Presbyterians Today: Blogs By and For Unsung Heros of the Church

The December Best of the Blogs column in Presbyterians Today highlights several blogs written by some of the "unsung heroes" of the church: Sunday School teachers, church secretaries and pastor spouses. You can read it online here.

This is my last Best of the Blogs column for PT. Over the past year I found it increasingly difficult to find active blogs that were written by or for Presbyterians that I had not previously highlighted. More and more bloggers are using Facebook and Twitter rather than writing posts for their blogs. So I let the editor know that I would not be continuing to write this feature next year.

My thanks to the staff at Presbyterians Today for giving me the opportunity to contribute to the magazine for the past couple of years. I don't know whether Best of the Blogs feature will be continued, but if it is, then I wish all the best to whoever takes it over.

Best of the Blogs: Youth and Young Adults

The October issue of Presbyterians Today is now available online. My Best of the Blogs column this month highlights youth and young adult blogs,  including Madame Future Moderator (written by seminarian Talitha P.) who attended last summer's General Assembly and writes about her experiences (note:you'll have to check the July archives to read those posts).

Check it out!

Best of the Blogs: Bridging a Multiethnic Gap Via Cyberspace

The August issue of Presbyterians Today is now available online here.

In this month's Best of the Blogs article, several blogs written by and for Asian American Presbyterians and Christians are highlighted.

My RevGalPals will be particularly interested in the blog More Than Serving Tea, written by a group of Asian American Christian women of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filiphina and Pakistani heritage who focus on how God has helped them move past the constraints of gender and culture.

Presbyterians Today: Young Adult Volunteer Blogs

The May issue of Presbyterians Today focuses on World Mission, so my column The Best of The Blogs introduces several Young Adult Volunteer bloggers.

The PCUSA's Young Adult Volunteer program encourages the participants to create and maintain blogs to share their experiences with friends, family and supporters.

Log on here to learn some of what God is doing through these amazing young people as they work in mission at home and around the world.

Best of the Blogs: From Blog to Book

The March online edition of Presbyterians Today is now available. Click here to read my article : From Blog to Book, featuring an interview with Presbyterian Blogger and author Rev. Adam S. McHugh.

McHugh used materials from his blog Introverted Church in his recently published book, Introverts in the Church. He is continuing the conversation on this topic in his blog. Check it out!

Best of the Blogs: Online Minister Moms

I don't always call attention to the Best of the Blogs articles that I write for the PCUSA's denominational magazine, Presbyterians Today, but I do always link them on my sidebar.

But I think many of my Gentle Readers will be interested in reading the most recent article "Online Minister Moms" because it features four members of the RevGalBlogPals webring, three of whom are also PresbyBloggers: Jan Edmiston of A Church for Starving Artists, Carol Howard Merrit of Tribal Church, Melissa DeRosia of Sacred Screaming and UCC pastor Martha Hoverson (a/k/a Songbird) of Reflectionary.

The theme of the January/February issue of Presbyterians Today is ministers who are also mothers, so you may want to check out the other articles posted online here.

My thanks to each of them for taking the time to answer my questions for the article!

About Numbers

Here's my latest Best of the Blogs column for the October issue of Presbyterians Today. It's About Numbers.

The biggest challenge in writing this feature for PT is that the deadline is 3 months in advance of its publication--an eternity in the land of the blogs! However the annual decline in the PCUSA's membership numbers is always a timely topic for discussion.

I've been asked to continue the column next year, so I'd like to ask my Gentle Readers to give me suggestions for blogs to feature that would be of interest to PT readers or any other ideas you may have in the comments.

Muchas gracias!

QG, the columnist

Truly, one never knows where blogging will lead you!

I've been asked by the denominational PresbyMagazine to write a "Best of the Blogs" column on a monthly basis. They offered me an official contract and remuneration and everything just like a real, professional writer! (Note to self: get El Jefe to review contract. Remember old law school adage--she who acts as her own lawyer has a fool for a client.)

Here's where I can use some help from my readers--both Presby and otherwise. This is a print magazine with a deadline that is two months in advance of its publication. That is an eternity in the blogosphere which moves at the speed of light.

I'm thinking that the columns can focus on different categories of blogs that might be interesting to the denominational readership instead of on specific posts that would be pretty dated by the time of publication. For example: pastor's blogs or staff blogs or blogs that focus on polity issues, or blogs that focus on different areas of ministry such as mission or youth. The column would emphasize PresbyBlogs, but would also include bloggers of other denominations. What do you think?

I'd love any suggestions for this venture. And yes, I'll be happy to give credit where credit is due!