Archive - November, 2008

CoWorking: A Great Opportunity to Work and Live Differently

November 26, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 11 Comments

Coworking entry from Wikipedia:

Coworking is an emerging trend for a new pattern for working. Typically work-at-home professionals or independent contractors or people who travel frequently end up working in relative isolation.[1] Coworking is the social gathering of a group of people, who are still working independently, but who share values[2] and who are interested in the synergy that can happen from working with talented people in the same space.[3][4]

Some coworking spaces were developed by nomadic internet entrepreneurs seeking an alternative to working in coffeeshops and cafes, or to isolation in independent or home offices.[5][6][7]

Business accelerators, business incubators and executive suites do not seem to fit into the coworking model, because they often miss the social, collaborative, and informal[8] aspects of the process, with management practices closer to that of a Cooperative, including a focus on community[9] rather than profit.[10] Many of the coworking participants are also participants in BarCamp[11] and other related open source technology activities.[12][13][14]

As I read that entry several words and related themes jump out at me…social, collaborative, synergy, community, cooperative, informal.

There is no doubt that coworking is a trend on the rise. John Saddington recently had a post over at Church Crunch, Coworking–A Model to be Copied?. John raises some great points and there is some good discussion in the comments section.

I’m also wondering what coworking would look like in churches?

I would like to see more and more churches move away from the executives offices/suites, and create more of an open space for staff members to share space/resources, collaborate and socialize as they work in the daily grind of ministry. Someone always raises the question of privacy when I talk about this issue, but that’s what shared private offices are for…so when someone needs to make a private call or have a private conversation…then they go in there. But I would like to see all levels of staff (from teaching pastor, executive pastor, directors, etc.) share space. The message that sends to others I think can not be discounted as the church and its staff model on a daily basis what it means to work together and share of resources, etc.

I also think it would be interesting that if when churches plant a sister church somewhere, especially in an urban area, that they don’t purchase or rent their own space, but that they cowork in that environment with others from various industries. How amazing would that be if church staff shared coworking space in an urban area with business people, tech people, social services, etc. Think of the synergy that could create, and think of the ideas that could be generated. It would especially be a beautiful opportunity for the church to not be walled off in its own little kingdom but to participate with others. It would offer an unique perspective for the church staff members as well, as they may be privy to new ideas and thoughts they would not get on a daily basis in their own space. Think of the the stewardship when it comes to the sharing of resources as well.

What do you think it would look like?

As for now I’m exploring the idea for my own life. I hold the belief that counseling/therapy needs to move out from the secret walls of many counseling offices and into more of a social space. I wonder if the stigma that often exists in attending therapy is due to the environment that we as therapists have created. I will talk more about this issue as it progresses.

Currently I have been following @cohabitat on Twitter, and their Facebook group CoHabitat–Uptown Dallas. I think Blake Burris has created a unique and great opportunity for various industries in the Dallas Metroplex to cowork together, hopefully creating some great synergy, and eventually transformation in many areas of Dallas. If you are interested in this idea, especially in the Dallas area, please contact Blake.

How about coworking in Los Angeles? Check out BlankSpaces.

Check out Jelly.

Curious on your thoughts…please share.

Balancing the Entrepreneur, Manager and Technician in Ministry

November 25, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 3 Comments

Check out my latest blogpost for Leadership Network , Balancing the Entrepreneur, Manager and Technician in Ministry.

The post is my review of Michael Gerber’s book The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It.

Help Human3rror Meet His Mother

November 20, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 0 Comments

One of my favorite online friendships is with John Saddington. We have just recently gotten to know each other via email, chat, Twitter, etc. His online humor always makes me laugh and I have found him to be a very giving, and appreciative person.

So…you should help him meet his mother.

Read Help Me Meet My Mother and learn about his story, as well as how you can help him through prayer or financial support.

And if anything, get to know him online. He may be the most prolific blog commenter out there. Does he ever sleep? That is still to be determined.

An Interview with Church Crunch

November 20, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 2 Comments

Church Crunch has definitely become one of my favorite sites. I check it out several times a day and am always learning, being challenged and growing in many areas, but especially their thoughts on technology and the Church.

John Saddington (you must start reading his blog–a must) did an interview with me this last week. It was a cool experience to be asked some questions that I have been thinking about and wrestling with for a while.

I love how he began the interview…made me laugh.

Rhett Smith is one of those guys that after you visit his blog your brain starts asking funky questions like “What’s up with this guy who enjoys psychology, theology, counseling, and social media… at the same time?”

Check out our interview, A Chat with Rhett Smith.

How Do You Say No To Good Things?

November 18, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 7 Comments

I came across this Tweet from Anne Jackson today, and it resonated with me a lot.

Learning to say no to good things. It’s always hard, but it’s necessary. I’ve been losing focus lately.

I know we all have lots of good things on our plate.

We have lots of great opportunities to get involved in lots of good things.

I think that the online world has not only opened the door for us to get involved in lots of good causes, but it has created a certain angst (how can I not get involved with so many good opportunities) that leaves us confused with whether or not to say no to all these opportunities.

So How Do You Know When To Say No To Good Things
Here are just 10 suggestions, or rather avenues and elements that help us think through the process.

  1. Prayer
  2. Small Group/Community Discernment
  3. Gifting/Skills
  4. Time
  5. Benefits
  6. Goals/Objectives/Focus
  7. Calling/Career Path
  8. Relationships (Family, spouse, kids, etc.)
  9. Self Care/Health
  10. Passion

How I Am Trying To Say No
Most often I don’t, which is a major flaw of mine that I’m working on.  There are lots of criteria that are a part of my thought process, but here are a few of mine.

  1. Time with Family.  This is my single most important criteria. If what I take on, takes away from time with my family, then I say no.  If I really want to do it, then I need to find something else to say no to that allows me to do it without taking more time away from my family.  I see more and more people sacrifice family life, marriages, time with children because they simply have too much on their plate, don’t have proper boundaries, or just can’t say no.


  2. Passion.  I have to be pretty passionate about something these days to say yes to it.  If I’m not passionate, and don’t see me being able to put the time, energy and effort into it that is required, then I usually will say no.


  3. Self Care. If we do not take care of ourselves, then we can not adequately do the things we have to do.  If my body is run down all the time, and if I don’t exercise, or eat right, or get enough rest, then other things begin to suffer.


  4. Spiritual Discernment.  I think we would all like to say that discernment from the Holy Spirit is what helps us make the right decisions…and I think that is true.  But that’s what makes saying no to good things so hard…so tricky.  We wrestle with whether or not the opportunity is of God for us to pursue, or of God for us to say no to. Calling and vocation all get wrapped up in this part.

I’m curious. How do you say no to good things? What good thing(s) have you recently said no to? What was your thought process?

“Taking Online Community Offline:” What I’m Doing About It And My 2009 Goal

November 17, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 27 Comments

Great guest post by Leo Wurschmidt over at Church Crunch today, Meatspace Monday 4–CLT WordCamp–Taking the Online Community Offline.

I love the phrase, “taking the online community offline.”

For as big a fan as I am of social media, online community, online communication, etc…..

Here is what I think is social media/new media/technology (whatever you call it) greatest asset:


IT’S ABILITY TO FACILITATE THE MEETING OF PEOPLE IN PERSON.

In my tendency to ramble I could say tons more, but won’t for now. That being said, because it is it’s greatest asset, I have made a goal for 2009.


2009 Goal (as stated on Twitter this last Friday): meet & have coffee with every person in the DFW metroplex that I’m connected to on Twitter, Facebook or my blog. Cool?

I don’t know how I will exactly achieve this goal, but I have some ideas that I’m working on from larger group meet-ups to one on one, small group times. So stay tuned as I talk more about this in the coming month and a half.

Oh, and I’ve already been getting requests for coffee since I sent out that Tweet. If I can just say upfront…I can’t afford to pay for coffee for all of you. So how about we just agree that we all pay for ourselves. Haaa

10 Blog Sites That Must Be A Part of Your Reading….

November 13, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 18 Comments

Below is a list of 10 blog sites that I highly recommend. It’s about time I recognize just some of the sites that have given so much to me. When I read any of these 10 sites I am continually challenged, stimulated in my thinking, and pushed in a direction of valuable growth.

We all have different sites we like to read, but if you read my blog, then I think you will also like these sites very much.

The common theme…an interest in social media and technology and the implications it has for church, ministry, non-profits, businesses and community.

Thanks for checking them out.

BeDeviant by Justin Wise. This is a great, great looking blog visually, and Justin is always blogging about interesting things that really engage me.

Human3rror by John Saddington. Another great looking blog…great design. John is a great commenter and a very creative blogger. He always has me thinking.

Chrisbrogan.com by Chris Brogan. I mean, come on. The guy is prolific, and if you have any interest in social media…even a tiny bit, you best be reading him.

Beth’s Blog by Beth Kanter: Beth, like Chris is really prolific, and if you are a non-profit, then you need to be reading Beth to better understand how you can leverage social media in your organization.

Church Video Ideas by Greg Atkinson. The name of the blog might be a little misleading…this is not a site just about videos. Greg is Mr. Church 2.0, a visual worship tech guru, and someone who has a growing heart for the issues of slavery and sex trafficking.

Gathering in Light by Wess Daniels. Wess is an amazing thinker, and he, more than anyone I know is really able to blend really academic theology with pop culture and praxis. He’s really good and making me feel much smarter after reading him.

Tony Steward Blog by Tony Steward. Digerati Team. Need I say more. Tony is an inspiration for those of us who are exploring the what it means to be an online campus pastor. There aren’t many of those…but I know that trend will grow, and Tony is on the leading edge of it.

The Digital Sanctuary by Cynthia Ware. No one cover the church, technology, tech conference, tech tools, social media…like Cynthia.

Church Crunch. The intersection of ministry and technology. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite blogs…I am learning tons.

Collidge Magazine Blog. Ministry, technology, pop culture and more. One of the few online and hard copy magazines I read faithfully.

Post Media/Postmodern: Communicating Our Stories Effectively

November 11, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 14 Comments

Chris Brogan has a fascinating post, Communications in a Post Media World. He begins by saying,

When Google is the front door, the side door, the hidden key under the mat, the cash register, the finder of everything we ever lost, and everything we wished we’d lost, what comes next? When everyone is a newspaper, a magazine, a TV station, a radio station, a conference, a curator, an educator, a business owner, a shopkeeper, what do we have? When you and I are the creators, the consumers, and the collaborators of this media, what does this mean to us?

The gatekeepers are still out there. Neither you nor I can write for the New York Times or put a film up on the BBC. We can’t just bind up our book and stick it on the shelf at Waterstones or Chapters. We can’t waltz into any giant corporation and offer up our products.

Maybe we’re just preachers and nonprofit types. Maybe we just want to reach people like us in all this noise. How do we connect? This might just be the wilderness of a million signals, the atomization of the world’s voices, the fall of the tower of Babel. Again.

Check out his entire post, as it is a great challenge for us to think how communication has changed, and how we must re-think how we can communicate more effectively in what he describes as a “post media world.”

I really like the term that he (and some others) is using. As a former college pastor, and a current youth ministry/pastoral care mentor/trainer I have been thinking about communication using a slightly different term.

How do we communicate in a postmodern world? Some will debate whether or not there is such a thing as postmodernity. Others will see it as simply a tool, philosophy, theology, ethos that one can choose, or choose not to gravitate towards. I happen to believe that postmodernity is real (I know some of you are saying duh..haaa), and that it’s not an option for us to decide whether or not we will or will not think of how to communicate more effectively to it. It’s not just a worldview, but its in the air we breathe…you don’t have to like it, but with that in mind, I’m wondering how communication has changed in a postmodern world?

If we are in “post media world” as Brogan and others suggest….and if postmodernity is alive and well, then how can we use the technology, the social media tools, and craft a message, story, communication that reaches those who we are trying to reach?

I don’t have a detailed answer to give you. You might have one, and I hope you share. But I’m definitely thinking through the rapidly changing world that is brought on by the reduction of hierarchy through social media tools, and what implications that has (especially for those of us in ministry) for us as we think about communicating the gospel in a noisy world. If we all have the ability to share and communicate a message, just not personally, but online, how do we effectively communicate it without getting lost?

Which begs a bigger question that I was thinking about after reading Brent Thomas (@brent_thomas) Tweet the other day.

“if the message isn’t attractive, & the people of God aren’t attractive, then we must not be telling or living the story right”
07:06 AM November 10, 2008 from txt

In a “post media/postmodern world” are we telling the right story effectively? Are we even telling the story? Is the gospel story more attractive than the other competing stories? And are we expecting only pastors, clergy, ministry leaders to communicate the story, or are all of us communicating the story of how God has transformed our lives?

Last, what do churches do when they are no longer the front door to the gospel? Do we even realize that the physical building isn’t the front door anymore, but that the online world is the front door? If you don’t have a strong presence, or aren’t telling a good story online, which is the front door–will you be able to bring people from the online world, to the physical front door of the church?

Leveraging Technology in Your Community

November 10, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 3 Comments

Two of my passions are technology and community–especially, how technology can be used to create and sustain community, and how it can be used to open up communication.

So I’m real excited that Cynthia Ware has a great, great post/presentation on Leveraging Technology to Support Community
.

Please check it out–it is well worth your time–whether this new or old to you, you will learn a lot.

Leveraging Technology to Support Community
View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: homefellowships onlinecommunication)




Below is my 9 Post Series on how you can leverage technology in college ministry.

Formulating an Online Strategy for College Ministry

Community Organizer+Grasp of Web 2.0/Social Media=President Elect Obama

November 6, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 9 Comments

Last April
April 10, 2008: That is the date I wrote my post regarding an interview with conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt and the authors of Millenial Makeover: MySpace, You Tube, and the Future of American Politics. There were tons of points that the authors made that day, but three continue to stick out to me because I’m really interested in social media and I love working with this generation.

  • Communication to this generation via text, online, etc. is how they make decisions, rather than listening to authority. They make decisions based on their connectivity network, rather than make decisions based on authority.
  • You should have two different strategies to reach the Boomers and the Millenials. And they should be, and better be completely different. The Millenials can sniff out any in-authenticity in marketing. They don’t care about or watch TV, because they would rather be online and communicating and networking with people.
  • Interested in Peer to Peer, Bottoms-Up organizing styles, and not Top-Down, Command and Control style. You can appeal to them if you can talk to them about communitarian solutions that are self organizing.

The Millenials Take the Election
I think those are really great observations that Obama seemed to understand and McCain didn’t. I’m not a political analyst, but I think that’s fairly accurate. “Young voters preferred Obama over John McCain by 68 percent to 30 percent — the highest share of the youth vote obtained by any candidate since exit polls began reporting results by age in 1976, according to CIRCLE, a non-partisan organization that promotes research on the political engagement of Americans between ages 15 and 25.” (Youth vote may have been key in Obama’s win). In fact, the article goes on to say, quoting the authors of the Millenial Makeover, the following:

Through a steady stream of texts and Twitters, experts agree Obama has managed to excite young voters by meeting them where they live — online.

“This is a group of people who are constantly checking in with everybody else in their circle to make a decision,” says Morley Winograd, the co-author of “Millennial Makeover: MySpace, YouTube, and the Future of American Politics” and a former adviser to Vice President Al Gore. He defines Millennials as ages 18 to 26. Continue Reading…
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