Tag Archive - collaborate

Innovation3=Connect-Network-Collaborate

December 15, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 1 Comment

Connect, Network and Collaborate are just three of the things that I hope to do at the Innovation3 Gathering in Dallas, TX on January 27-28.

The event is put on by Leadership Network and is host to a plethora of speakers in just two days. Leadership Network says this about the conference:

Innovation3 IS NOT YOUR AVERAGE CONFERENCE…

Innovation3 is an opportunity for you and your team to have up-close, face-to-face conversations that will transform your mind and ministry. Over 100 presenters from some of the most innovative churches in America will be on hand.

Innovation3 is a chance for you to do some real networking. You won’t just be adding “Facebook friends”, but you’ll be interacting one-on-one with peers that will help you sharpen your views and collaborate to help change the world.

I will be one of the live bloggers along with Carlos Whitaker and Cynthia Ware at the event so I hope that we all can have an opportunity to meet and connect with one another.

In the meantime, peruse the website to get a look at all the speakers that are presenting.

Also, check out the Innovation3 blog.

And check out what Tony Morgan has to say about the event.

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.

Pastors and Technology: We Need to Re-Imagine Our Roles

October 2, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 8 Comments

Some of the commenters from my post yesterday got me thinking about some things that I just briefly want to comment on.

I ended my post with two thoughts:

Two things I think pastors, church leaders need to start wrestling with if they haven’t already:

1) Shift from geographical based ministry to online community/networking based. This does not mean people still won’t gather, but how, where and when they gather will change.

2) Technology is allowing the people/congregants to self-organize, collaborate and participate without having to go through traditional means and hierarchies of the church. I think this will change the role of the pastor drastically from the top-down leader, to more of a facilitator. I think that means we will see less and less traditional roles of pastors, and maybe even less full-time positions, etc.

Here is what I’m thinking. And I’m thinking these things not on any official research I have done, but more on conversations I am having, trends I am seeing, what I am reading, etc.

One of the issues about #2 is that people are concerned about a “consumer” mentality in the Church…more than we already have now. Also, what will be the role of the pastor.

Couple of thoughts. And they are simply thoughts, not completely worked out, but stuff I am hypothesizing and thinking on.

I think the “modularity” of Church that Andrew Jones talked about won’t drive more church consumerism, but will actually reduce it.

Why?  Because churches used to be the resource for all information (phone numbers, emails, addresses, theology, Christian education, prayer chains, etc.) and churches controlled the market on the ability to gather and organize.  Think Sunday worship, Wed. night Bible studies, etc, etc.  People traditionally have relied on the Church as the resource to gather people and dispense information.

Because of this, people would drive miles and miles to attend the church that could attract, gather and dispense the information for them.  Often this process has pulled people out of community…driving miles and miles to attend a church that is not rooted in their community where they live, etc.

I think that now people can easily organize, collaborate and dispense information themselves, they will no longer need to rely on the Church as needing to fulfill that role.  I think there will be a desire for people to organize and gather in their own communities of locality, rather than feeling the need to drive to churches who used to have to do that for them. I am not saying there will not be church or people won’t go to them. They will, but I think church will look different than it traditionally does now.

In Short: Technology=Ability to Organize and Collaborate=Congregants Taking the Responsibility Into Their Own Hands.

What about the pastor?  I think there will always be the need for a pastor, but what is a pastor is my question?  Have we possibly gotten away from the Biblical role of the pastor?

In the NT we see the correlation between the shepherd and pastor.  I have been told before by some pastors that we are to be ranchers…not shepherds. That has a whole other connotation in my mind.

One commenter said that it’s actually not the pastors who do the shepherding anymore, but the small group leaders, etc. I agree with him. It’s hard to find a pastor who shepherds.

I believe that with the ability to gather, organize and collaborate that technology affords us, it frees up the pastor to do the work of actually shepherding, rather than being the CEO, rancher, etc.  I used the word facilitator in yesterday’s post, and what I mean by that is that the Church is beginning to have the ability to organize on their own, which frees the pastor up to facilitate the movement and truly shepherd the people.

In Short: Technology=Ability to Organize and Collaborate=Congregants Taking the Responsibility Into Their Own Hands=Pastor Can Truly Be a Shepherd.

Of course my own theology and praxis is shining through there, some of which you may agree with, and some which you may not agree with.

But for any of this to take place (which I think is a great thing for the Church), churches, pastors and ministry leaders are going to have to let go of the “power” they have traditionally held, and instead be a church and people that walk humbly amongst the people they are there to serve.  Even questioning their roles as pastors in the Church.

In closing, I’m aware that some traditions/denominations already seem to embody this theology and praxis.  I wonder if Wess Daniels can shed some light on these thoughts in light of the Quaker tradition that he is a part of.

If you are wondering what to read on some of these issues, here are a few suggestions. There are a lot more, but here are some that I have found helpful and challenging. Please add to this list and let me know what you are reading that has been helpful in thinking about the issues of technology in redefining the role of pastors and the Church, especially as it relates to gathering, organizing, collaborating, etc.

Check Them Out

The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations by Ori Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom.

Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations by Clay Shirky.

Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything by Dan Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams.

Facebook for Pastors: How To Build Relationships And Connect With People Using The Most Popular Social Network On The Internet by Chris Forbes

The New Media Frontier: Blogging, Vlogging and Podcasting for Christ, edited by John Mark Reynolds and Roger Overton

Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff