Quote:
Originally Posted by ZNPaaneah
Think about that. If the church is truly local with the authority being with the local elders then surely they could create their own website. But if the LRC is a franchise, all with the same image, the same menu of LSM, etc. Then the elders do not have that authority. Instead LSM creates a standard template and designates what can and cannot go into it. I think the website is confirmation that the LRC is a franchise.
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That was my impression. Just do a google of "churchin........." and you will get the LSM franchise in that city. The standard template has several pages: "Welcome", and "Beliefs", which have blurbs provided by LSM. Then there are "Brief History" and "Testimonies" (which on quite a few sites are still blank, indicating to me how little enthusiasm there was locally). Then there is a "Contact Us" page with names & phone numbers, and finally a "Links" page with LSM sites.
So much for following the leading of the Holy Spirit.
In their defense, a number of local churches have customized their web presences. Some are fairly well presented. But that the majority of them followed the cookie-cutter formula provided by LSM, and often in such a desultory way, speaks a loud testimony of itself.
If you look at a bunch of these
churchin.......... websites one after another, it really becomes dispiriting.