Hopescrolling
I recently received a Better Health Newsletter in the mail from Concordia Plans of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. One of the articles discussed the concept of “doomscrolling,” the habit of scrolling through news or social media apps looking for the latest updates on what’s happening with the pandemic, wildfires, murder rates, etc. Doomscrolling refers to the tendency to continue to surf or scroll through bad news, even though that news is saddening, disheartening, or depressing. Many people are finding themselves reading continuously bad news without the ability to stop or step back.
Doomscrolling can reinforce negative thoughts and a negative mindset, something that can greatly impact your mental health. Consuming negative news has been linked with greater fear, stress, anxiety, and sadness. It can also disrupt your sleep and make you less attentive and effective at work.
Due to the pandemic, more people are spending time online. Even before the pandemic began, one of Trinity’s main targets was to increase our online presence, which enables Trinity to engage people with the Gospel in the time, medium, and location most convenient to them. Over the last few months, we have redesigned our website, began livestreaming worship services, and increased the amount and quality of our social media posts.
As we stepped up our online presence, we were not doing it to show how wonderful we are or what we have accomplished. Rather, we want to show people how wonderful our God is and what He has accomplished through our ministry. Instead of “doomscrolling” through bad news, we invite you to start “hopescrolling” through the Good News of our Savior.
We want to engage with you and add value to your life by leading you to Christ. We want to develop a relationship with you and let you know that you are an important part of our family. We want you to know that we see you and celebrate you. We are here for you, and we want to help you.
We believe that faith is a full-time activity and social media is a part of our everyday lives, so it makes sense that the two should overlap. We invite you to follow Pastor Justin Krupsky on Facebook. We also have a Trinity Utica account on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin, and YouTube.
Through our Facebook page, we also offer groups for each of our main ministry areas. You may join all of them, or choose the ones you are most interested in to receive more information about that particular area of ministry.
The online world offers so much more space for you to actively engage with Worship by chatting along during services, asking questions, requesting live prayer, and continuing the discussion throughout the week, not just on Sundays. We post recap videos and quotes from the sermons to offer a spark of hope in the middle of your week. You can see what our students are up to in our School ministry. You can grow your faith through online Bible studies and insights from God’s Word from our Christian Growth team. You can receive Christian Care and mental health insights from our Counseling ministry. Our Family Life ministry provides parenting resources to help faith formation in children and teens, marriage topics and seminars, and resources and events for seniors. You can discover new ways to serve our community through our Social Ministry posts and blogs. Social media provides a wonderful opportunity to stay connected to our ministries at any time.
When we focus on the bad news that is happening in the world around us, it is easy to give in to gloom and doom. However, as the Church, we believe we are called to something greater. We are called to lead with hope, trusting in God and His plan for us. The next time you find yourself overwhelmed with the negativity on social media, stop by Trinity Utica’s page and do some “hopescrolling,” and then share that hope with others.
“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” – 1 Peter 3:15