Jeremy Smith on Outsourcing the Message – Jeremy brings up some good points about something I’ve been interested in – using video streaming to bring sermons to remote congregations. While I’ve been generally in favor of at least exploring or experimenting with the possibilities, and how it can be a way to support small membership and rural congregations that might otherwise lack regular preaching (especially as the number of active clergy drops and the associated personnel costs rise), I appreciate Jeremy’s critique of how it undervalues contextual, community based messages and undermines leadership development. Good stuff to consider.
Bill Hybels responds to Starbuck’s ceo withdrawing from Willow Creek’s Leadership Summit. Regardless of what you might think of Willow Creek or the “controversy” that surrounded this, I think Hybels response is excellent; he addressed it with a lot of grace… and actually made me pick up Howard Schultz’s book Onward when I saw it at the library this week. (I’m only about 1/3 of the way into the book, but already agree with Hybels that it is excellent).
Roger Olson on Process Theology – it’s interesting in that I’ve always considered myself in or near the process theology “camp” , but based on Olson’s definition, I’m not (because I don’t see God and the world as being ontologically interdependent). I also enjoyed Olson’s post on Something Protestants should borrow from Catholics.
Fred Clark on Is Rick Perry a ‘sucker’ or is he just lying, unlike Fred I am likely to give the benefit of the doubt and believe that most politicians err on the side of stupid rather than malicious, but I always appreciate Fred’s analysis. Also from Fred on the theme of truth telling, this time from the pulpit: Glurge and Ghost Stories I don’t think I’ve ever been as egregious of the violations Fred cites – I’ve never tried to sell another’s story as my own, and there have been a couple cases where I have tried to fact-check or explain a sermon illustration that falls more into the “metaphor” rather than “history” category, but I can see where it is an easy trap to fall into.
I’m falling in love with Spotify – it’s a great site for finding and listening to music, new and old, with some great social networking features. Their music catalogue is pretty deep allowing me to reconnect with music I used to have on cassettes that have been lost though the ages (and I’ve never managed to replace on CD or MP3); The Sundays are one of those bands – Reading, Writing & Arithmetic – was a big part of my soundtrack in the summer of 1990:
Roger Olsen: Folk Religion and Life After Death (Part 2). Excellent article! One of my adult Sunday School teachers is going to be doing a study on “heaven” this fall, and (I think) will be addressing some of these “folk religion” aspects that Olsen mentions.
Dan Dick: Running Out of Options. Dan makes that case that the greatest threat to the future of the United Methodist Church is:
“… a self-centered, selfish, consumeristic, privileged entitlement mentality that puts the comfort of the individual ahead of the integrity of the community of faith and the will and vision of God. My-way-or-the-highway, take-my-ball-and-go-home immature coercion is becoming the norm rather than the exception. This, and this alone, has the power to kill us.”
make sure you follow the link to read the full article.
From ProBlogger: The 5 Must-read Books for Bloggers in 2011. Haven’t read any of these, but I was interested in the second one on the list: Curation Nation: How to Win in a World Where Consumers are Creators – I didn’t realize that curation (basically what I’ve been doing each week) was really a “thing” – this was really about finding a way for me to catalog the stuff I found interesting as a personal study discipline, and to possibly bring some benefit to the handful of friends interested in similar subjects. I’ve always felt a little like I was cheating by pointing to other people’s blogs while not offering very much in terms of my own content, but maybe there really is value in just doing this.
Steve Sjogren: Bullhorn Evangelism. Interesting article, especially when I saw this very thing being played out at the U2 concert in Lansing – outside a handful of guys with a bullhorn condemning everyone to hell, inside a stadium of people singing songs of hope.
Dan Dick: Paradoxology. Be sure to read the whole thing, as with most of his posts it is pretty convicting, including this bit:
“The process by which God provides is in place. That process is us. Our current problems are not those of quantity, but distribution. We don’t lack resources, we simply lack love, faith, compassion, and trust. We bow before the god of fear at the expense of trusting the God of love. It feels safer and more comfortable to take care of ourselves than to perhaps give aid or comfort to someone we don’t know, like, trust, or agree with. And this is why our church is in the state it is in. At least for United Methodists, we lost our way when we jumped the mission and social justice ship for the church growth cruiser.”
Lifehacker: Best Windows Downloads and Best iPhone Apps. Several of the Windows programs I use on a regular basis (Google Chrome, Thunderbird, Dropbox, Picasa, Microsoft Security Essentials, and I’ve started playing with Spotify); the iPhone apps I don’t know as well, but these are both pretty solid lists for good (and largely free) software for your systems.
This next link it a little more advanced in the techno-nerd realm, but Michael Hyatt has a nice post on How to Get Your Kindle Highlights into Evernote. This has been one of my frustrations as I’ve experimented with ebooks – how can I mark passages for future reference, and fortunately Michael notes a (relatively) simple solution.
I never really expected myself to agree with John Piper on much of anything, but his article on How Do I Think About Tweeting actually makes a lot of sense to me, especially since I know I don’t use the platform to it’s potential (most of the time you’ll just find me retweeting what someone else has written).
“Theology can only take us so far. We’re dealing with approximations at best when we talk about God. We can study the Bible all we want, but at the end of the day we’re just talking piles of dust and spit trying to define a deity that we can only see in a mirror dimly. We know some things about God, but as NT Wright says, we can’t be 100% sure that all of our beliefs are right. And if we one day discover that God is different from us, what will we do? I don’t think you can blog a rebuttal after standing before the judgment seat of God. Actually, I’m pretty sure about that one. At a certain point we bump into our limitations and the likelihood that we have been wrong about God in some ways. We have to decide whether we’re willing to stick with God even if he dashes parts of our theology to bits, even if he appears unreasonable, intolerant, or too inclusive.”
Mike Friesen posted this video on a day I really needed to see it:
I’ve had this song by the Avertt Brothers stuck in my head the past couple weeks… I really don’t know much about the band other than the appearance they had on the Grammys with Mumford & Sons, and Bob Dylan; but checking their wikipedia page shows that their grandfather was a Methodist minister, so they get bonus points for being cool…
Jeremy Smith on Creative Commons, Lewis Center and Link Love. Like Jeremy I think Creative Commons is a good way to approach issues of copyright, and I use a similar license (the only difference is I allow for derivative works, but require the same license to be employed).
One of the things that typically flies under the radar of many people is that Zondervan Books operates under the News Corp. umbrella, run by Rupert Murdoch, who recently made headlines because of the scandal related to News of the World. Will Braun has an interesting article in the Geez Magazine blog abut the connection, as well as some interesting insights from Shane Claiborne about how he personally handles his connection to the company. (via Slactivist)
From Andrew Conrad: Opportunity to Partner with Resurrection. Basically they are looking for 3 small membership congregations served by lay speakers or local pastors to become part of a multi-point circuit for a year. I think this is a REALLY interesting idea, and may be the future for maintaining some small-membership congregations, especially in isolated areas, and will be interested to see how this experiment works out.
I hope there is more to this story than the way it is being spun, but the apparent move in Wisconsin to require people to possess state-issued ID to vote and then close DMVs in 10 different locations seems very suspicious.
Kurt Boemler on 7 Suggestions for those Studying to be a Pastor. The first point about business and leadership training is important AND lacking in traditional seminary education as he points out; I’m really glad Garrett is now offering their MDiv+ program (but wish it wasn’t so expensive to alumni to participate). Also good points about mentoring (both in an official Board of Ordained Ministry capacity and more generally in terms of pastoral leadership).
I guess I’m still in a They Might Be Giants mindset, here’s a cover of Tubthumping they did for The Onion AV Club (PS TMBG – why must you be so cruel to have your concert in Detroit be on a Saturday night? Some of us have to work in the morning… this is only made more cruel by have Jonathan Coulton open for you):
Jason Hood: Why Theology? It was interesting that this came up in my news feed when it did, because a couple weeks ago I was walking over to an event where Peter Rollins was speaking; on the way the group I was with was stopped by a couple of college-aged women, who handed us some postcards and invited us to this “great Bible study” they were a part of. One of the people in our group offered a similar invitation to join us to hear Rollins speak. We tried to explain who he was as a philosopher and theologian, I even compared him to Rob Bell thinking that might be a point of connection, but they hadn’t heard of Bell, either. They left saying, “We are more about reading the Bible, we don’t really do theology.” I so badly wanted to explain that theology fundamentally is about understanding, interpreting, and applying Scripture into practical life – if they only read the Bible but don’t do theology, then they are just reading an empty book, but I held my tongue. (By the way, Peter was AWESOME – I even got to hang out with him after the event, even though I always feel a little stupid and intimidated to be in someone like Peter’s presence, he was very cool, approachable, and funny).
Chad Holtz: I Really [M]ucked It Up This Time. I’ve mentioned Chad’s honesty about his addiction before; this in another very painful chapter in his story. There is language some might find offensive in this post, but also a deeper truth that many need to understand and hear. Prayers for Chad and his family. (A side note: for the past month or so, I’ve really been listening to the Mumford & Sons album, and really wondering about the spiritual dimensions, or simply references, behind the album and Chad does a nice job of highlighting them).
Des Moines is the best city for young professionals. (Note: I won the “Take Pride in Des Moines” essay contest in 1987-ish. Also note: I no longer live there).
With the discussion about Prince and the changing music industry in my last round-up, I thought it was interesting to find this piece about Morrissey, and how he has a new album written, but can’t get it recorded because he can’t find a music label to record and distribute it. I think he makes some valid points – most labels aren’t interested in legacy artists (although ANTI- seems like it could be a good fit), and at least he’s honest about not being interested in self-releasing (although his comment about “not wanting to be innovative” misses the mark a little – it’s no longer innovative at this point, it’s really just a case of not doing work in that direction). I don’t buy music like I did 20 years ago, but I’m also not as interested as listening to the “latest and greatest” sensation like I did back then. Someone like Morrissey now has an advantage (for me personally) because of name recognition, but the music needs to mature with the artist as well – they need to create something that connects with their changing demographic; and I believe that market is out there, they (music labels, artists) just need to be more creative and dedicated in rediscovering it and connecting with it.
Music this week from William Elliott Whitmore (don’t know much about him, other than he is on the Anti- label and apparently from Iowa):
And how about one more for good measure – They Might Be Giants are certainly one of those bands that could fall into the “legacy” category, but they continue to find ways to connect with an audience (going into children’s music was a brilliant move). This is from their latest album for adults, Join Us; for the video they put a challenge out to their fans to make their own. Here’s the one John Hodgman selected as the winner:
Interesting comments on Scot McKnight’s post The New Mission Field: The Rural Church – I don’t think it’s quite a simple telling people to come and open a doctor’s office or a grocery store; there are significant economic and cultural factors that have led the the situation rural communities currently find themselves in, but I do agree with the overall spirit of the piece. Just like he need to remember the “places abandoned by the empire” like Detroit, we also need to recognize that rural communities aren’t without their own set of challenges.
Dan Dick reflects on his Annual Conference in The Unforgiving, but I imagine his comments apply to most Annual Conferences. It wasn’t quite this bad in Detroit, but there were hints of the “everyone’s a victim” mentality – and there is a definite need for grace and forgiveness on both sides.
Related: Great quote from Henri Nouwen on Forgiveness.
Andrew Conrad outlines 6 Options for Church Online. Option 4 is the one I find myself most interested in at the moment – especially in terms of how the larger, regional churches can help resource rural congregations through things like streaming sermons (or full worship experiences). This has the option to provide solid preaching at low cost to congregations that are struggling to pay a full-time salary in a denomination that is experiencing a dramatic wave of retiring clergy. Of course, when I consider it in the context of the Scot McKnight post above, it makes that consideration a little more difficult – it’s a temporary solution to a problem caused by a larger cultural shift, but I could also see how it could be interpreted as “giving up” on the smaller rural churches. I suspect there is a “third way” in all this that is more akin to our Methodist roots of itinerant preachers and congregations that were primarily lay led while the elder served the other churches of the circuit, but I still don’t have a clear idea of what that might look like.
Teresa Cho – 10 Ways Pastors Muck it Up. Powerful, honest accounting of the mistakes we make in pastoral leadership.
Interesting video on a church that uses texting as an interactive tool in worship to ask questions & get feedback. It was also interesting when I saw this same video posted on facebook, and the initial wave of responses to it were very negative – how this is just one more distraction, and preaching shouldn’t involve answering questions, etc. I get that there is a potential downside to this, but overall I see it as a creative way to engage the congregation.
Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
We live in a society of advice columns, experts and make-over shows. Without even knowing it, you can begin to believe someone knows better than you how to live your life. Someone might know a particular something better – like how to bake a three-layer molten coconut chocolate cake or how to build a website – but nobody else on the planet knows how to live your life better than you. (Although one or two people may think they do.) For today, trying asking yourself often, especially before you make a choice, “What do I know about this?”
I’ve sort of fallen off the #Trust30 bandwagon, in part because several of the questions and prompts, I didn’t feel I could answer well in a public space like this blog, and in part because I simply haven’t taken the time to write. But I was especially interested by this one, because I received it via e-mail, right next to another e-mail (Ginghamsburg Church’s daily Transformation Journal) that hit right on the same theme.
The Transformation Journal devotional piece for the day was the Scripture reading from 1 Samuel 17:12-58, the story of David defeating Goliath. Rather than focusing on the conflict at the end, I found myself paying attention to the arc leading up to it: a culture paralyzed by fear; David being dismissed and mocked by his brothers; a King without vision or insight into the problem; an attempt to put David into King Saul’s armor to fight this battle. How often does our story parallel David’s, speaks to that quote above from Emerson, and the question Jen Louden raises? How often do we already have the skills we already need, that will translate into new situations even when no one else believes us (and sometimes we don’t trust them ourselves)? How often will we face questions by those who can’t or won’t see the possibilities before us? Are we ready and willing to challenge the old paradigms or do we just silently submit to the status quo?
Too often my attention is on the skills I lack; attempts to put on another’s ill-fitting armor that hinders movement and holds me back, instead of trusting the gifts and talents most natural to me. Too often I fail to consider the “small victories” against lions and bears, that prepare me for the giants in my midst.
May we let go of the fears and unhelpful comparisons, and trust in the Spirit already at work within us to accomplish the task before us.
“We live in an interactive culture where people are attending not just to what they see and hear, but to the meta-messages of behavior and values. What is our witness as church leaders if we are constantly sick, tired, stressed, depressed, or dealing with less significant details? What happens to our capacity to lead in a visionary and creative way when we are constantly engaged in the management aspects of leadership? Where is our authenticity and credibility when we ask people to do things we do not do ourselves — like pray, give, serve, play, rest, exercise, and learn? The “average” pastor in The United Methodist Church reads 2-5 books A YEAR, only three of them related to their faith or profession… Only 1-in-3 of our ordained clergy read the Bible apart from sermon, class, or small group preparation. Only 2-in-4 have a regular prayer/devotional discipline, and only 1-in-7 have a regular exercise routine. 7-out-of-9 report that they do not eat as well as they should. 8-in-10 say they do not get enough rest, and a similar number report that they do not take all their allotted vacation and personal days each year. What we do speaks more loudly than what we say. We are communicating to those we lead that these things aren’t very important. Is that the message we truly wish to send?
I’m doing okay with regular reading, prayer, study of Scripture (although there is always room for improvement), vacation and sleep, but am pretty bad in terms of eating and exercise. Definitely disciplines to work on.
Rob Rynders highlights an important issue: Should Annual Conference Require You to Let Them Monitor Your Social Media Activity? The question arises out of a recent move by the Board of Ordained Ministry in the Kentucky Annual Conference that candidates for ministry and provisional members will “friend” the Annual Conference on Facebook, and likewise give them permissions on Twitter, blogs, etc. to review postings. Even though I am already “Facebook friends” with several District Superintendents, and both my Twitter feed and this blog and publicly accessible, the idea of a person (or group) actively monitoring posts makes me nervous.
The Chad Holtz case and now this one, really force us into a position where we have to be clear around what is “public space” and “private space” and where one is a “representative of the church” and one is simply an ordinary individual venting the same frustrations, and opinions as anyone else. Certainly there is a need for accountability, and a measure of discretion among what clergy post, knowing the “fishbowl” is always there; but at the same time there needs to be room for “safe spaces” where I can offer up a idea or link to a page or post a video that might not fit the Social Principles or Doctrinal Standards of the United Methodist Church, and know that charges won’t be brought against me for it.
For the past couple of months I’ve been dreaming of an event/conference/discussion that can be both a basic training exercise in social media etiquette (for there have been situations in this conference where clergy (and clergy spouses) haven’t always kept the best boundaries around Facebook posts), but also to have a more general discussion, ideally with UM bloggers from across the denomination, where we can figure out some of these basic guiding principles around maintaining a social media presence that allows free expression, but also recognizes our mutual obligation in covenant relationship with each other. So it would be both a “how to” primer on using social media, but also an academic and philosophical event (maybe with seminary support?) to help guide a “big picture” around tools and appropriate expression; which could then be brought to Cabinets and Boards of Ordained Ministry to help guide their work given that this stuff is still foreign to a large number of their members. Naturally, because I’m lazy, I’d love for this to happen in or near Detroit. Anyone with the $$ or skills to pull something like this off?? (Yes I’m looking at you, Methodist Union; also ye’ olde stomping grounds, GETS, and friends down in Ohio – United and MTSO).
Really interesting video and discussion around Jim Gilliam’s recent talk at the Personal Democracy Forum, on “The Internet is my Religion” here. Really struck by is last comment: “I have faith in people, I believe in God, and the internet is my religion.” In its very best moments, the internet, as a tool for connection can “out church” the church – as a place to bring people together, but at the same time, we must be mindful that vital relationships aren’t virtual relationships, I believe there still has to be an incarnational aspect to ministry, of flesh and bone, hugs, laughter and tears that is a fundamental human need and the place where a real-world gathering of believers is still necessary.
Related: Andrew Conrad on the Pros and Cons of Web-casting a Funeral. As Andrew notes, I like the idea of making the funeral accessible to people who can’t be physically present, but I can see how it could promote people to disengage from that incarnational community at a time when it is especially needed. (As a practical matter, I’d also assume that you’d want to put a funeral webcast of a private link, limited to specific people, but then it becomes one more thing that has to be planned and communicated in the midst of everything else the grieving family is dealing with in that short 3 or 4 day span).
Great video about ministry happening in Hull, England. I spent a year living in Hull, so a lot of the sights resonate with me, although part of the university community I was also sheltered from much of what is depicted here. Still would love to go back for a visit sometime.
I’d love to try something like this for my office at church. Also from Lifehacker – How to Photograph Star Trails – I remember my Earth Science teacher in High School did this and brought the photos in to class one time, which I thought was the coolest thing ever.
Interesting article on Moving from Church Membership to Mission Partnership – switching over isn’t quite that easy in a UMC context, but I think there are some really good points in that “membership” language is problematic, and we need to rethink our very conception and understanding of what we are really about as a body of believers.
Seth Godin on Organization vs. Movement vs. Philosophy – once you’ve changed from movement to organization, can you go back again? As Godin says, “The trouble kicks in when you think you have one and you actually have the other.”
Teresa Cho – 10 Problems of a Dying Church & How to Fix Them – for United Methodists, #2 need to be tweaked a little bit to simply address anxiety with the SPRC, and a renewed commitment to work with the DS/Cabinet and newly appointed pastors. Otherwise, some good points to consider.
Don’t necessarily agree with it, but still an interesting article – Why We Don’t Allow Children in Worship. I can get on board with offering excellence in children’s programming, and giving adults space to worship without distraction, but when the two come together, seemingly to exclude, I’ve uncomfortable.
Once again Jen Lemen’s writing is beautiful, powerful and speaks to the heart. Please check this one out: Absolutely Seen and Loved.
If we live truly, we shall see truly. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Not everyone wants to travel the world, but most people can identify at least one place in the world they’d like to visit before they die. Where is that place for you, and what will you do to make sure you get there?
I’ve been having trouble identifying only one place, and most of the places I can think of are places I’ve already been… I’m not sure what that says about me, other than a current, more general desire to revisit and reconnect, to discover what I’ve forgotten, even though I know those places wouldn’t be the same as I remembered/experienced them the first time.
Places to revisit:
Hull, England (northern England – Yorkshire/Manchester/etc., more generally)
I feel like I should have Russia on the “haven’t been” list (I studied Russian in high school & college), and Japan on the “revisit” list (I was an exchange student there in 1984), but really neither one seems all that appealing at the moment; partly I think because of the language barrier (not that there wouldn’t be language or cultural issues with Italy, Liberia, or Israel).
What will I do to make sure I get there? Actually, my church work opens the possibility of traveling to most of these places – I’d love to do a British Methodist pastor exchange at some point, we have strong missions involvement with Liberia (which is why it is even on my radar), and church trips to Israel are fairly easy to come by, if you have the time and money.
“The winning lottery numbers for June 17 are 10 20 22 39 48 and the Powerball is 25, you’ll have to split the pot with someone in Oklahoma, but $50,000,000 is still a good sum.”
The more serious message to the past:
“Do more to appreciate where you are and what you are doing. Make sure to soak up every moment you have with your children (the one you have the the one still on his way).”
To my future self:
“Stay strong in the battle against the robot overlords. Humanity WILL NOT be enslaved! You know their weakness, don’t be afraid to exploit it at every opportunity.”
The more serious message to the future:
“Keep dreaming. Keep trying new things. Don’t fall into complacency or cynicism.”
– I didn’t realize that curation (basically what I’ve been doing each week) was really a “thing” – this was really about finding a way for me to catalog the stuff I found interesting as a personal study discipline, and to possibly bring some benefit to the handful of friends interested in similar subjects. I’ve always felt a little like I was cheating by pointing to other people’s blogs while not offering very much in terms of my own content, but maybe there really is value in just doing this.
; for the video they put a challenge out to their fans to make their own. Here’s the one John Hodgman selected as the winner: