One of the things on my mind most recently is the concept of collaboration, and how the Church can better harness this synergy within its congregations and in its communities. But my biggest fear is that many churches will continue to maintain hierarchical structures out of fear of losing power and will be unable to adapt to the emerging online world (for lack of a better phrase). Many church structures are steeped in polity, organizational styles, etc. that often don’t allow them to adjust.
In their book, Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams state that the Net Generation, born between 1977 and 1996 will dominate the 21st century, and I think that many churches will look around at their age demographics and fail to take this into consideration. Instead of seeing thousands of young people who are wanting to contribute and participate in the Church, seeking a voice to make change, many churches and organization instead will continue to reinforce power and status through hierarchy, outdated ordination requirements, etc. Tapscott and Williams reiterate again and again that those organizations, companies, etc, who fail to adapt and change to this generation will do so at their own peril, because this generation is different.
I wish I had read this book before I wrote my chapter in the soon to be published book The New Media Frontier: Blogging, Vlogging and Podcasting for Christ. It seems like I’m gathering more information and finding more sources after my chapter already went to print, but I make the case that youth culture who has been raised in the world of Facebook and MySpace will no longer go through the traditional channels in the Church (i.e. pastors, directors, etc.) to accomplish tasks, get permission or initiate change. Rather, they will see those traditional structures as hindrances to what they can do already online and in their networks. So churches must learn to adapt and innovate along with this generation, and if they do, they will harness a generation that can bring great life and innovation to the Church both locally and globally.
All generations in developed (and increasingly, developing) countries use the Web. Seniors, for example, have time to spend and new motives for going online–communicating with their grandchildren may be the most important. However, a new generation of youngsters has grown up online, and they are bringing a new ethic of openness, participation, and interactivity to workplaces, communities, and markets. For this reason, they merit special investigation. They represent the new breed of workers, learners, consumers, and citizens. Think of them as the demographic engine of collaboration and the reason why the perfect storm is not a flash in the pan but a persistent tempest that will gather force as they mature…
Rather than being passive recipients of mass consumer culture, they Net Gen spend time searching, reading, scrutinizing, authenticating, collaborating, and organizing (everything from their MP3 files to protest demonstrations). The Internet makes life an ongoing, massive collaboration, and this generation loves it. They typically can’t imagine a life where citizens didn’t have the tools to constantly think critically, exchange views, challenge, authenticate, verify, or debunk. While their parents were passive consumers of media, youth today are active creators of media content and hungry for interaction…
They are also a generation of scrutinizers. They are more skeptical of authority as they sift through information at the speed of light by themselves or with their network of peers. Though they have great self-confidence than previous generations they are nevertheless worried about their futures. It’s not their own abilities that they are insecure about–it’s the external adult world and how it may lack opportunity.
Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything by Dan Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams, (pp. 46-47)
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Rhett- Much of what we write we quit believing pretty quickly. Great book though. I’m reading through it too.
Part of what I’m thinking though is how they tend to label the “generation” which will bring all the change. Granted I’m outside the scope of that age group but I think that there are many older people who get it and understand how collaborative leadership needs to be the direction they go.
I think I get irked by anyone labeling because I also see a ton of people in that age group who can’t seem to get there head around how things are changing or “must” change.
Lars:
I agree that people in that age range always don’t get the collaborative mentality, and those outside of it do as well.
I think the authors would agree, but what they are really pointing out…I believe…is that this age range is really the first that has grown up in this internet age, where participation and collaboration are pretty much a requirement. So that large amount of people will bring some assumptions into the workplace, etc., whether they be subtle or not so much.
I agree with the labeling though, but I think there is something different about this generation as we have talked about. I don’t think I will forget about this book soon….keeps me up at night. I need to stop reading it when I go to bed. Can’t slow my mind down to sleep.
Another recent study shows that, contrary to the supposition that the web would democratize the flow of indormation, we are all merely repackaging our news from the same few original sources:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2008-03-17-web-journalism-changes_N.htm?csp=34
So in some ways, the old power structures take on a new kind of importance.
That makes total sense……I wonder though if eventually the major news sources will disappear and you will see a newstream that is much more diverse, etc, etc. I think our tendency as humans though is to bring order to chaos….so anytime hierarchy and traditional means are crumbling, there is a sense that we like the freedom and open frontier, but the chaos can sometimes be too much for us. I wonder if we can learn to tolerate the chaos more in the future?
Hey Rhett, given the information you’re taking in, how is it affecting your journey with the PCUSA? Where are you seeing the adjustments happening in your particular info-scape?
Chris,
Great question. It has messed me up. My journey with the PCUSA is ending in June. I pulled my name from the ordination process….and I will no longer be at Bel Air after June. This has nothing to do with not being at Bel Air, but it has to do with not wanting to get ordained in the PCUSA. I just have a real hard time with the top down, hierarchical structure of the PCUSA. I think that is one of the reasons it is dying….
rhett
Rhett, thanks for your response. I’m still on the track, but doing a heck of a lot of wondering.
Loved the mission post. I’m taking kids to go put up a house in May. I’ll look into amextra and PiH. Thanks for introducing me to new things.
Can’t wait to read what July is like!
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