Monday, October 21, 2002

Smart Mobs and Theological Community Picked up Howard Rheingold's new book "Smart Mobs" Saturday when we were in Cincinnati over the weekend.  (I had blogged the Smart Mobs Blog back on Sept.23) I'm going to want that phone/PDA device even worse now.  With my keen interest in the use of  Internet-enabled technologies in a Church setting,  I've already envisioned "Church Mobs" who keep in touch with one another,  check up on one another,  and point each other to things they've found that address something they might have been exploring in a conversation or a meeting (either ftf or other ways).  The idea Rheingold suggested about how one is present or not present to their "physical surroundings" or group context by being "with someone else" or with "another group" via mobile technology opens to me a vision of seeking out members of the Church community anytime , anywhere.  I'm looking forward to reading on (I'm in Chapter 2, p.47....but in the act of picking it up to see where I was and write to you here,  I saw what was just ahead and so I'm off to read some more before hitting the sack tonight and return to work after a 4 day weekend (off Friday and today). comment [] 9:55:34 PM

Church Business (or is it Church AS Business?) Tim at e-church nails another deep seated worry/peeve/depressant of mine,  which is how the Church pursues the task of finding new members: and it is utterly like the rest of the business world strategies,  using marketing type tactics like reaching out to "market segments" and using business categories for these.  And the kind of thinking behind all this is how to make it all easier,  and so the "finer points" which usually involve things like "accountable community" and the things that make for a community where one is known and where one's spiritual journey is a part of the "curriculum" -- all that goes out the window.  Those kinds of things are just too scary for marketing;  too personal,  but that's something  the Church seems to have given up in chasing after "putting people in the seats" (a sports marketing phrase). To me,  in the past several years,  I haven't felt that the Church has been particulaly good at much of anything relational.  It's all "up front" around the pulpit,  and on "events".  Leaving Church. The Washington Times reports something that I have intuitively known, but have never found the data to prove it. Here... [e-church com.munity weblog] comment [] 9:47:13 PM

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