5Q4 > An Adventist blogger

Melody Tan’s blog celebrated its fourth anniversary in April.
We ask her what life’s like as an Adventist blogger.

1 How long have you been blogging and what got you into it? > I started blogging in April 2003 when I was volunteering in England. It was a way for me to keep in touch with family and friends without actually spamming their inbox with information they didn’t want. Having a blogsite meant if they visited my site, they wanted to know what I was up to. Because it’s so easy to use, I’ve just never stopped using it. My blogsite now serves not only as a communication means, but as a storage of things I write. It’s a way to share insights into public relations and religious communication and, most importantly, to give readers a little insight as to what Christianity means to me. It doesn’t turn one into a freak and even though I’m a Christian, I’m still normal like everybody else. I have my challenges and opinions, but with one point of diff erence—I have the knowledge that Jesus will watch out for me. I guess it’s my “mission fi eld” if you can put it that way.

2 What’s life like as an Adventist blogger— particularly now you work for the South Pacifi c Division? > I actually faced an identity crisis for a while when I first started working for the South Pacifi c Division. It was hard to draw the line between being a blogger who is a Seventh-day Adventist, and a blogger who works as a public-relations offi cer for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The nature of my job sometimes means whatever I say refl ects the values of the corporate church, which can be hard sometimes. Like any thinking human being who is still searching and learning, there are things I agree with and things I disagree with.

Some things I’m passionate about, and not so much about others.

Where does Melody as an Adventist end, and Melody the spokesperson for the Adventist Church begin? I guess I have to be careful about what I say as well, although that is not a problem most of the time.

That said, I do state very clearly at the top of my blogsite that my opinions are my own and do not refl ect that of my employer. I can only hope that when people read my blog, they don’t automatically assume I’m speaking on behalf of the church.

3 What kinds of positives and negatives have you encountered in your time? > I’ve been really lucky in my blogging “career.” I’ve made new friends through my blogsite whom I would not have ordinarily met. People have also been really supportive about what I do or write, even joining in discussions at times. It’s also a fantastic place to get research for some of the articles I write. As a freelance writer, blogging has also helped, fi rst, in honing my skill and, second, as an online portfolio for editors to read through.

4 How do you think Christians can best represent and communicate about God online? > Like how you would in reality. Become relevant.

Also, people do not take very well to being told what to do or what they should believe in. If you lead by example and are able to show them how your life is diff erent—and better, because of God in your life, they will become more receptive to you.

5 Do you see blogging as a way in which the church can engage in current culture? > Yes, but only inasmuch as the church attempts to engage in current culture. Just because we’re participating in something that is “trendy” does not mean we’re not going to end up creating a subculture of our own. We can still easily alienate others online with what we talk about and the jargon we use.

If we want to engage in current culture through blogging, we will need to do it on their terms, in their language and on topics they are interested in.