Over the weekend, I have had a number of conversations about MMM and what we are about. A great place to start has been the recently posted sketchnote/mindmap. In many respects, it’s a very wide and deep explanation towards how this idea of “what happens at the intersection of faith and mobile technology” has evolved. Being so wide and deep, it should be explained some.

So, if you are taking a look at it, whether the image or PDF versions, start in the middle. I the middle we have the pod of mobile (in) ministry. In previous articles we have defined mobile (in) ministry as the application of any technology that sits under the term “mobile” and then ministry as those religious practices which forward the tenants of a faith practice. At the intersection of these technologies and faith practices we have the pod mobile (in) ministry.

When you say “mobile” there are many things that come to mind. For some that would be devices, for others that can be a service brokered or an experience (result). To understand this intersection, we need to understand all three of those components: devices, services, and experiences. So it is thru those three layers that we ask the question “where has mobile technology been used in a ministry context?”

So far, we have identified six areas in which mobile technology has been used directly in a ministry context. These areas we have been describing in increasing detail since the beginning of the year, but in a summary look like:
– Mobile in moment /personal: personal use of connected services and applications;
– Mobile in discipleship/education: curriculum development and educational explorations;
– Mobile in marketing/analytics: trends, development, statistics, and practices within mobile channels;
– Mobile in media: mobile content, applications, and services alongside broadcast channels;
– Mobile in missions/evangelism: contextualizing Gospel messages;
– Spiritual and psychological implications: theological and psychological/cultural effects of mobile vs other personal/connected technology media elements

In those six areas there are device, service, and experience components. Each has elements which can be asked or must be answered in the case of using the technology or deriving the theological benefits. In the sketchnote/mindmap this is essentially what is mapped.

As you pass through the layers, the context of that specific application of mobile is detailed. Sometimes, that is easily seen, other times, that’s seething with approaches which have yet to be fully explored whether in religious or secular domains. Here, we explore the entire picture. There are others which focus on specific streams.

I will admit that it makes the subject of mobile (in) ministry a wide and deep area. That’s what we get for asking a question.

We can continue to unpack this as questions and revelations come. What are some of the questions or comments that you have about this sketchnote/mindmap or about mobile (in) ministry that this brings to mind for you?