Tony Steward and I are super excited to be facilitating a conversation at the Cultivate Conference this upcoming Tuesday in Chicago.
Ever since we were asked to facilitate jointly at the conference we have been discussing what would be the most beneficial conversation we could be a part of. What experience and skills could we both bring to the table?
In the end, this is what we have landed on…
Title
Finding Our End // Communicating in the social web brings relationships with it. How do we care for those relationships in our limitations while continuing to effectively communicate?
Description
As we work online, where do our social/pastoral responsibilities begin
and end, while caring for ourselves and our families?
Tony is obviously an important voice in this area as he brings his expertise from his role as the online campus pastor for LifeChurch.tv. And I hope to bring my experience as a pastor and therapist to the discussion, and how actually some of the online volunteer work I have done for LifeChurch.tv has generated new ways of thinking about our roles and responsibilities online.
We hope to see you there…
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
kill it.
thanks man…we will try.
rhett
Rhett Smith´s last blog ..So You Have a Lot of “Friends” Online…Now What?
Rhett — since LifeChurch.tv is one of the few large churches actively involved in Second Life, are you and Tony going to talk about the role that virtual reality can play in building and sustaining relationships? My own experience church-planting in Second Life (which Lars Rood is also part of) has let me to the conclusion that the 3D environment as well as the real-time interactions make it more conducive to conversation and community building than 2D social networks like facebook or twitter. I mean, they each have their place, their strengths and their weaknesses — but counseling and small group discussion are two areas where I think virtual reality shines. And as for the begnning/end question, I find that Second Life is easier to “turn off” and that I usually commit to specific times (like office hours) when I’m available there. This makes establishing boundaries easier, for me at least.
Neal Locke´s last blog ..SecondLife, New Church Development in the PCUSA, and Discerning my Calling
dude, great question. I don’t know if we will even get to that, but it’s something we could bring up, or someone else might.
I like it…I would like to hear more of your assessment. I need to join you guys more in your Second Life groups that Lars is a part of…..
Rhett
Rhett Smith´s last blog ..So You Have a Lot of “Friends” Online…Now What?
Of course, on the flip side of that argument, there have also been a lot of articles lately about extra-marital affairs in Second Life and other virtual worlds. Perhaps all the more need for the church to establish a presence there…
Neal Locke´s last blog ..SecondLife, New Church Development in the PCUSA, and Discerning my Calling
I don’t think that will come up but mainly because our conversation isn’t about the technology itself as much as it is managing the relationships established while communicating across the social web.
But to be honest, I think community has tremendously less to do with the tool or technology and much more to do with leadership in regards to building a vibrant community. I also don’t think technology has any inherent specific influence over morality or spirituality.
The best communities I’ve seen online have been well LEAD and not attributed to a specific technology for its success beyond tools that were well leveraged. In fact the most successful communities exist across several different tools, technologies and gathering points both online and off.
Take counseling or discipleship, I’ve see forums been a consistently effective medium for those conversations when they are well lead. Real Time doesn’t have an inherent advantage over “on demand” conversation systems in my opinion when it comes to community health and growth.
Tony Steward´s last blog ..Do you Talk it Over?
boy my grammar is bad
its what i get for writing at the end of a friday… lol
Tony Steward´s last blog ..Do you Talk it Over?
Looking forward to seeing the twitter feed for this. I am sure a lot of good content will be shared.
Enjoying this live. Good conversation. Good to see you guys in person, not just online.
BTW, Rhett, your Twitter picture made me think you were my age. You are much younger in person!
Ron Edmondson´s last blog ..How To Get Your Man To Shop With You