I walked into the convention center today and saw this sign sitting at the front of the bookstore next to our book. Very cool, but pretty surreal seeing it next to books by Guy Kawasaki, Tim Ferriss, etc. Especially since I only have a chapter in the book, and it’s not a whole book I wrote myself. But it’s a good start.
Formulating an Online Strategy for College Ministry: Part 8–Ministry Collaboration Using Wikis
What is a wiki? Well, if you don’t know, let’s look at what the most famous wiki, Wikipedia, has to say.
A wiki is a collection of web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content, using a simplified markup language.[1][2] Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites and to power community websites. The collaborative encyclopedia, Wikipedia, is one of the best-known wikis.[2] Wikis are used in business to provide intranets and Knowledge Management systems. Ward Cunningham, developer of the first wiki software, WikiWikiWeb, originally described it as “the simplest online database that could possibly work”.[3]
“Wiki” (/wiːkiː/) is originally a Hawaiian word for “fast”. It has been suggested that “wiki” means “What I Know Is”.[citation needed] However, this is a backronym. “Wiki Wiki” is a reduplication of the same word.
Seem simple enough? If not, here is one more great visual explanation:
It’s part of the Plain English Series:
If they are not already, wikis are the wave of the future in many settings because of their collaborative ability. While most organiziations (i.e. businesses, churches, etc.) are still only using email, many others have embraced the power of the wiki and are really harnessing it’s power in creative ways.
As I’m still fairly new to wikis (I have 2 that I have created, 1 that I’m a part of, and I joined Wikipedia as a user–though still too nervous to create content yet, or correct).
But let me give you just one example of where I didn’t use it, and how I wish I did and why.
8 Ingredients In Storytelling
Drew Sams has written a great post at Collection of Crumbs.
The Power of Story in Youth Ministry (2 of 5)
Drew talks about the following 8 ingredients:
Ingredient #1 – Point of View
Ingredient #2 – Setting
Ingredient #3 – Characters
Ingredient #4 – Protagonists
Ingredient #5 – Antagonists
Ingredient #6 – Conflict
Ingredient #7 – Climax (Turning Point)
Ingredient #8 – Denoument (Resolution)
The effects of the “hook-up” culture on our youth and young adults
RO has just blogged a great post over at our collaborative youth ministry blog called, What the ‘Unhooked’ Culture Means for Youth Ministry. RO is doing a series on the book Unhooked: How Young Women Pursue Sex, Delay Love and Lose at Both
If you work with youth or young adults you should be following RO’s posts on this topic.
Young people have virtually abandoned dating and replaced it with group get-togethers and sexual behaviors that are detached from love or commitment–and sometimes even from liking. Relationships have been replaced by the casual sexual encounters known as hookups…Hooking up’s defining characteristic is the ability to unhook from a partner at any time.
—author Laura Sessions Stepp
Quick Hits
- Mindy Coates-Smith just posted a great article, Transformative Social Justice and Abandoned Adolescents, at our new collaborative youth ministry blog, Collection of Crumbs. Very good article.
- Dave Stutzman has some critical thoughts about Bel Air’s hosting of Shane Claiborne last week, their youth, etc….but in the end, I’m happy he turns them in on himself as well. I’m on staff at Bel Air, and our purpose for brining Shane out was because we believe that our culture (Bel Air, Los Angeles in general) needs to hear his message. I can go on, but read for yourself.
- Tyler is working his way through Shane’s book, and has some thoughts along the way.
- Adam Cleaveland has some guests blogging on the Kingdom of God.
- Wow! Brian McClaren is speaking at Davos. (HT: Andrew Jones)
Update on The Postmodern Family at Collection of Crumbs
RO Smith over at Collection of Crumbs just finished his second post on our new youth ministry blog. It is titled, The State of the Postmodern Family (Part 2). Please check out his first post, The State of the Postmodern Family (Part 1).
We look forward to having you visit our blog, give input and hopefully become a contributor on youth ministry.
New Post at Collection of Crumbs Youth Ministry Blog

Check out Drews Sams over at our new youth ministry blog, Collection of Crumbs, as he starts his first post of six, on The Power of Story in Youth Ministry.
Stay tuned for more writing on Junior High, High School and College Ministry.
A New Youth Ministry Blog

Just a reminder to check out our new youth ministry group blog Collection of Crumbs. It is a site that we hope is dedicated to thinking theologically about youth ministry. A site dedicated to integrating junior high, high school and college into the life of the Church.
We would love your input on the site. We would love to link your blog. We would love for you to be a contributor.
Changes: Out with the Old and in with the New
It’s been about 17 days since I last posted anything, but that’s because the last 17 days have been crazy, tiring and very exciting. A lot of great things have been happening to me personally, and a lot of great things have been happening with our ministry. Here’s a run down to catch you up to speed.
- I moved from Movable Type to WordPress. Best decision I have ever made when it comes to blogging platforms. With that change came the arrival of the new look of this site.
- Last March, our college ministry hosted Rob Bell on his Sex God Tour at UCLA. Thank you to all of my leaders who helped us make that happen. Well, now you can view on CNN pieces of that night here. You can also see a little interview with one of our students, Ally Stoltz below:
- I have the privilege of being one of 15 authors of The New Media Frontier: Blogging, Vlogging, and Podcasting for Christ, which will be published by Crossway in September of 2008. My chapter is titled, Navigating the Evolving World of Youth Ministry in the Facebook-MySpace Generation.
- I will be a contributing blogger to Leadership Network on their Leadership Network Book site. This is a great opportunity for me to connect with other pastors and lay leaders around the country and to share about the books that are influencing us in ministry.
- Today, RO and Mindy Smith (Middle School), Drew Sams (High School) and I (College), launched a Collection of Crumbs, which is a collaborative effort on our part to think theologically about youth ministry, and the transition and integration of youth into the life of the Church. If you are a youth minister or volunteer in any area of youth ministry, I hope that you will not only check out the new site, but that you will contribute to the site by a) sending us your blog link so we can post you on the site; b) thinking of topics for us to write about and discuss; c) serving as a contributor to the site by writing a post possibly.
- This last Wednesday was our annual Quest Christmas Communion service. It was a great night where we come together to celebrate communion with each other, sing Christmas carols and eat dessert. I recorded below a little sample from the service. It’s a pretty rough video, as it was my first attempt to record and upload onto You Tube from my new Flip Video camera. My Jack Bauer joke isn’t that funny, and my camera work needs great improvement. But hey, I gotta practice:
Have a good weekend and thanks for visiting the site.


