Yesterday Susan Hogan, the writer for the independent ELCA news blog Pretty Good Lutherans disappeared from the face of the internet. Her blog went down. Her twitter was de-activated and she didn't answer emails or phone calls.
And her friends, people who only knew her online got worried. I was ready to try to figure out who her pastor was and call that person. Because people who poo-poo the internet and social networks as not a "real" community just don't know what they are talking about. I actually have met Susan in real life but even if I hadn't, I would not have been less concerned.
She's back, the site is back up and she explains what happened over there. Basically she's burning the candle at both ends. She thought the blog was just her little hobby and no one would notice if it qietly disappeared. She was shocked at how wrong she was.
But that blog takes a lot of work. I read it everyday and had ignored the donation button. When it went away and came back I realized I could not afford to ignore that donation button. It's a full time job to keep that site going. Susan says she doesn't like to ask for donations because of Haiti. Oh please. EVERYONE reading this can afford a donation for the PEOPLE of Haiti, the ANIMALS of Haiti, your Sunday offering, a $3.00 cup of coffee AND a donation to Pretty Good Lutherans.
I'd like to see her stay. She is returning previously collected donations. I told her that her attempt to collect donations wasn't out there enough, too modest, too Lutheran [spoken as one who has been on the stewardship committee for about 20 years.]
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