{"id":10250,"date":"2014-06-25T10:54:44","date_gmt":"2014-06-25T16:54:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/?p=10250"},"modified":"2014-06-25T10:54:44","modified_gmt":"2014-06-25T16:54:44","slug":"christ-has-no-online-presence-but-yours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2014\/06\/25\/christ-has-no-online-presence-but-yours\/","title":{"rendered":"Christ Has No Online Presence But Yours"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"chlara23.1155812460.jesus_online\"
Photo courtesy of Social Media Sunday<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Did I get your attention with that headline? The catchy phrase comes from a digital\u00a0initiative to be held this weekend, when churches\u00a0around the country will stage a Social Media Sunday<\/a>, including my own parish of Trinity Episcopal <\/a>in Iowa. Parishioners are encouraged to bring electronic devices to church and to live tweet and post during the services.<\/p>\n

With\u00a0apologies to Teresa of Avila, the organizers explain the\u00a0initiative\u00a0this way:<\/p>\n

Christ has no online presence but yours,<\/span><\/em>
No blog, no Facebook page but yours,<\/span><\/em>
Yours are the tweets through which love touches this world,<\/span><\/em>
Yours are the posts through which the Gospel is shared,<\/span><\/em>
Yours are the updates through which hope is revealed.<\/span><\/em>
Christ has no online presence but yours,<\/span><\/em>
No blog, no Facebook page but yours.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

I love it! For not surprisingly, I\u2019m a big believer both in the power of the Spirit and the power of the Internet. In my home town, for example, I\u2019m greatly impressed by what the newly launched Journey Church<\/a> is doing with its engaging and vibrant media presence. It\u2019s just one example of the growing number of faith communities that skillfully blend digital and in-person communities.<\/p>\n

\"cheers-bar-regulars\"
The Holy Rover is like the TV series Cheers, only instead of Norm you might find Thomas Merton at the bar.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And certainly\u00a0this blog is a on-going source of inspiration and meaning\u00a0for me\u2013and I hope for many of you as well.<\/p>\n

You may be interested in an update on how things are going here at The Holy Rover. As you old-timers may remember, this\u00a0blog began in 2009 and a year later became part of the\u00a0larger Spiritual Travels<\/a> website.\u00a0I like to think of The Holy Rover as a kind of online Irish pub, serving drafts\u00a0of spirituality instead of Guinness. Like the bar in the TV series\u00a0Cheers, <\/em>it\u2019s frequented\u00a0by a regular group of customers who have come to know each other through the magic of flying electrons. Spiritual Travels<\/a>, in contrast, is like a library, with material that\u00a0is more easily accessible to folks who want to dip in with a single question. What\u2019s it like to stay in a Buddhist temple in Kyoto<\/a>?\u00a0Why do people go to Santiago de Compostela on pilgrimage<\/a>? are some of the\u00a0search queries that lead people to the site.<\/p>\n

Each month, about\u00a08,000 unique visitors (more if you count repeat visitors) wander into the Spiritual Travels\u00a0library, reading about 20,000 pages. Some stay for a minute, and some read 50 or more pages (while I can\u2019t see individual addresses, the diagnostics for the website\u00a0give all sorts of other details\u2013for example, while about half of my readers hail from the U.S., I\u2019ve had clicks from\u00a0Tanzania, Mongolia, and Indonesia, coming from\u00a0people whom\u00a0I hope have used the translation button at right). Every few weeks\u00a0I\u2019ll get a personal note from one of these readers, often telling me about some trip they\u2019ve taken as a result of my suggestion. These emails make my day, as you can imagine.<\/p>\n

For those of you who hang out at The Holy Rover, you may not even be aware that Spiritual Travels exists. If you want to check it out, I invite you to\u00a0browse its\u00a0Destinations <\/a>page. A lot of this material may look familiar, for much of it started as blog posts.<\/p>\n

There are a variety of reasons why I continue to labor over Spiritual Travels. I get\u00a0some money from donations (Thank you very much, generous patrons! You\u2019ll find the donations button\u00a0in the upper right\u00a0corner of the page.) There\u2019s a small\u00a0trickle of funds from advertising. There are speaking gigs\u00a0that come to me as a result of this website (send me a note at erickson.lori@gmail.com<\/em> if you want to learn more about the various Dog and Pony Shows I can present). I\u2019m also happy to write for other print and online publications on any aspect of\u00a0spiritual journeying.<\/p>\n

Most of all, I love having the excuse to go to a place I\u2019m interested in and ask lots of questions. I\u2019ve met the most fascinating people through my travels\u2013from Buddhist monks and Roman Catholic nuns to Lakota wise men. And I\u2019ve met you, my faithful readers, mostly online but sometimes in person.<\/p>\n

So if\u00a0you enjoy\u00a0this blog, I hope you\u2019ll help spread the word about it. On Facebook, type in Holy Rover and you can \u201clike\u201d it. Tweet it; talk about it; email a friend about it. However you communicate, I appreciate the good words. And drop in any time at The Holy Rover. There\u2019s always a seat waiting for you at the bar.<\/p>\n

Finally,\u00a0you might want to\u00a0watch this video about\u00a0why it\u2019s not such a bad idea to tweet your way through a church\u00a0service this coming Sunday:<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Did I get your attention with that headline? The catchy phrase comes from a digital\u00a0initiative to be held this weekend, when churches\u00a0around the country will stage a Social Media Sunday, including my own parish of Trinity Episcopal in Iowa. Parishioners are encouraged to bring electronic devices to church and to live tweet and post during […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2582,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[144],"tags":[657,743],"class_list":["post-10250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spirituality-and-social-media","tag-social-media-sunday","tag-trinity-episcopal-church"],"yoast_head":"\nChrist Has No Online Presence But Yours<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Did I get your attention with that headline? The catchy phrase comes from a digital\u00a0initiative to be held this weekend, when churches\u00a0around the country\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2014\/06\/25\/christ-has-no-online-presence-but-yours\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Christ Has No Online Presence But Yours\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Did I get your attention with that headline? The catchy phrase comes from a digital\u00a0initiative to be held this weekend, when churches\u00a0around the country\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2014\/06\/25\/christ-has-no-online-presence-but-yours\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Holy Rover\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-06-25T16:54:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/files\/2014\/06\/chlara23.1155812460.jesus_online.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lori Erickson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lori Erickson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2014\/06\/25\/christ-has-no-online-presence-but-yours\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2014\/06\/25\/christ-has-no-online-presence-but-yours\/\",\"name\":\"Christ Has No Online Presence But Yours\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-06-25T16:54:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-06-25T16:54:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/#\/schema\/person\/66e798593cfa9b70fcd5c97aa9ca7933\"},\"description\":\"Did I get your attention with that headline? The catchy phrase comes from a digital\u00a0initiative to be held this weekend, when churches\u00a0around the country\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2014\/06\/25\/christ-has-no-online-presence-but-yours\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2014\/06\/25\/christ-has-no-online-presence-but-yours\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2014\/06\/25\/christ-has-no-online-presence-but-yours\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Christ Has No Online Presence But Yours\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/\",\"name\":\"Holy Rover\",\"description\":\"Practical Advice for Spiritual Travels\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/#\/schema\/person\/66e798593cfa9b70fcd5c97aa9ca7933\",\"name\":\"Lori Erickson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eccf48891e91c03ddbb504238ae4c524?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eccf48891e91c03ddbb504238ae4c524?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lori Erickson\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/author\/lerickson\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Christ Has No Online Presence But Yours","description":"Did I get your attention with that headline? The catchy phrase comes from a digital\u00a0initiative to be held this weekend, when churches\u00a0around the country","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2014\/06\/25\/christ-has-no-online-presence-but-yours\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Christ Has No Online Presence But Yours","og_description":"Did I get your attention with that headline? The catchy phrase comes from a digital\u00a0initiative to be held this weekend, when churches\u00a0around the country","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2014\/06\/25\/christ-has-no-online-presence-but-yours\/","og_site_name":"Holy Rover","article_published_time":"2014-06-25T16:54:44+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/files\/2014\/06\/chlara23.1155812460.jesus_online.jpg"}],"author":"Lori Erickson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lori Erickson","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2014\/06\/25\/christ-has-no-online-presence-but-yours\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2014\/06\/25\/christ-has-no-online-presence-but-yours\/","name":"Christ Has No Online Presence But Yours","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-06-25T16:54:44+00:00","dateModified":"2014-06-25T16:54:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/#\/schema\/person\/66e798593cfa9b70fcd5c97aa9ca7933"},"description":"Did I get your attention with that headline? The catchy phrase comes from a digital\u00a0initiative to be held this weekend, when churches\u00a0around the country","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2014\/06\/25\/christ-has-no-online-presence-but-yours\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2014\/06\/25\/christ-has-no-online-presence-but-yours\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2014\/06\/25\/christ-has-no-online-presence-but-yours\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Christ Has No Online Presence But Yours"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/","name":"Holy Rover","description":"Practical Advice for Spiritual Travels","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/#\/schema\/person\/66e798593cfa9b70fcd5c97aa9ca7933","name":"Lori Erickson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eccf48891e91c03ddbb504238ae4c524?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eccf48891e91c03ddbb504238ae4c524?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Lori Erickson"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/author\/lerickson\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2582"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10250\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}