I traveled recently to Lee’s Summit, MO for an event where I was leading some workshops, speaking and such. On Sunday night, I got to close out the evening with a concert for a couple hundred very welcoming folks. It was probably the highlight of the weekend for me.

I love getting to share music and spoken word with people, and though some of the stuff I introduced may have been a new experience for many in attendance, they all seemed to have a good time.

Check out the podcast by searching my name on iTunes, playing it on the streaming audio player on my website (www.chrstianpiatt.com), or hit the link below to go directly to the podcast site.

http://www.christianpiatt.podbean.com

All episodes of the podcast, including the concert, are free. Let me know what you think.

Peace,
Christian

My first webinar (online workshop) on “how to use Facebook as a ministry tool) was great fun and well-received. since then I’ve gotten several requests to host this workshop again, so it’s back along with an exciting webinar on how to select a literary agent an, ultimately, how to get published!

If you want to learn more about the events, go to christianpiatt.com, or email me directly at cpiatt@christianpiatt.com.

CLICK ON THE EVENT TITLES BELOW TO REGISTER:

Using Facebook as a Ministry Tool
Wednesday, September 30th, 1pm (MST)

Learn the basics of “2.0″ social networking, how to set up a Facebook account, take a tour of Facebook and learn strategies for using it as a tool to connect with people throughout the week, beyond the walls.

From “Writer” to Agented and Published “Author”
(w/ Lit. Agent Anita Kushen)
Tuesday, October 6th, 11am (MST)

Join the conversation with Author Christian Piatt and Literary Agent Anita Kushen about what it takes to move your passion for writing to the next level. Learn valuable information like how to find and select a literary agent, and how to become a published author.

Great news! Chalice Press has approved the first two titles for my proposed BANNED QUESTIONS book series.

The first two titles are:

BANNED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE BIBLE

BANNED QUESTIONS ABOUT JESUS

These are both due out in 2011, and I am currently working on the first book about the Bible.

I have a new Facebook Group where we can discuss these topics, generate ideas for upcoming titles, and where you can propose questions you’d like to see in the books.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE BANNED QUESTIONS BOOK SERIES GROUP

I look forward to your input as this exciting new series takes shape.

Peace,
Christian Piatt

Nykyaikaa on kutsuttu isättömäksi ja paljon puhutaan siitä, että aikuisilla on vanhemmuus hukassa. Myös johtajuus on kysyttyä monin paikoin.

Tämä on havaittavissa myös seurakuntien keskellä. Missä ovat hengelliset isät ja äidit? Kuka on sinun hengellinen isäsi? Tai kenelle sinä olet hengellinen äiti? Valitettavan usein olemme keskittyneet lähinnä toimintaan, rakenteeseen ja touhuamiseen hengellisen vanhemmuuden kustannuksella.

Kuitenkin Raamatun esimerkki on toisenlainen. Kaikkivaltiaalla Jumalalla oli varaa lähettää oma poikansa elämään arkista elämää kahdentoista karvaisen miehen kanssa, jotta he saisivat kokea ruohonjuuritasolla todellista hengellistä johtajuutta, jota sen ajan uskonnolliset johtajat eivät kyenneet tarjoamaan. Loistava esikuva on myös Paavalin suhde omiin opetuslapsiinsa Timoteukseen ja Titukseen. Hän kutsui heitä kirjeissään rakkaiksi, oikeiksi pojikseen.

Aikamme hengellisen johtajuuden keskittyminen leadershipin sijaan managementiin on saanut aikaan paljon isättömyyden traumoja myös seurakunnissa. Väitän, että tästä johtuu myös nykyään niin trendikäs yhteiskristillisyyden harha. Olen törmännyt moniin uskoviin ja yhteisöihin, jotka eivät halua sitoutua kuulumaan mihinkään seurakuntaan tai olemaan sitä, vaan haaveilevat johtajuudettomasta kristillisyydestä. Tämä kuulostaa mielestäni pelottavan paljon menneiden vuosikymmenien vapaalta kasvatukselta, jossa vanhemmat yrittävät olla lastensa kavereita.

Erilaiset liikkeet, joita “kukaan ei johda”, rakentuvat yleensä karismaattisen henkilön persoonan ympärille ja varaan. Usein hän on juuri se, joka suurimpaan ääneen julistaa, miten meillä ei ole inhimillistä johtajaa vaan että meitä johtaa itse Jeesus Kristus tai Pyhä Henki. Todellisuudessa hän on itse ryhmänsä johtaja. Eikä siinä sinänsä ole mitään pahaa. Mutta jos tällaiset henkilöt kuvittelevat ettei heidän itsensä tule myös olla jonkun johdettavina, vaan ovat mielestään tilivelvollisia vain itse Jumalalle, on seurauksena yleensä kaikki lahkon ominaispiirteet täyttävä yhteisö.

Minkälaisia kokemuksia sinulla on hyvästä tai huonosta hengellisestä vanhemmuudesta? Mieluummin kuulisin niistä hyvistä kokemuksista…

Maybe it doesn’t matter, you seeing my schedule. But maybe it does. I’ll run through it and talk about some of the things I talk about.

• I preached yesterday, something I do every few months. The topic, part of a series on God’s characteristics, was “God is loving.” I’ve been updating our church website and sermon podcast with links to the message. (I also DM’d the link to a friend).
• A lady from our congregation died Friday night. I won’t be doing the funeral, but talked with the family and pastor about the bulletin and the service (What names should be listed? Do you list relationships for the sake of people who might not know everyone? I know that she was shy, but what about a picture of the dolls that she collected for the front of the bulletin? We’ll record it, don’t worry about that).
• I’ve talked with a person who teaches at our church about a conference that’s coming up. It’s by video this year to save on travel costs. I want to have several people from our congregation attend to learn how to build relationships within groups more effectively.
• I wrote a memo on how to refine one of learning tools. I used dark room to help me concentrate.
• I’ve helped the funeral director move the casket into the building, talked with the person in charge of the funeral lunch tomorrow and met her son, moved some furniture and trophies.
• I’ve talked with a couple of friends at a distance about why Paul (the apostle) was cranky and how to spell a word.
• I looked up how much it would cost to send a package to Serbia.
• I added StickyScreen to my browser at work as part of my focusing process.
• I’ve used Jing to create a screen capture to put on our website where I also uploaded a video about the community carnival we do every year (and told our facebook fans about it).
• A couple other things
• four cups of coffee.

What is interesting to me is the mixture of communication tools and media I am using in the course of my day. I bring my social media conversations about audience into the conversation about what goes into a funeral bulletin. I bring Jing and Facebook into promotion for an intensely local carnival.

Some days my life confuses me and I think about how simple it used to be, back when I only had one conversation at a time. But the truth? I wouldn’t trade now for then. Because of you.

Though you all might enjoy watching me and Brandon Gilvin, co-editors of the new WTF? (Where’s the Faith?) book series in a short video chatting about the series and the first two titles, coming out soon.

The nerd on the right is me.

Two years ago I was in Portland.  I was at our denomination’s biennial conference. It is safe to assume that I was one of two people on twitter. The session on how churches could use the Internet focused almost entirely on a broadcast approach, rather than an interactive approach. (Streaming sermons, having pretty websites, advertising). As a digital person, I felt very alone.

That’s not completely true.

I took many friends with me. There was a wonderful online birthday party for me. But I felt like I was on the edge.

Today feels very different. When I searched twitter for “general conference” and “missionary church”, I found some people who I have already started following…and then met in person. Several of us are talking to each other and people from our local communities in real time using facebook.

There are still some challenges.

At an event like this, where voting will happen, you need to identify a “conference bar”, the voting section. When that area was identified, it excluded almost every area close to outlets. When we voted, there was a loud “no” vote from the corner where the outlets are. Everyone chuckled. No one without a laptop understood.

At an event like this, where reports are offered, the only way to respond is by standing up and asking. Someone just joked about putting a report on facebook. It would, however, be very helpful to gather comments in real time using the technology that many of us, many of the people who could be the future of our organization, are using anyway.

Both of those are illustrated in this facebook comment, (said mostly joking):

“I’m wondering if ____ is FB-bitter seeing that the rammed through vote moments ago put him on the front row–apparently a place where he is uncomfortable being on his laptop–I type this from the 2nd row (I want my old seat back.) ____, is the ability to vote really worth losing your FB privileges?”

However, we have made progress in the last two year. And I am grateful.

I’ve had some questions about how to register for the online workshops – or webinars – I’m offering this month. Well, I have good news!

As of today, I have online registration available. You can click on any of the titles below to go directly to the event registration, and you can use any major credit card. In the future I hope to add Paypal Express Checkout, but we’ll start with this. You can also visit my website for more detailed workshop descriptions.

All webinars are $20 (though it will increase to $25 per session after July), and will last between 60 and 90 minutes. Registration is limited to 15 people per session, so be sure to reserve your spot as soon as you can. If you have questions about these webinars, if you have another topic you’d like for me to cover or if you’d like to participate in one of the events listed below on an alternate date, email me and let me know.

Podcasting 101
Tuesday July 21, 12 Noon (MST)

What is podcasting? How do I do it? Do I even need to? What can it be used for? Get an introduction to podcasting, including how to set up your own podcast, ways to promote it and content ideas for your episodes.

Blogging 101
Wednesday July 22, 10 AM (MST)

Learn how to blog, what it can do, and how to best promote your blog for maximum exposure.

Using Facebook as a ministry tool
Thursday July 23, 1 PM (MST)

Learn the basics of “2.0″ social networking, how to set up a Facebook account, take a tour of Facebook and learn strategies for using it as a tool to connect with people throughout the week, beyond the walls.

When “left behind” takes on new meaning
by Christian Piatt
(Originally published in PULP)

The phrase “left behind” brings to mind for most people the apocalyptic religious fiction series, apparently scaring people into adhering to Christian doctrine “or else.” But for me, it raises strong feelings about what sucks the most about being a part of organized religion.

If there’s one word that defines the relevance of a community of faith, it’s just that: community. Sure, we can practice faith alone on a mountaintop or study it in a book, but as my wife, Amy says, a book can’t visit you in the hospital, and a mountain can’t hug you back.

There’s a basic human need for community that started in primitive times when we, not being the fastest, fiercest or strongest species, had to depend on one another for survival. Since then, community has remained an essential part of our social fabric, and certainly not just in religion. But in that context, community not only provides love and support, but at its best, it also stretches and challenges us to become more as part of the whole than we are on our own.

The hard part, especially when you commit to the community over the long term, is that you set yourself up to be left, over and again. For some, communities of faith – and, I expect, other communities too – are there simply to serve them, to accommodate them like a pair of shoes. If the fit becomes less than ideal, or if something new and exciting comes along, they split.

For some, dealing with the inevitable conflict that comes from being a tightly-knit, interdependent group is worse than starting fresh. So again, they walk. It’s kind of like being committed to a relationship where you’re always the one getting dumped, and never the other way around.

Of course, this sort of vulnerability is a part of any relationship. It’s just that the traditional values of sticking with one particular group, simply because or out of a sense of moral obligation, has changed with the increasingly dynamic nature of our culture.

We see it everywhere; people stay in jobs for less time than in the past, but we also get laid off more suddenly. So why do we owe a company our lifelong fidelity if they will turn on us at the next economic downturn? And sure, marriage is a nice idea, but we’ve seen enough divorce and infidelity to compromise any sense of permanence the institution held before. So it may work for us right now, but there’s always an exit clause, right?

In a perfect world, communities of faith would be the welcome exception to this cultural norm. When we made a covenant to one another and to the Divine to stick it out, that’s what we mean – for better or worse. But I think before we can expect others to follow in this spirit, the institutions themselves have much healing and re-creation to do from within.

It’s not religion’s job to accommodate, and to ensure comfort and “customer satisfaction” for all comers. However, it is incumbent upon all who call themselves sanctuaries to offer the hope, healing, nurturing and love that allows each of us to feel we’re a part of something bigger than ourselves.

Over time, this mantra may become practice so that it’s something in which we can trust again. Until then, we may just have to stick together, behaving as if we get what we need from one another. Hopefully, by committing to one another, we can live into the community we imagine we might someday be.

I’ve had a number of requests for web-based workshops – or webinars – on various topics from blogging, facebook and podcasting, all as tools for ministry. I’ve finally set some dates up, so check out the info below and let me know ASAP which classes you’re interested in so I can reserve your spot.

Webinar Training Sessions
Email me at cpiatt@christianpiatt.com to sign up!

The following web-based training courses (webinars) are being offered. All courses are $20 and will last between 60 and 90 minutes.

Each session is limited to fifteen participants, so sign up early to confirm your spot in the training.

Using Facebook as a ministry tool
Tuesday July 7, 10 AM (MST) or
Thursday July 23, 1 PM (MST)

Learn the basics of “2.0″ social networking, how to set up a Facebook account, take a tour of Facebook and learn strategies for using it as a tool to connect with people throughout the week, beyond the walls.

Podcasting 101
Wednesday July 8, 10 AM (MST) or
Tuesday July 21, 12 Noon (MST)

What is podcasting? How do I do it? Do I even need to? What can it be used for? Get an introduction to podcasting, including how to set up your own podcast, ways to promote it and content ideas for your episodes.

Blogging 101
Thursday July 9, 11 AM (MST) or
Wednesday July 22, 10 AM (MST)

Learn how to blog, what it can do, and how to best promote your blog for maximum exposure.

Want to participate? Email me at cpiatt@christianpiatt.com and I’ll send you payment information.

After payment clears, your space is reserved and I’ll send you everything you need to log in to the seminar.

The Best in Church Technology Blogs

Church SMO (Church Social Media Optimization)

Church Crunch by John Saddington in Atlanta, GA

Digital Sanctuary

Creative Fusion Media covers Church 2.0 and Church Social Media

Grabill Missionary Church started more than one hundred years ago.

Here’s how it happened.

In 1898, a bunch of like-minded people were meeting in small groups in fifteen church buildings and school houses, all served by a couple brothers who were preachers, all within a circle about 12 miles across. Some of the places had preaching services, some of them had Sunday school.

Some of the people in these small gatherings came from other churches, responding to a new (for them) understanding of what the Bible taught. Others came from no church at all. There was great excitement about the new things God was doing, and some resistance from those who had learned the old way.

In 1900, the railroad decided to build a town and the spreadout groups started talking about a central location.  In November, 1901, a church building was dedicated. In January, 1902, the first train went by. In February, 1902, the first plat of the town was filed.

At the time, people from the congregation saw each other all the time. They lived within walking distance. They shopped from each other, traded goods, chatted while at the post office or hardware store. They lived local.

Much of the conversation was, I’m guessing, pretty mundane. People talked about weather and sick animals. They mentioned that they needed to get some work done. They mentioned coffee.

This mundane conversation was, however, the fabric of community. You can’t talk about deep spiritual concepts all the time. Sometimes you just talk. And in that chatter grows connection and in that connection can grow faith. Particularly when you watch what happens in a life across time, how a person handles crisis.

Community is formed in communication and communion, interaction and intimacy. The more of both, the deeper the relationships.

In churches, that kind of interaction doesn’t happen easily anymore, at least not for large parts of a congregation. The technology of the car has made it possible to travel further to church, to shop, to eat, to live. A community is less defined by geography.

Churches, at least wise ones, respond by creating additional times of interaction. We create small groups or Sunday school classes where people can share life together. Or that’s what we hope. And sometimes people are aware of what is happening in each other’s lives daily, and sometimes not.

And for a long time, no one has known any better. We’ve known that more communication and communion would be nice, that our sense of community was suffering, but we figured that we were like the rest of American culture, feeling the disconnection that comes from distances.

And then came a new set of communication tools. They are simple enough for almost anyone to use. They are cheap enough for almost anyone to afford (as cheap as a free library card if necessary). We call them social media. We could call them “small town streets”

Just like people were able to chat with each other while heading to the store or waiting at the mill or taking the milk to the creamery, people now can chat while sitting at home. And some of the conversations sound the same, about weather or work or coffee. Or the neighbor’s odd behavior at midnight every night.

At first, only one or two people in a congregation knew about these tools. The first person to talk about Twitter or Facebook or Myspace was viewed as peculiar. When it was explained that this was an Internet thing, all the stories about bad people lurking in chat rooms to injure children were mentioned.

A funny thing has happened, however. More people are becoming aware of these tools. Parents and then grandparents discover new ways to see pictures of the trips that their children or grandchildren are taking. And then conversations like this happen as a small group from a church gets together.

A: “How was that phone call this afternoon?”

B: “It was great. He’s doing well.”

A. had heard about the phone call from looking at B’s facebook status.

To look at social media as a new evangelism tool, just like broadcasting was viewed, misses one of the core values of social media: transparent interaction. Rather than thinking of social media (facebook, twitter, myspace, youtube, blogs, flickr) as a new broadcasting tool, churches are probably wisest to think of it as a way to live life together away from Sunday morning, to live in the community as a community, like churches that make a difference usually do.

There are some cautionary notes, however.

• We can’t fall into believing that this way is the best way, that people not on Facebook are somehow missing out. In fact, congregations using social media have to be more aware than ever of the need to be redundant, to provide key information in as many forms as possible, to foster communication and communion wherever possible.

• We have to remember that what is online is a search away. I have chuckled sadly at the times I have read online comments about how to reach people on the Internet, how to convert “lost people.” There has been a complete lack of understanding that those “lost people” can read what is being said about them.

• Social media is a place where the new is addictive. I spend time bouncing from platform to platform wondering if there is something new, if someone said something that I need to respond to. This fear of missing out (FOMO) is an addiction of sorts. Of course, people probably spent too much time chatting in front of Grabill Hardware, too. But no one ever thought the answer was to tear the porch off.

Technology is not relationship. Jesus did not talk about technologies, he talked about people. However, it the technology allows more frequent interaction, even about the details of life, then maybe we can build the same kind of community that happened in the early days of our congregation.

——————–

For more on online/offline as a difference on tools rather than a difference between real life/fake life, see Liz Strauss’s wonderful post Online Culture: is your definition out of date?.

For history on Grabill, Indiana see Grabill.net.

Grabill Missionary Church is on facebook at www.facebook.com/grabillmissionary.

So I have to admit…. I love the ongoing battle of the church vs. Twitter recently.  This in part is happening at my own church but I’m also noticing a lot more commentary on this happening around the web and in pastors blogs that I have been reading.

So what’s the significance of it all?

I guess let me preface this with the outset that this isn’t limited to church…. But schools, families, friends… whoever you have contact with on a regular basis.  The argument of it is… we are changing the way we think… the way we communicate, the way we act both privately and publically.  So what are the statistics of this “Tweeting” phenomenon.

Ironically, the most Twitter users, are age 45-54 (seen here: http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/090408-122803) of which is surprising (to me at least) with the 25-34 year olds following just slightly in 2^nd place. (Come on guys…. Get with it!)  So there’s the demographic, but what’s the damage done to us in thinking in 140 characters or less?  Well one could make the argument that it is not helping the thousands out there that already have A.D.D. (myself included) but maybe even more importantly, it is teaching us to think in fragments.  I suppose so.  However I started thinking about that charge.  I started thinking of the ways I communicate.  Phone, text message, Twitter, Facebook, blogs, whatever… right?  Then I wondered if there is some disconnect on how all of those cause us to communicate the same way or differently.

A phone call makes us talk.  Pretty novel concept right?  But what is crazy is more and more people are wanting to just text message instead of having a phone conversation.  So then if you’re part of the group that doesn’t want to text but just “tweet me” instead, that forces non-long winded text messages (remember— Bite size) and forces people to cut to the chase.   Then if those people aren’t part of Twitter, they’re on Facebook either chatting, commenting on pictures, whatever and sharing what’s on their mind apparently.  Lastly, blogging.  I put this one last as it is the most comprehensive way of organizing ones thoughts (however… even my thoughts are all over the map…) but the point is… it’s akin to journaling.  You get to actually type out what you’re thinking and how that affects you or life’s happenings and your reflections on them.

I’m sure you’re wanting me to just “tweet” to the chase right?  Well here’s my point in saying all of that.  In the past 10 years, we have changed how we communicate over and over and over.  Some would say we have evolved to be “more efficient” in how we communicate but I wouldn’t say that is the case.  All of the above ways of communicating are tools.  It’s how you use those tools to communicate that shapes how you think.  I for one use Twitter to give updates on what I’m doing of which in turn updates my Facebook page.  Of which then… when I Blog, that feeds my Twitter (because it’s hungry!!) of which then updates my Facebook status.  Seriously, I’m a computer guy and it took me a while to figure out that apparatus of a do-hickie to setup.

All of this to say…. I don’t think the church needs to be afraid of these social communication tools because while it is suggested that they change the way we think, I don’t think that changes who the person is.  So what does the church do in the future to use these tools to help connect people better?  Twitter is all about having a conversation of which I think the church is in the process of figuring out what the topic is and how to integrate these tools to include more people.  Who knows, maybe the their will be a (hell I bet there is… yes… I just checked and there is…. lol) a #Twurch which is basically a conversation in which people join and discuss sermons, books or who knows what else.  So be yourself, don’t be limited to who you appear to be on Twitter, Facebook or Myspace… don’t stop being you.

-A

So as I mentioned, this was going to be an ongoing conversation about some of the things that I have happened upon here in the past oh… 10 months or so.  This blog speaking specifically to the phrase “church service” and how that literally is taken out of context in most cases each Sunday.

When you look at a quote “normal” church service in the Anglo community today, what is the first things you think of?  I think of church on Sunday, hymns, choirs, dressing nice, some sermon about how the Bible is speaking to us to get us out of our rut and back to living with some purpose, sing some more songs, give some money and then go home.  That sound about right?  Does that fit into the stereotypical response that if you went out on the street and asked people…. those seem like reasonable responses?

So with that…. we take a look at the modern church today.  It could be a church of 20 people or a church of 20,000 and I think many of the churches today fall into these stereotyped, boxed up, tidy and clean Christianity that we have somehow come to accept as what is “normal”.

In the conversations I’ve been having, in the reading I’ve been doing and the experiences in life I have been living…. church can’t be further from most of these things that are seem to keep church contained…. keeps it clean… keeps it un-messy.

When you say the phrase “church service” there is a root word buried in there which is “serve”.  So the literal phrase would be “church serve”.  What’s even more batty, is if you happen to reverse that phrase and make it “serve church” and that gives a more accurate portrait of what I have been discovering.  Most of the discussions that people have when they’re in the hunt for a new church is “what can I get from the church? – what services do they offer? – do they have something for my children? –is their music good? — do the people seem happy and cheerful?”.  Now don’t take me wrong, I’ve got several friends actually in the hunt for a new church of which these things are actually at the complete opposite end of the spectrum but humor me for a minute.  When we go into our church hunt, we’re looking for what satisfies us.  We’re looking for what serves our needs and our requirements.  My thought to that is where is the focus shifting to?  Now I know most of that in which I listed seems shallow but a large majority of people are asking those questions in deciding in where to call home.

What if though…. what if we shifted that from “What can I get?” to “….What can I give?”.  Think about that for a minute.

What can I give church?  What can I give friends? What can I give family?

The focus shifts from self to others.  One of the BS lines that was feed to me growing up in this culture was: “It’s all about me… Me… Me… ME ME ME ME ME ME ME….”  We’ve seen in that in the stock market, we’ve seen in that in corporations failing due to greed, we’ve seen that in high standing officials that decided to have an affair;  They were chasing the smoke vapors… looking for what was “next….” and ultimately where trying to satisfy the voice deep down in us that says… “Hey…. Aaron…. it’s okay… it’ll make YOU feel good… just go out and buy that…. who cares about making a flirtatious comment, it makes YOU feel good and it doesn’t hurt anyone.”  When the focus is on us, it can and will in time consume us.

Now take that mind set of which we have Monday to Sunday and we enter church having this expectation of being served in the same fashion as we have been served at work… at Starbucks…. at lunch… where ever…. are you starting to connect the dots a bit?

One of the great comments my worship pastor made this weekend was back in the earlier part of…. lets say the 90’s…. just to be fair….  he said “Leave your baggage at the door and come and worship God without any of that junk…” of which he thought sounded great and spiritually deep….. but then said “that’s not who we are…. we have junk and we need to give that up to God.”  In that same way…. we need to think hard about how we have long done “church” in these days,weeks,months and years ahead.

Are we coming to a “service” on the weekend at any church…. and asking “What can I get from this church?”  or are we coming with the mindset of “What can I give to this church?”

These are tough questions but also powerful questions.  My journey is still ongoing on discovering what to serve the church means… looks like and how I can get others to partake in what I think is one of the greatest joys we can experience on this plane of life.

With that, I think I’m going to hold off for a bit on Part 3 and Part 4 which I will drop some hints on in my coming posts here later this week.

See everyone on Facebook and Twitter.

-A

I know I know, I played a mean trick earlier by asking that question without really any reflection on it… so here’s my attempt.

Let me preface this with the fact that these posts are most likely going to be spread across a bunch of smaller ones.  Who knows what people may think about this or what conversations will come out of this but my goal here isn’t to ruffle feathers nor condemn one way or another…. but to give you my perspective on how things are indeed changing.

The Church is a Mission.

First and foremost, understanding that we the people who profess Christ as our savior are the church body,I have come to find that we the church are on a mission.  We’re on a mission to engage with people, serve people and love people.  Some of you know that I am involved with helping out the new emerging service at Village and some of the questions we’re asking is how do we engage a culture that quite frankly doesn’t want to know or doesn’t know what to think of church and it’s relevance in our society today.  The relevance that I keep going back to is the people.  People are relevant, people have needs, and people need each other.  In that I also see the mission as I mentioned above of people serving each other, people loving each other and people engaging in each other’s lives.

All of that to say is… the mission are the people.

How do we get there?—- a question I’ve been hearing and one I’ve been pondering lately.  The response I keep having is going back to Christ.  Christ was about one thing on his time here on earth…. himself.  Might sound funny but bear with me through this.  He was about being himself, loving others, having community with those who society rejected, feared or mocked… and from that I glean the perspective of the long used term of being “christ like”.  From following his example, the out flowing of loving, serving, engaging and supporting people becomes natural… it becomes a desire.  Moving from a “I can check this off my list as serving the church or doing this good deed this week” to a committed servants heart not wanting a single thing in return for their time, effort or finances.  Now don’t hear me wrong, I’m not saying that people who are busy that do serve the body in volunteering by fitting something into their schedules are wrong, but what I’m saying is when your abundant desire is to serve , your schedule revolves around that and everything else becomes the busy work in-between the times of serving.

With that…. moving from church being a building you go to on Sunday…. a “service” you go to or attend, to becoming the church body that is working everyday of the week; that comes together once a week to hang out with each other in a big group versus smaller ones…. to continue the drive to seek after God in both song and speech.  The words might be a little different…. the music might be a tad more different but the mission… the mission is the same.

For part 2, I’m going to look at the root word of “serve” which we take for granted in calling a church “service”.  I hope this is interesting and spurs conversation as by this topic… I have in no way shape or form “found” what church is but I’m getting to re-discover it again.

More later.

-A

Hierarchical Structures are usually organized like this in a top-down fashion:

Armies are organized this way. Most of the Industrial Revolution was organized around this system. Most 20th Century Businesses were organized in this way- with CEO and Board of Directors at the top of the chain.

Since Constantine, most institutional churches have also been organized in this way with tiers and ranks and chains of command.

Organic viral networks can look something like this:

With the advent of Web 2:0

social-networking sites such as facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Bebo etc,

video-sharing sites such as YouTube, blogs, wikis and so on have become very popular and are changing the ways in which we organize!

We are seeing the advent of a networking revolution which will change the way organizations have traditionally functioned.

This new networking endears itself to values such as sharing, peering, collaboration, partcipation and openness

It gives everyone the opportunity to produce, placing production and broadcasting in the hands of the masses. If you want to publish an article, picture or film you no longer have to go through a chain-of-command or hierarchical system- you can just do it!

It’s amazing how much network discoveries made through Web 2:0 are similar to the networking principles seen in the Early Church.

In New Testament church gatherings each person was able to contribute,

‘When you come together one will have a word, another a song, another a revelation, and so on’ (1 Cor 14:26)

Simple-churches (groups of Christians) sprang up all over Israel, Syria, North Africa, Cyprus, Turkey, Greece, Crete, Italy and Rome within a generation.

These simple-churches were networked via travelling workers who went around in bands encouraging and strengthening the self-organised groups.

Churches organized themselves and grew as each person contributed (Eph 4:11-16)

One of the many Church 2.0 opportunities is social praying. We can pray for people all over the world. Kindle Joy has launched with mission in mind.