Forward Today: In Faith, a Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Dear friends,

The advertising world gave us the phrase, “a picture is worth a thousand words” and variations of the same. Early in the twentieth century, advertisers were encouraging the use of visuals to create the desired image rather than paragraphs of text. Just over 100 years after the first known usage, and the saying is still true.

We’re a visual culture, and so I hope the church is always looking for ways to connect with people using images of various kinds. Congregations can use Instagram to connect with local communities. Among other wonderful attributes of the Episcopal Church, our liturgy makes for great photo ops! By the way, if you’re not already following Forward Movement on Instagram, give us a follow.

A few months ago, our staff started thinking about how we might use infographics to offer teaching and inspiration. When we published a summary of what we had learned in RenewalWorks about the spiritual life of the Episcopal Church, we made an infographic and published the paper. The infographic brilliantly shares much of what’s in the paper.

Then we started thinking more broadly. We worked with the Rev. Chris Corbin from the Diocese of South Dakota, who has a knack for making beautiful and informative infographics. So far, we’ve released two sets of these graphics. One set covers Easter and Holy Week liturgies, and the other does some teaching around basics of the Episcopal Church. You can buy the sets or individual graphics. (We have one coming in Spanish soon, too.) These graphics are designed to be used inside congregations for information and teaching, or as part of evangelism and community connection.

This is all part of our work at Forward Movement to meet the needs of today’s church while preparing for tomorrow’s church. Are you using graphics and photos in your church? Are you using images to share the story of God’s love for us in Jesus Christ?

Let us know on social media (Facebook or Twitter) how you are saying thousands of words with images. And tell us how we’re doing at providing the tools you need as disciples and evangelists of Jesus Christ.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn
Executive Director


Today’s Flash Sale: The Path

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