Last year around the Feast of Tabernacles my grandmother died. We were very close—growing up, I spent a lot of time at her house. She was 90 years old and lived a very full life, but it’s always hard to lose a loved one.

At her funeral service the number of people who showed up to encourage my mom and me at the funeral home overwhelmed me. Our Church family showed up to support us at a time we needed them the most. This is what we are to do as brethren. “When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours” (Romans 1:12, New Living Translation).

I was encouraged by the outpouring of compassion and kind words by the people who showed up. I was blessed to have these connections through the Church—the one thing that links all of us together.

So what does this have to do with the new website launch?

We need to make connections. In fact, God tells us that we must make connections! “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near” (Hebrews 10:25 NLT).

The Media Department, Information Technology Department and Ministerial and Member Services Department have worked together on the new website to help you make connections with other brethren, with people new to God’s truth and most importantly to God.

Connecting With Other Brethren

Adding Friends

The new UCG.org allows you to make connections with your friends without having to worry about “Facebook stalkers” or companies selling your e-mail address. After registering for an account you can search for people you know and add them as friends. After you have requested their friendship and they have confirmed that they know you, it opens up much more functionality for you.

Chat

You can chat with anyone that you have added as a friend in real time. This will help you stay connected with your friends throughout the week instead of just seeing them one time a week at church. It’s a great way to encourage each other and share things you have found that might be useful to someone going through a trial.

Messaging

If you would rather swap messages in a less instant way, you can send a private message to your friends. Only those you have added as friends can send private messages to you. When you receive a private message the site will notify you that you have a message waiting. After reading the message you can reply and wait for a response from your friend.

Connecting With Users Who Are Not Members

One of the most important parts of the new site is the ability to connect with people who are new to God’s truth. These people probably don’t have a Church family like we do to support them and encourage them in their times of need. Our websites average over 3.5 million visitors every year—3.5 million people who have an opportunity to hear God’s Word. We have the unique opportunity to connect with these people and show them what a member of the Church is really like—to truly let our light shine.

Making Constructive And Helpful Comments

One way you can connect with these users is to leave constructive and loving comments, even if you disagree with something or someone. Every article, blog post, video, etc., will now have a place to post comments. Everybody will be able to see your comments, and you will be able to see what everyone else thinks about the item.

This is a great way to spark discussion and enhance the experience of others who come across that item. Everyone will also be able to click on your name and become friends with you. It’s up to the entire Church to make a good impression on these 3.5 million people who are closely watching what we say and how we’re saying it. (See “How to respond to comments”). 

Adding People As Your Friend

If you see a comment from someone you feel like you could connect with, you are able to request them as a friend, which will open up chat and messaging capability. What a powerful tool! You can connect with people who have real questions about God’s truth and begin to form a relationship with them. 

Connecting With God

Of course, connecting with God is the most important part of our lives. One of the goals we had with the new site is connecting people with content that is useful to them. The best way for a user to do this is to fill out a profile. When you fill out a profile you can provide information to the site that is used to recommend articles that will be most interesting or relevant for you. For instance, if you are a single man who likes surfing and hiking, you would be more likely to connect with articles that draw analogies from surfing and hiking. The new site also has enhanced search features, topical indexes and many other features that will help you study God’s Word easily and effectively.

How Can I Start Making Connections?

You can start making connections today by heading to the site and registering for an account. Browse the site and find an article you’d like to comment on. Find an old friend and reconnect with them. You can start making connections and helping others in their journey toward the Kingdom of God today at the new UCG.org!