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I hooked up with Larry at the suggestion of one of the speakers at CAMCON I whom I had approached to show my "menu" idea. He saw a connection with what I was envisioning and Larry's interest in doing similar things for book distribution via computer databases with links between ideas contained in books and the subjects of those books.

Now Larry's coffeehouse idea. He has recently hooked up, through his Episcopal acquaintances, with a campus ministry organization working at the University of Cincinnati. They have just purchased, upon approval of a loan, an old Catholic Church building right on campus. Larry has opened an office there to begin development of the coffeehouse/bookstore idea, in the context of this "Christian Ministies Center". The people in the organization of the UC campus ministries include American Baptists, Epicopals, Presbyterians, and others.

The acquisition of this old church building is just one step in
the larger vision for this new ministry as it unfolds. It has
some "purpose/mission" statements under development
which include:


Promote religious values

1. Provide for Christia n studies
2. Present Public Forums
3. Library/Bookstore focused on the above purposes
4. A Social Meeting place
5. Promote Religion in Arts and Education

It is also intended that this "physical center" become home for a variety of organizations such as

1. The Council of Christian Communicions which promotes ecumenical events and presently produces video programming including a TV show called "The Church Today" which airs locally in Cincinnati.
2. Campus Ministry Associations (American Baptist/ Prebyterian/ Episcopal/Other)
3. Forsite (Larry's organization) Bookstore/Infromation Services
4. New Campus Organizations ("Newman Organization", a Catholic/ecumenical campus organization interested in the University and Spiritual Life)
5. Seminary Extension Programs
6. University Programs in Religious Studies/Theology (from Xavier U., Univ. of Cincinnati, Northern KY Univ.)
7. Communications/Information Center (this is where I would come in)
   

I see tremendous potential in this. The building which was purchased has a special character. It is very much "university/retreat/study/research/social gathering" in its "aura". The video equipment for the Council of Christian Communions is there. There are ecumenical contacts there through the Council, and also the various groups represented by the campus ministry group. The campus ministry group apparently has the trust of the University community, and access to the University network as "adjunct faculty". Connection to the University Computer network (which would then be, by default, a link to the outside via the Internet site at UC) is presently being investigated. I hope that we will be able to host the kind of Internet site I have often spoke of with this DMin group.

With the entry of this new connection to the Christian Ministries Center", I have now begun to "draw in" another key element of my life's journey: the University. I had already seen Theological Education within this umbrella of New Media Communication's mission, but now the University experience has been brought in very directly. I am reminded of the term "Theoversity", which I first saw used in the latest brochure for United Theological Seminary. The ideas expressed and being molded in the statements penned by the Christian Ministries Center seem much like United's theooversity emphases in that it also seeks to serve "the academy, the church, and the general culture." These three emphases aid the "academic pursuit, spiritual formation, and professional training."

To close out my presention of this "Synergy" phase, I am including a statement of mission I wrote in November 1993 for myself and my "organization" which I have named "New Media Communications." I hope that soon this will be a "branch" of this "Christian Ministries Center" which I have briefly described. This new thing happening here has every potential to become an incarnate expression of "synergy" between my journey until now, and the "context" I described as the world of ecumenical Computer mediated communication possibilities.