.com/erichoey
This is one of the blogs I had not found before. It is written by Eric Hoey, the Director of Evangelism and Church Growth for the General Assembly Council and I wish I had found it earlier because I appreciate Eric’s candor, freshness, and insights. It also has entries back to February, 2008.
Vital Signs — Changing Churches for Changing Times
http://presbyterian.typepad.com/vitalsigns
This is a brand new blog with one entry dated March 24. The author is Phil Tom is the associate for the Small Church and Community Ministry Office. I look forward to reading more from this timely blog.
So, what next? Will we start to see most of the program areas represented by blogs? Will the next Moderator of General Assembly have an “official” blog? Stay tuned.