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Archive - June, 2008

Wikis in Plain English (aka email is old school)

June 28, 2008 in Marriage-Family, Technology-Social Media with 3 Comments

I thought this video is appropriate in light of a couple of posts back..

I used email in the coordination of our Student Sunday service at Bel Air this last June. Big mistake. Email is terrible as they state in coordinating stuff. I’ve been playing around with Wet Paint, Wikispaces, and I’m also registered with Wikipedia to edit, etc., but I don’t have a handle on that site yet.

Do you use a wiki? Which one? Do you like it?

I know Neal Locke is a “wiki evangelist” so maybe he has some thoughts or suggestions. Neal?

Classic: Email and the Phone are Slow and Backward

June 26, 2008 in Marriage-Family, Technology-Social Media with 2 Comments

Big Blue Embraces Social Media

Adapting these tools, according to IBM, is also important for recruiting. Hotshots coming out of universities are accustomed to working across these new networks—and are likely to look at a company that still relies on the standard ’90s fare of e-mail and the phone as slow and backward.

I still use email and the phone, but I understand what they are saying. 9 out of 10 communications with my college students was via text messaging and Facebook.

And at least 5 out of 10 of my communications with staff was via text, Twitter and Facebook as well.

I know some churches have done away with work email and are now communicating and collaborating on inter-office wikis.

What is your pervasive form of communication with friends, family and co-workers?

Women in Ministry: Lip Service or Reality?

June 26, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 8 Comments

This last week I have been video streaming, reading blogs and following Twitters about the PC(USA)-218th General Assembly in San Jose, CA. If you are involved with the denomination then it can be somewhat interesting…at times. Otherwise, it can be quite tedious.

It’s interesting to watch them discuss at great detail issues that I thought had been decided 2-3 years ago…and they have been by many other denominations, churches, and culture itself. So from that viewpoint the whole process seems “for show” at times.

That had me thinking about one issue in particular…

Women in ministry.

Now, this blog isn’t to debate whether women should be in ministry or not, because many of us have differing opinions. But because I believe they should be in ministry at all levels, I want to hear from mainly those who also hold the same view.

What concerns me is when we say we are for women in ministry, or our church and denomination claim women have a role at all levels of ministry, yet you look around and wonder if that is true or not.

I have talked to more women recently who have become disillusioned, or frustrated when the believe they are serving in a church or denomination that stands behind women in ministry, yet behind the scenes they realize they are actually quite limited, finding their hands tied at all levels.

So my question: Do you, your church, or denomination really believe in women in ministry or is it just lip service?

It’s a question of praxis. Do you put your beliefs and theories into practice in this regard, or would one look around your church and realize that it’s just a good idea and theory, but not good in reality.

At least those who don’t believe women should be in ministry are quite up front about it (i.e. the men at Together for the Gospel. They don’t communicate one thing, but do something different behind the scenes.

So as you look at your church, and if it’s a church that advocates women in ministry, I’m wondering a few things:

Do women have equal say as the men in decision making?

Are women afforded the same opportunity to preach as the men, or are they placed up there a couple of times a year as almost a token?

Are the male staff members really advocates of women in ministry, or do they quietly believe that a woman’s place is in the home?

Are the women staff members equally respected as their male counterparts?

If we really believe that women should be in ministry, then shouldn’t we be living that out in our decision making?

And, if we are part of the PC(USA) of which I am, then shouldn’t our churches reflect our position of women in ministry more thoroughly?

The “groundswell” is about relationships, not just technology

June 24, 2008 in Technology-Social Media with 0 Comments

I just posted this at Leadership Network’s book blog, so please take a look.

So as you may or may not have noticed I have been on a reading spree with books that discuss new web 2.0 technologies and how they are influencing leadership, especially in the church (sidenote, this is the first book that I have read with my new Amazon Kindle; talk about new technologies are changing things). The most recent book is Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies. The book is co-authored by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff of Forrester Research. Charlene has a very popular blog and is considered one of the leading experts in social media and technologies, so I was very interested in reading what all the buzz has been about.

This is book is focused around the idea of the "groundswell":

Simply put, the groundswell is a social trend in which people use
technologies to get the things they need from each other instead of
from companies. If you’re in a company, this is a challenge.

This is not only an interesting challenge if you are a company, but an interesting challenge if you are a church, since people within the church no longer need to go through the leadership or hierarchy of the community to get things done. With new technologies such as Facebook, Twitter, wikis, blogs, etc, more and more people within churches are taking action and doing things on their own or with a group of people. The days where the flow of information, content and decision making travel through the pastor and the leadership are coming to an end if they haven’t already. With this in mind, Charlene and Josh use this book to teach companies three important things:

Part One: Understanding the Groundswell
Part Two: Tapping the Groundswell
Part Three: The Groundswell Transforms

As a leader in the church I think this book is a must read. And even though they are talking more about companies, churches can easily be inserted.

There is a lot of great research and application in this book such as the categories that make up the people online which is important to know when you are determining what type of technological tool you are going to use to reach your audience.

Creators
Critics
Collectors
Joiners
Spectators
Inactives

Throughout this whole book one thing kept sticking in my mind and it was this statement by them throughout the book:

It’s important to understand these technologies, but the technologies are the detail, and it’s tempting to get sucked into the detail. So many words have been written about blogs and blogging, social networks, and user-generated content that you might think that understanding those technologies will equip you for the new world.

Wrong.

First, the technologies change rapidly. And second, the technologies are not the point. The forces at work are. Like the jujitsu master, you must understand how bodies move, not just learn a single block or throw. You must develop a feel for the groundswell.

With that in mind, here’s the principle for mastering the groundswell: concentrate on relationships, not the technologies.

In the groundswell, relationships are everything. The way people connect with each other–the community that is created–determines how the power shifts.

That last quote is brilliant. Technology is great, but it’s not about the technology, but about the relationships. How leadership is carried out in the church is embedded in relationships, and now with the use of new technologies many relationships are changing. So do your church a favor and read up on how you can best capitalize on the shifting relationships and technologies that those around us are using.

The Making of the Postmodern Family

June 23, 2008 in Marriage-Family with 3 Comments

My great friend and former co-worker RO Smith always “complements” me for being a co-nurterer of my daughter along with my wife. RO will make comments about us as a typical “postmodern family”, defying traditional and stereotypical role playing of the sexes in our marriage and family structure. I take all that with a great complement as RO intends it to be. Traditional or non-traditional, we have had to adjust to each other’s vaules, roles and expectations, as well as what it is like to live in the high cost of living state of California. Which makes life interesting in a dual-income, one baby family.

As I enter my second week as a full-time stay at home dad I want to post a couple of blog entries that RO wrote a while back at Collection of Crumbs on The State of the Postmodern Family.

The two posts are, The State of the Postmodern Family (Part 1), and (Part 2).

A lot of RO’s thoughts and research are derived from the Family Ministry Class at Fuller taught by Dr. Chap Clark. Check out the post and see what you think about the values, roles and expectations that RO talks about.

I’m curious to hear what you think.

Why the “Groundswell” Within The General Assembly 218 is Going to Unsettle the PC(USA)…Hopefully!

June 22, 2008 in Ministry-Theology, Technology-Social Media with 2 Comments

Irony: streaming shot of hundreds of laptops at #GA218…all unconnected to the world. Metaphor for the PCUSA?

That’s the quote I came across by Neal Locke on Twitter last night. He was commenting on PC(USA)-218th General Assembly, and I thought it was a brilliant observation. One can’t help watch the 218th General Assembly, or have been involved in some PC(USA) church and politics without having thought the same…the ordination process alone demonstrates how unconnected to the world the PC(USA) can be at times. There are always some exceptions, but those sometimes seem far and few between.

That’s why I was excited last night that Bruce Reyes-Chow was elected Moderator. Bruce is someone who is connected to the Church and the World. This was an important decision for the PC(USA), and since I was on staff of Bel Air Presbyterian Church for 7 years, and I will be on staff of another PC(USA) Church in Dallas, it’s important to me that as a denomination we are headed in the right direction.

One of the most frustrating things about the way the PC(USA) has operated is the way that many within the system choose to exclude via lack of communication with those who aren’t technically part of the system. It’s a classic system of the “have and have nots”, based often around who is ordained and who is not, or who has power and who does not. Communication is very important, and when we choose to exclude others from the discussions, decision making, etc., then I think we are headed in the wrong direction.

I started thinking about a lot of this last night for several reasons:

Bruce Reyes-Chow is a phenomenal blogger and he understands the importance of communication, and not keeping everything behind closed doors to only executive staffs and personnel committees, but he truly knows how to speak to the people and empower them.

Last night I followed The General Assembly on a GA218 Twitter Meme. I was getting live updates from within the assembly which was great. I think the PCUSA tries to keep stuff in-house a lot of times and when they do make it public it is very controlled. Last night people were sharing their personnel commentary on the assembly, the PC(USA) and those running for Moderator. It was a classic example of people using social tools to bypass the institution. It’s one thing to show it live, it’s another thing when people can comment on it both constructively and critically.

If that wasn’t enough I was following the General Assembly as well on the GA218 Scribble Live site, as people could contribute an ongoing dialogue to what was happening, etc.

Then there were many live bloggers, but I was mainly glued to Adam Walker Cleaveland and Neal Locke. Because of people like Bruce, Adam and Neal, I have hope for the PC(USA).
I know that some in the PC(USA) are thinking about this, as evidenced by the Pres-Outlook devoting an issue to web 2.0 stuff. I wrote an article on ministry in the online world of social networking.

I just started reading Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff. It’s actually the first book that I downloaded to my Amazon Kindle, which seems appropriate since the book is focused on how new social tools are re-writing the rules of how we communicate and how organizations operate. So I want to leave you with a quote from the book that I think ties into what we are talking about here. The world is changing very rapidly, and with new and improved social tools everyday, people (the masses), not only want to have a voice, but are surely and quickly finding it. In the process they are challenging organizations, businesses, corporations and churches in the way that they have always operated.

No longer can these institutions afford to cloister themselves off and run and maintain the system with only a few voices that don’t discuss and communicate with the rest of the people.

Churches, and especially the PC(USA) needs to embrace these new technologies, and embrace the leaders who are ushering in these changes like Bruce, Neal and Adam.

From where we sit, Rick Clancy is a symbol. He and thousands of corporate executives just like him are now dealing with a trend we call the groundswell, a spontaneous movement of people using online tools to connect, take charge of their own experience, and get what they need–information, support, ideas, products, and bargaining power–from each other. The groundswell is broad, ever shifting, and ever growing. It encompasses blogs and wikis; podcasts and YouTube; and consumers who rate products, buy and sell from each other, write their own news, and find their own deals. It’s global. It’s unstoppable. It affects every industry–those that sell to consumers and those that sell to business–in media, retail, financial services, technology, and health care. And it’s utterly foreign to the powerful companies and institutions–and their leaderships–that run things now.

Simply put, the groundswell is a social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other instead of from companies. If you’re in a company, this is a challenge.

The groundswell phenomenon is not a flash in the pan. The technologies that make it work are evolving at an ever-increasing pace, but the phenomenon itself is based on people acting on their eternal desire to connect. It has created a permanent, long-lasting shift in the way the world works.

Kudos to N.T. Wright for Going on The Colbert Report

June 21, 2008 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

I came across this over at Wess’ blog. Great stuff. I can’t imagine going on The Colbert Report and actually trying to get a serious word in.

New Testament scholar and Anglican Bishop N.T. Wright does a a good job with Colbert. At least he has a sense of humor, because I can’t imagine too many New Testament scholars even going on that show and being funny. (No offense to all you NT scholars, but Colbert is tough).

ROOV: Gathering Christians Around Their Passions, and Moving Towards Action

June 19, 2008 in Uncategorized with 3 Comments

On Tuesday afternoon I went to coffee with Chris Capehart, one of the co-founders of ROOV. I told Chris when we met that I wasn’t quite sure what to think of ROOV when I heard about it. 1) One more social networking site seems like one too many right now. 2) I don’t like Christians removing themselves into “all Christian” environments to live life there , unless it’s for gathering around very specific or niche causes, etc.

But once I created an account and scoured the site I became more and more impressed with it. And one thing that stood out to me is the statement on their site:

ROOV is an online community that connects like-minded individuals around their shared experiences and passions within their church and city.

It’s one thing as Christians to go into our own bubble and live there, and it’s another thing to gather around our beliefs and causes so we can live them out in the world. ROOV is the best of this idea. I was really impressed with Chris and the other founder’s vision behind it. I’m excited to see where it goes. And I’m excited to see Christians gather around their passions, but not to keep them to themselves, but to move them towards action out in the world.

Here is a quick video about ROOV, and then just a couple of closing thoughts:

ROOV.com Stories from ROOV.com on Vimeo.

I first heard about ROOV from Cynthia Ware, and she thinks highly of it, and so I was immediately interested.

Then Matt Singley talked about it in his highway vlog, episode 4, Media That Rocks My World.

One of my former students compared it so 43 Things, but a site that gathers Christians around their passions and interests towards change.

And last, my friend Chum had a few good thoughts on ROOV that he shard on his blog. Chum said:

• It Connects People – The idea of connecting like-minded Christians based on what they are passionate about has a lot of potential.

• Forced Interaction – Since you have to add a comment or question to add the Roov to your profile, it keeps the discussion going. And it keeps people who are “add” happy from just build up their profile.

• Good Design – The site is easy to use and it works. And since it borrows elements from Facebook, Bloger, and LinkedIn, is already familiar to me.

So check it out. Get an account. Play around with it a while. And let me know what you think.