Monday, July 22, 2002

I emailed Jordan: Jordan, Loved your article!  [Ian's Messy Desk], to which I have subscribed, popped that entry up on my News Feed tonight, and I was pumped! I gotta write this guy! I want to invite you to explore a few blurbs on my blog, for we have a lot in common in that we both got captured by the insights into the "conversation" that the Internet has renewed by our "market" out there. Amen to the impersonal, informational Church websites that don;t sound like the dynamic, caring, fun people who make up many of those Church communities who , in ignorance of the conversation people seek via the Net, shovel out brochureware. I am in the process of trying to convince my Luddite-leaning Church members here that Church Websites should be about telling our story, not regurgitating our schedule. Nobody wants to come to be "in Church", they want to come to be "in Church with people who they are comfortable with". comment [] 11:24:27 PM     Jordan,  come and visit me, man!   We got a lot in common.  Blogging: Advice for Church Websites. Jordon Cooper writes: "Several months ago I wrote an article in Next-Wave that talked about evangelism and communicating to an increasingly net-literate lifestyle. Since then I downloaded a plethora of e-mail soliciting my opinion on their local church website. Many of those local church sites got posted on jordoncooper.com. Recently I took time to review the list and two things caught my attention. Almost all of them are very well designed but I never found myself being drawn back to check them out very often. As I was thinking about this I started to go through my bookmarks and took another look at the sites that I go back to all the time. I started to look for the characteristics that kept drawing me back. As I was formulating what was surely going to be a best selling epic book, I picked up the now legendary book, The Cluetrain Manifesto. I got no further than the first paragraph of the introduction to see that my best-selling book had already been written (doh) and I had my answer for what drew me back to the web. The authors pose this question, "What if the real attraction of the Internet is not its cutting-edge bells and whistles, its jazzy interface or any of the advanced technology that underlies it pipes and wires? What if, instead, the attraction is an atavistic throwback to the prehistoric human fascination with telling takes? Five thousand years ago, the marketplace was the hub of civilization, a place to which traders returned from remote lands with exotic spices, silks, monkeys, parrots, jewels-and fabulous stories." It hit me and thousands of other people that the reason we came online is that there was a conversation of millions of voices happening, and we were missing out. In reading The Cluetrain Manifesto, it came clear what so many churches were missing as we moved online, a voice. [read more from next-wave magazine] link from [Ian's Messy Desk] comment [] 11:09:08 PM     The previous two posts (below) seem to be a kind of "Gonzo Marketing" approach to Church weblogging,  and could also be applied to social groupings in ftf life.  The idea of congregating people around their interests,  and finding avenues through which to discover their diverse calling;  their role in the mission of the Church.  The Gonzo Marketing approach as I understand it,  suggests the meeting and conversing with people where they are;  to provide for their sharing of information,  and introducing them to people who share a common interest.  comment [] 9:09:46 PM     The format of the blog or the Weblog encourages theologizing,  for it lends itself to social commentary.  If a blogger finds an item useful,  they are often compelled to say why. Even if they offer no direct commentary,  their choice of subject matter brings to the fore the issues which they wish to highlight. Even in the act of highlighting things which merely exemplify their passion or interests,  they are presenting their gift of connection to others in the community;  to highlight things which attract an audience of two or three others,  or dozens, or hundreds as the case may be,   they are laying the groundwork for their interest group, and impetus to return,  and gather a group around their information center.  Their "weblog neighborhood",  another common format found among bloggers,  represents connections to other interests and concerns,  and serves as a way to introduce their readers to their other concerns,  to which their readers are more naturally drawn due to their common interest in the other items.   This creates micro-groupings within an organization,  or church,  who share information and ideas on a particular subject,  and use that to open each other to additional components of their personhood.  comment [] 9:03:39 PM     "Theoblogical" reflection is to look at the ways that blogging helps us do theology.  The most basic thng it brings to the discussion is to present a way of looking at the world,  which is key to talking theology in many circles.  With the net,   we all have access to education, information,  and opinions.  This was, in the early days of the Church,  a role of the pastor.  To inform,  comment, and theologize.  Today,  the pastor has more of a "host" and "provocateur" of conversation.   While they may offer their opinion,  and many look to them for such opinion,  it is becoming less and less "informative" (since most of the news is already known) and more "perspective" and "prodding" for the congregation to engage in the process of theology in the context of community.   comment [] 8:54:37 PM

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