Conmergence

More Unfinished Business [was Unfinished Business]

<ed.note>I went to school with Greg Newton. He now ministers with the community here. The older I get the more I appreciate his willingness to be authentic and open about his wrestlings with the seeming paradox ( from the human perspective ) of the frail nature of anyone trying to live with integrity ( we mostly fail but do well at wearing our masks ) and the mysterious bigness of God. Here are the lyrics to the psalm to which he refers. The podcast is in QuickTime.

Update: I found several more podcasts where Greg discusses the community of Disciples Fellowship at the MissionAlive.org site: Intro to Disciples Fellowship, Leadership, Community & Discipleship, and Missional & Emergent. These are MP3 formatted.

FWIW: I listened with interest concerning how folks who come from a "free church" tradition have come to appreciate the lectionary/liturgical calendar (however adapted) and recalled that at the time I was going thru catechism as a youth with the Franciscans of St. Patricks I didn't have the same appreciation for the place of the Stations of the Cross as an devotional|instructional tool as I do now. I think more "free churches" would do well to take advantage of this aid.</ed.note>

Seminary Consortium for Urban Pastoral Education (SCUPE) 2008 Congress on Urban Ministry, April 15-18, Chicago

SCUPE offers experiential learning that allows the city to touch the heart and the heart to reach out to the city. Academic courses prepare individuals with information and skills to become effective agents of transformation in our urban world.

SCUPE partners and collaborates with seminaries, universities, denominations, churches, organizations, community groups, and individuals seeking ways to join God’s mission in the world with their mission in the city.

Congress agenda here.

Alban Institute's James Wind "Crunching the Numbers"

Based on a sample of more than 30,000 adults and done with a methodological rigor that will make this survey a benchmark for future attempts to map the religious life of Americans, the Landscape Survey offered much to ponder. First, America remains stunningly Christian, at least in terms of religious self-identification. Of those polled, 78.4 percent identified themselves that way. After more than a century of modernity, secularism, higher education, enlightenment, and new religions, the vast majority still see themselves as in some way Christian.

That “in some way” is important. The survey documents the amazing variety of ways that Christians understand and practice their faith. And here is where the survey’s detailed analysis simultaneously confirms, sharpens, and challenges what many of us thought was going on. According to the surveyors, the biggest chunk of American Christianity is Protestantism, which makes up 51.3 percent of the adult population. So Protestants are still the religious majority in our society, but just barely so. The study goes on to note trends that suggest that any Protestant triumphalist celebrations better take place quickly. The Protestant majority has declined in relative size from the 60 to 65 percent level often noted by surveys taken during the 1970s and 1980s. Steady decline has been Protestantism’s overall trajectory from the 1990s on.

More here.

Make It Free

Matt Perman's take on Open Access: "...anything that hinders the ease with which your users can access and share your content imposes a 'cost' on them."

<ed.note>You hear a lot religious folks suggesting you tithe your ten percent -- not so much about restricting their "publishing profits" to the same amount. There is a new testament ( pauline ) tension between not muzzling the ozen as it treads out the grain and a workman being worthy of his hire ( leaders, preachers, teachers ) on the one hand and not peddling the gospel on the other. I've noticed that a lot of rationale for division is expressed in theological terms -- but is easier to track with a financial spreadsheet. Every fuss opportunes that two books get published instead of one, two colleges built, two publishing houses publish, two pulpits filled, etc. Here's a call to pull the profit motive out of the equation so there be no doubt concerning motivations. Oh, and feel free to download this ;-)</ed.note>

First Wendell and Bettye Broom Colloquium Videos

Introduction by Jack Reese at the first Broom Colloquium in 2007 where Wendell and Bettye Broom were honored for their many years of service to missions.

"Does God Now Speak with a Southern Accent?" (The Bible, faith, and Christian practice in the global south) Philip Jenkins Chapel Address - March 1, 2007

Philip Jenkins’ personal reflections on his experiences and research relating to the rise of the new global Christianity - Luncheon Address - March 1, 2007

"God is Going South: The New Face of Global Christianity." Format: Jenkin's Presentation - 45 minutes (with 10-15 minutes moderated Q & A following)

The Wikiklesia Project

The Wikiklesia Project is an experiment in on-line collaborative publishing. The format is virtual, self-organizing, participatory - from purpose to publication in just a few weeks.

Anyone* can write a chapter for the Wikiklesia. The first volume, Voices of the Virtual World, is a "collective, chaordic conversation on how emerging technologies are impacting the church." All proceeds from Volume One will be contributed to the Not For Sale campaign. The e-book is now on sale at Lulu.com. The paperback version will be available in late August 2007.

ChurchInfo

Rob Mitchell ( http://nakedchurch.wordpress.com ) writes:

I'm helping to do documentation on the ChurchInfo project. It's still early in its development and needs some other functionalities, but it's a great start. I wrote a doc on installing ChurchInfo on an Ubuntu LAMP server from bare metal to using the app, including the installation of some support tools. This is a PDF available on the ChurchInfo web site.

ChurchInfo has some really neat functionality -- basically it allows you to enter families, individuals, and organize them into groups and add roles. You can upload photos for families and individuals, and it ties in with GoogleMaps API to show geographic coordinates. You can create groups and organize people therein.

Another plus is that the database schema is extensible from within the application. Michael Wilt, who wrote ChurchInfo, is from a church polity that has basically active and inactive members, and that's the default. In my tradition (Presbyterian) we have several classes of members: communicant, non-communicant, baptized, non-baptized (these last are the kids of member families), active and inactive, and the ChurchInfo interface allows you to add new membership classifications as you desire.

Similarly there are a couple of group classifications built in, but you can add new types of groups and roles to suit your own organizational structure, and this can grow over time as you dictate.

ChurchInfo is 100% open source -- it uses PHP middleware to sit between the Apache server and the MySQL database back end. You can install it on Windows if you must, but it's ideally suited for Linux.

If you don't want to use an in-house server, it is straightforward to install on your ISP, provided it's got PHP and MySQL available.

I recommend having PHPMyAdmin as a support tool. This will allow you an easy-to-use method of doing database backups (with PHPMyAdmin you can download the database to a text file already in SQL query format, that will re-create the database schema and populate it.)

The financial portion of Churchinfo allows you to track pledges and contributions, and will print out a report or output to a delimited text file. The latter is probably preferable, as it will allow you to customize a document in your spreadsheet program. I don't remember if it allows you to designate funds to different accounts or campaigns, one of the functions I'd like to see.

Future enhancements should include a calendar module (there are presently hooks to work with WebCalendar, a PHP project) and an event scheduler, which should include a facility/resource scheduler as well. If you have a good email/workgroup package already that should suffice for you and doesn't need to be part of your church management system, though being able to tie groups and members and roles together with schedules is helpful.

Bottom line, ChurchInfo is a pretty good little package. It still lacks some of the functionalities of the big commercial packages, but for a free app, it rocks. ...Please consider giving it a try -- it will cost you nothing. It's not a full-featured Swiss Army Knife like some commercial packages, but if all you need are the awl, corkscrew, and a couple of regular cutting blades, it just might work for you.

Thinking Outside the Circle

Lyndsay Jacobs, Christian Churches NZ/Associated Churches of Christ in NZ, Uniting Congregations Partner Representative, in "The Wider Church - Number 7, July 2007 (Occasional news and updates prepared for Uniting Congregations in Aotearoa New Zealand with Christian Churches/Churches of Christ participation)" writes:

I am very encouraged by the way many union/cooperative churches are responding to their call to ministry and witness in this new century. But being effective parishes/congregations in this post modern, post denominational, post Christian, post Christendom era is a huge and constant challenge to us all.

IT IS A NEW WORLD. Like many others, I feel absolutely sure that trying to do what we've always done, but doing it better, JUST WON'T WORK. That is like looking through the wrong end of the telescope or trying to get ice cream into the cone through the bottom. It's coming at things from the wrong end. That's thinking 'Inside the Circle' - looking out from where we are. THE WORLD HAS CHANGED. We're not where we were anymore.

The first (and major, huge) step for any congregation wanting to be real in 21st Century New Zealand, is to understand today's community and HOW THE COMMUNITY SEES CHRISTIANITY and the CHURCH. We need to step outside our circles, see ourselves (our congregations) from the outside looking in. We need to think outside the circle.

I have prepared a one day or two evening discovery/action program for congregations which feel they're ready, like Abraham, to explore moving into a 'new country'. Let me know if you're game. ( Contact info: lyndsaylorrainejacobs at xtra.co.nz, PO Box 211, Kirwee 7543, New Zealand. Ph: +64 (0) 3 317-8011. Mobile: +64 021 424516 ),

The Wired Scholar: Five Free Tools You May Not Know About

Danny Zacharias

The Internet has radically changed how information is stored, researched, and published. Work that was once done in a file catalog and in the midst of towering book shelves can now be done with a few keystrokes on a computer. The ability not only to find information, but to store your own information for the benefit of others makes the Internet an exciting tool for academic research. At the same time, the Internet has also become a resource for free quality resources. The purpose of this article is to introduce Society of Biblical Literature Forum readers to five free online tools that can serve to enhance research and productivity.

An "Amazing" Ethnomusicology Lesson

here. <ed.note>When I was at ACU Dr. Jack Boyd first taught me to see music in it's historical context -- that history often related to an individual's attempt to work thru their faith struggles. Saul of Tarsus ( St. Paul ) thought music was an important avenue of collaborative adoration, edification, blessing enumeration, and supplication ( Col. 3:16; Eph. 5. 19 ) </ed.note>

Collaboration in Churchworld, An Example

Chad Entinger, Deaf Experience, Deaf Missions

<ed.note>Greg comments on the desire of Deity to share communion with humankind -- a meme which is always in the back of my mind when considering the sense of satisfaction we humans tend to get from a successful collaboration -- which is ( shush, don't tell anyone, this can be our secret ) a very real, though almost entirely unrecognized, form of worship -- hence the resulting joy.</ed.note>

We find a beautiful model of individuals working together as a team from Deaf history. In the early 1800s, this “team” worked together to influence the life and education of a Deaf girl. Who were these individuals? They were Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, Laurent Clerc and Mason Cogswell.

Gallaudet was an Episcopalian priest who noticed Cogswell’s daughter, Alice, playing outside by herself. He later learned she was deaf. Mason Cogswell was a doctor. Mason and his friends gathered money and sent Gallaudet to Europe to learn about educating Deaf children. After experiencing frustration in England, Gallaudet ended up in Paris, France, where he met Laurent Clerc, a bright Deaf educator. Gallaudet and Clerc came back to the United States together. Upon their arrival, Gallaudet, Clerc and Cogswell established the very first school for the deaf, American School for the Deaf in Connecticut. Their desire was for Deaf children to learn to read so that, as they grew up, they could read the Bible and understand God’s Word.

A parent of a Deaf child (Cogswell), a pastor with a heart for others (Gallaudet), and a Deaf man (Clerc) all worked together to influence others.

We would be wise to learn from this successful model of cooperation and unity for Deaf ministry. Are you a leader of a Deaf ministry? Or are you involved in a Deaf ministry in your church or area? Does your Deaf ministry have a team of leaders, or is it contingent upon the leadership of one person?

Un-Cover-ed Tennessee [ Repost: was Faces of Tenncare - Portrait Project ]

<ed.note>Apparently, things semantically delicious are all the rage within fedgovworld -- stories about intellipedia and even various campaign sites using RSS. I bet Donna, who recently left a comment on this 2006 post I've just gotten around to publishing, wished there were a push for tools for transparency in tennessee politics -- semantic sunshine, if you will. Hint: Donna, you can start here and here and here. A thematically similar post to the following can also be found here.</ed.note>

Aired January 3, 2006, WPLN's Kim Green reports on "a young Nashville photojournalist has spent half a year quietly documenting the people affected by TennCare cuts. Now she's collaborating with a local filmmaker to harness the emotional impact of these photos and distribute them nationally."

A Good Friday for Post-Congregationalists

<ed.note>I listen to audiobooks when possible ( fwiw - I like audible.com, store.audiotech.com, summary.com, some others ). It is interesting to me that the two recurring themes that stand out for me in the business management meme are the importance of servant leadership in the C-Suite ( including the ability to put your ego and vision on the shelf when circumstances dictate that that it is prudent ) and listening to the consumer ( and actually spending money on aligning your business practices and processes { yes this means ACTUAL I.T. capex spending [ over airplanes, race cars and yachts ] and employee education, eg - requiring that every employ be both tech and biz savvy, usually involving the statistical data warehouse and open comments on public facing web properties }).

Bill Kinnon captures this same spirit as applied to the tradition ecclesiastical structural deafness in the land at his ongoing posts found here.

A personal aside and hypothesis: you might think that US denominations exist for theological reasons -- in fact, I would offer, it is to keep otherwise uninsurable ministers in affordable health insurance plans. Go ahead -- ask your minister/pastor/priest -- and then ask if anyone in the congregation can get the same deal. Then ask them why not.

Oh, and if you are wondering what I think the resolution to all this angst is going to be -- ( it's going to be a shocker coming from me ;-) -- apply the Pauline edification imperative ( I Cor. 14:3-4 ) -- via a globally distributed, open stance model -- as the default answer to every discussion ( as opposed to the rote "congregational meeting drivification for 30 minutes to discuss something that should have been wikied" response ). Start there...</ed.note>

Faithful America Campaign - Health Care for America's Children

<ed.note>Vince Isner, of Faithful America, an online community of people of faith working to build a more just and compassionate nation, sent out an email which began with the body below. It was followed by a link to a petition one can sign. I wrote Vince and asked "Has anyone suggested that churches voluntarily give up their tax exempt status and housing allowances and tithe their "corporate" donations and dedicate these funds to underwriting charity care?" He responded: "To my knowledge, NOBODY has yet come forward with such a courageous idea! But I have just passed it on to Bob Edgar, head of NCC, and other members of our staff. Thanks!" To paraphrase Frank of Assisi: "Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and then start your petition drive...</ed.note>

Dear FaithfulAmerican:

"The moral test of Government is how that Government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped."   Hubert H. Humphrey (with a nod from every religious leader known to humanity)

For many newborns in the U.S. their trip home from the hospital marks the END of their quality health care experience.  Nine million children in the United States are living without health insurance.  Many millions more are living with inadequate insurance.  This means either children go without health care or, if an emergency arises, they are treated in expensive emergency rooms for which their parents cannot hope to pay.

We believe quality health care every person's birthright.  Nowhere is this more important than in childhood.

Today and tomorrow, our friends from the Children's Defense Fund and heads of several faith groups are on Capitol Hill visiting with members of Congress to stand with families suffering from our nation's unjust and inadequate children's health care system.  They will ask for a comprehensive health coverage for all children in America.

Administrivia - Churches Almost Rediscovering Polis

<ed.note>It is interesting to me that movements whose rhetoric places a high premium on precedent ( in this case the "patterns" of the new testament ) can go so long without realizing that they are missing the most basic ones ( in this case the earliest churches use of 'members in a polis' { city/town/environs }, rather than 'congregation', as a way to describe their organizational nature ). The earliest churches might meet in several synagogues, house churches, meeting spaces like schools, etc., and were often referenced "geographically" rather than "edificially." Only later were some homes converted to "churches", and other buildings built. Folks who study the Pauline tradition see that while he was concerned with "the worship service" he was more often concerned with edification, whereas our concern today is gathering so that the pulpit minister can strong arm the congregation for a contribution for the latest building program. These fellas are apparently unaware of scheduled direct deposits. I'm waiting for churches to discover that the globally distributed free open source software development related tools and model likely would have been adopted by Paul if he were teaching today. Unfortunately, the "freer education pattern" doesn't quite stack up with that other common church-related revenue collecitng mechanism - the church-sponsored school/college/univeristy. Coordinating outreach work at a mega-community level with leaner structures and greater tech savvy is a "pattern" which should be more widely considered.</ed.note>

Almsgiving 2.0

<ed.note>This site seems like it may be worth watching. A refreshing disintermediation considering all the tax exempt status, parson allowances, and the other contrivances with which organized religion comes up to not actually render unto Caesar by declaring something corban ( I prefer my references shaken, not stirred ). This looks like an opportunity to dust off my patristics...</ed.note>

A ROSE by any other name?

Over at Emerging Church Blogs Bob Fisher does a good job of applying the Results-Only Work Environment meme to ecclesiology -- commending missional lives rather than geolocking meaningful social outreach inside some "sacred" ediface.

The Emergent Church and Blogs

I passed "a fascinating article in the Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, on the "Emergent Church" movement, titled "Postmodern Christianity: Emergent Church and Blogs" on to a fellow Nashville blogger.

Web-Empowered Church (WEC)

The WEC is a new ministry of The Foundation for Evangelism designed to help churches around the world apply Internet technology to enhance evangelism, discipleship, and care. See the About Section for details. And be sure to watch the introductory video presentation titled "Web-Empowering the Church" to learn more.