Praying People Needed!

Back in May I started the page on Facebook:  Praying People which invites people to post and prayer on the wall and pray for others.  And it has grown to over 7,500 members (fans) and the number of prayer requests is amazing.  So much need, so much pain!  So I am doing a shout out for people to head over to the page, become a fan and offer prayers of support and care.

If that interests you head to:  http://www.facebook.com/PrayingPeople    And let me know if you do get involved!

The Age of ME

I rarely listen to the radio, I download my choice of podcast.

I rarely watch TV, I watch my choice of video online.

I rarely read the newspaper, I choose what news I want and set it up via RSS Feed.

I struggle with a formal learning programme -  being told what I should know.  I prefer to explore, to choose what I want to learn.

The age of ME is here, anyone wanting to engage the Me age will need to consider the individual: offering convenience, the freedom of personal preference and a suite of possible choices.

This is a tough environment within which to create a community.  We are moving away from collective identities to collectives full of individual identities.  So from ‘I am Baptist’ to ‘I attend a Baptist Church.’  People are reticent to become too involved.  Membership of anything is quickly becoming an old reality.

How then do we create community within this me centered, transient environment?  I welcome your thoughts.

Video Presentation of ‘The Bible in the Digital Space’

CODEC have uploaded a video of my presentation.. see the first of them below:
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To watch the rest of my presentation click below…
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Continue reading »

The Bible in the Digital Space

Today I presented my paper, The Bible in the Digital Space at the Christianity in the Digital Space Symposium at St. John’s, Durham University.  To download a copy click here: The Bible in the Digital Space (1120)

Note:  Can you let me know if you can’t download this!  Thanks.

Twitter Fundraising?

An excellent blog post by Leena Rao over at  ChurchCrunch called: Tweetraising: The Potential For Charities On Twitter looking at how charities can make use of Twitter.  They make the point that Twitter won’t, ‘replace conventional ways of fundraising, but it provides a low-cost, yet engaging way to diversify a charity’s fundraising efforts. And in this economy, diversification is too important to ignore.’

I love this notion of ‘diversification’, which speaks of the need to provide multiple channels into the organisation. Without a doubt the traditional approaches, what I call the ‘bread and butter’ of an organisation such as appeals through the post, are here to stay.  But as well as these we need to start to explore new areas such as Twitter, Second Life, and Facebook.  Why?  Well very simply, that is where people are, that is how people are relating, and as well as relating with each other they will start to see it as a natural place to relate to their favorite causes.  So although the returns are minor it is worth getting involved.  But a warning:  It takes way more than getting a Twitter account, it requires creative people to 1) fully understand the technology; 2) grasp completely the charities mission; and 3) find new ways of matching the two together.

Leena Rao states that, ‘most charities are relatively late-adopters to new technologies’ which I completely agree with.  There is plenty of space in the market for new creative fundraising and awareness raising initiatives that make creative use of social media including Twitter and Facebook.. be interesting to see what emerges!

Have you got any creative ideas?  I would love to hear them.

Why I don’t like Twitter But Stay Involved

I am an active Twitter user posting multiple times most days.  I have set up several accounts:  @revmarkbrown (6,109 followers), @Bible4U (6,584 followers), @AnglicanChurch (151 followers) and @Prayer4U (431 followers). But to be honest I really don’t like it.  Why?  I am really not that interested in sharing the minor details of my day..  the ‘had breakfast.. cereal was amazing’ kind of stuff that Twitter usage demands.

But then recently I received the following message from a good friend, Seth:

 For me Twitter has been a revelation as I have gained insights in the day to day thinking of many of my ministry hero’s. The way they talk, think and their basic positivity has rubbed off. I feel closer to them. I follow them as they follow Christ. There are things Mark that you have in you life that I am only aware of, am exposed to because of these cyber tools. Twitter for me is one of the best for finding out what great leaders do in their day. What goes on in their head is better than whats on TV. These are men under great stress yet they have an opportunity to give a faith filled update of their day. As I have emulated their behavior (not necessarily a bad thing) I have gained a tool to connect people to the Vision of my local church and to pass on valuable resources as some of the most resourced men and women in the world pass them on my way (via blogs and twitter). The chatter that is filling my heart and mind is starting to combat that of the media of the day.

And that is why I stay involved.  As much as I dislike Twitter, with its 140 character limitation and oodles of get rich schemes that bombard you, I can see that it is one potentially powerful way of influencing.  So though it isn’t a natural space for me, something I would by choice be involved with, I stay involved as I believe leaders need to expose themselves to new innovations, explore them, and make them work.  It is essential to seek to understand not only this generation, but to grasp where things are heading.

And where are we heading with Twitter?  How will it affect communication?

1)  Synchronous communication - sharing events, news as it is happening, real time.

2)  Simplicity and brevity.  I don’t have time, make it quick.

3)  News reporting in the hands of non journalists (huge shift still to fully bite).

4)  Popularity defined, not only by advertising pulling power but the ability to attract followers.

5)  Will add to the emerging reality of online community with virtual connections becoming as significant as face to face.

Word Cloud

I am a chronic visual.  Discussions light up for me when a white board is involved.  Which is why I really like Wordle. Wordle takes a bunch of text or a website and creates a Word Cloud.  Check out below the word cloud for brownblog: Continue reading »

Praying People

Three weeks back I founded the Twitter account Prayer4U where people can send in prayers which are shared amongst the followers of the account.  It now has 381 followers and 148 prayers have been offered. Huge thanks to Blake Croft who co-ordinates it!

And then I thought, why not offer a similar thing for Facebook? So yesterday I set up the page Praying People where in becoming a ‘fan’ of the page you can then post prayers on the wall for others to pray.  Very simple idea, be great to see tons of prayer happening!

Check it out by clicking here.

The Great Facebook Experiment: Report

My mate Revd Bosco encouraged me to do some research around how many folks read the Facebook status update.  So over the past couple of days I have been inviting people who read my status update to click on a link to confirm they have read it.  I posted the invitation a number of times.

And thanks to Google Analytic I can report that the percentage of my facebook contacts Continue reading »

Is Faith Good For Your Health?

After completing my theology degree I decided to complete a certificate in pastoral care that included one year of chaplaincy at a chronic psychiatric hospital.  In that year two particular things struck me: I became curious by the amount of spiritual talk amongst patients and how the medical system dismissed it as just another symptom. This discovery led to me completing a Masters degree in Art Therapy and concentrating my thesis on creating an assessment tool to assist in discerning what was genuine faith expression.

Over that year I also realised how much unhelpful mythology surrounded those with a mental illness. There is a real need for us in the church to understand better what it means to have a mental illness and what we can do to promote their health and welcome them into our community.  One person who is eminently capable of resourcing us is Therese Borchard, one of the top bloggers in the mental health field. So it is great to welcome her again to Brownblog.  She writes:

In February “Time” Magazine published some fascinating articles on the “biology of belief”: how . Folks who attend church services on Sunday have a lower risk of dying in any one year than the guys who sleep in, read the paper, and skip all holy activities. “Spirituality predicts for better disease control,” says Dr. Gail Ironson, a professor of psychiatry and psychology at the University of Miami who studies HIV and religious belief.
Okay. So how? What exactly happens in a brain when a person sings “Alleluia!” that makes her more resilient to illness than the nonbeliever? Here are 8 ways faith can heal.

1. Faith provides social support.

Not surprisingly, a major reason why regular churchgoers have half the risk of dying over the next eight years as people who skip religious services is due to the social support gained by a church community. One consistent happiness key is weaving a network of support for yourself. We all need a security net. If you go to church regularly, and especially if you get involved in your parish or church community, that social support is provided. Also, regular churchgoers are more likely to GIVE support to others, and this act of generosity–any altruistic activity, really–promotes better health.

2. Faith engages the senses.

I never thought about it this way until reading the quote by Ted Kaptchuk, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, in the “Time” article. He says, “Religious belief is not just a mind question but involves the commitment of one’s body as well. The sensory organs, tastes, smells, sounds, music, the architecture of religious buildings [are involved].”

He’s so right. That’s why, when I’m in a bad place, I often go sit in an empty church and find comfort there, looking at the stained-glass windows, the sapphire ceiling with stars, the wooden stations of the cross, and the statues of the saints. I will light a few votive candles, for all my intentions, and also for those whose intentions got accidentally blown out last Sunday by my kids. This sensory experience is also why I’m brought to tears at Christmas time when I hear a beautiful version of “O Holy Night.”

3. Faith reinforces a belief system.

Did you know that you’re happier and healthier when you think that you’re right (regardless of whether or not you really are).

Think about the last fight you had with your family. If you and your sister “won” it (your brother got down on his knees … “I was so very wrong”), you know that primal feeling of superiority that I’m talking about: the one that apes experience, and insecure people like myself. But the apes and immature folks are merely confirming a theory that positive psychologists have known for a long time: that people bond when they hold common opinions and beliefs, and this kind of bonding leads to happiness. It’s like a positive gossip session.

Church is all about this kind of bonding. You believe that God sent his only son so that we might have life and have it more abundantly? ME TOO! Get out! Continue reading »