Comments on: Generation F? http://brownblog.info/?p=812 fresh thinking about Christian ministry Wed, 08 Sep 2010 01:51:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.1 By: Bob Hoeller http://brownblog.info/?p=812#comment-8165 Bob Hoeller Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:17:40 +0000 http://brownblog.info/?p=812#comment-8165 Mark, I often wondered if the Internet (in general) was going to be considered the kind of providential tool that the printing press was thought to be by Martin Luther and his contemporaries. I really think that the explosion of social media might just be the specific tool on the Internet that fosters connectivity and community in this great emergence. The twentieth century brought us twentieth century business models to the church. Systematic theology fit in to that structure very well. I believe that the dynamic and often frenetic land of social media lends itself to a community closer to the first and second century model. Instead of "going house to house" as we see in Acts and the Epistles, we are going IP to IP and the gospel is spread the way it was naturally designed; virally and fractal-ly instead of attempting to box it in systematically and linearly. I like what I see.. and I want more! One thing to watch out for is the same thing we see in all technology. Older generations are slower to embrace it, and often times shun it. More and more these days I see congregations separated not racially, or by dogma or orthodoxy/orthopraxis, but rather generationally. I wonder how we will address this as the gap grows wider, and the Kingdom races forward. Mark,
I often wondered if the Internet (in general) was going to be considered the kind of providential tool that the printing press was thought to be by Martin Luther and his contemporaries. I really think that the explosion of social media might just be the specific tool on the Internet that fosters connectivity and community in this great emergence. The twentieth century brought us twentieth century business models to the church. Systematic theology fit in to that structure very well. I believe that the dynamic and often frenetic land of social media lends itself to a community closer to the first and second century model. Instead of “going house to house” as we see in Acts and the Epistles, we are going IP to IP and the gospel is spread the way it was naturally designed; virally and fractal-ly instead of attempting to box it in systematically and linearly. I like what I see.. and I want more!

One thing to watch out for is the same thing we see in all technology. Older generations are slower to embrace it, and often times shun it. More and more these days I see congregations separated not racially, or by dogma or orthodoxy/orthopraxis, but rather generationally. I wonder how we will address this as the gap grows wider, and the Kingdom races forward.

]]> By: How the Digital Revolution Might Affect the Church at Brownblog http://brownblog.info/?p=812#comment-6316 How the Digital Revolution Might Affect the Church at Brownblog Sun, 26 Apr 2009 09:48:41 +0000 http://brownblog.info/?p=812#comment-6316 [...] I discussed in my previous blog post, Generation F have grown up online and therefore as willing members of the revolution their [...] […] I discussed in my previous blog post, Generation F have grown up online and therefore as willing members of the revolution their […]

]]> By: Pam Smith http://brownblog.info/?p=812#comment-6235 Pam Smith Fri, 24 Apr 2009 19:37:41 +0000 http://brownblog.info/?p=812#comment-6235 I'm not sure what environment he's talking about when he says On the Web, every leader is a servant leader; no one has the power to command or sanction. All websites are owned, and the owners and those to whom they give admin rights have quite a lot of power to use sanctions, including exclusion. And of course a lot of people are excluded economically - I think one of the biggest dangers of 'the digital age' is that we abandon the non-digitised, who are unable to twitter, blog and use their influence, to complete obscurity! The parallel in church terms would be replacing the dominance of those with the 'right' education to those with the 'right' communication skillset. I’m not sure what environment he’s talking about when he says

On the Web, every leader is a servant leader; no one has the power to command or sanction.

All websites are owned, and the owners and those to whom they give admin rights have quite a lot of power to use sanctions, including exclusion.

And of course a lot of people are excluded economically - I think one of the biggest dangers of ‘the digital age’ is that we abandon the non-digitised, who are unable to twitter, blog and use their influence, to complete obscurity!

The parallel in church terms would be replacing the dominance of those with the ‘right’ education to those with the ‘right’ communication skillset.

]]> By: Phyllis Tickle http://brownblog.info/?p=812#comment-6225 Phyllis Tickle Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:23:24 +0000 http://brownblog.info/?p=812#comment-6225 Excellent piece here, Mark. I hope you'll continue this vein of thought and expand it over the next few months. Not enough leaders and thinkers in the Church are turning their attention yet to the implications of the changes you are addressing. Thanks from all of us...p Excellent piece here, Mark. I hope you’ll continue this vein of thought and expand it over the next few months. Not enough leaders and thinkers in the Church are turning their attention yet to the implications of the changes you are addressing. Thanks from all of us…p

]]>