Mobile Ministry Magazine

This is a piece that was written for the BibleTech Conference blog: A Technologist Living Outside of the Silos. Its a thinking piece - or a motivational one - you'd have to come to BibleTech to hear this one ;)

Labels: BibleTech, information technology, tech

Via The Digital Sanctuary:

Dallas Theological Seminary’s Center for Christian Leadership is hosting Shane Hipps, author of Flickering Pixels (my review), for a one day conference in Dallas called The Electronic Gospel: How Technology Shapes Our Faith on February 8th, 2010... John Dyer will lead one on controlling technology in our daily lives, Scott McClellan of Collide Magazine will lead a session on social media, and Bill Buchanan of Irving Bible Church will lead one on technology in the worship service.

This looks like a great conference. Don't see MMM going as there's a scheduling conflict (and poor planning on my part), but we will try and get some coverage of it from various vantage points.

For more information and to register, visit the The Electronic Gospel: How Technology Shapes Our Faith website.

Labels: conferences, faith, How Tech Shapes Faith, information technology, social networking, tech, worship

My bro Jamie is at it again with another post talking about how he's gone about integrating technology in his recent church plant, and that process has gone.

This time he posts about presentation software, including some Mac vs PC aspects. Here's a snippet:

...Two years later I have consistently used multimedia to enhance our services. Using PowerPoint's to accompany my train of thought and provide visuals for our congregations. Controlling the music through iTunes acting as the dj. I have deployed a number of methods of media. Some have sailed and some have sunk. That has not deterred me. I am always looking to improve our technologies seaminglessness, quality and purpose to enhance rather than take away from our weekly gatherings...

Read the rest at the Inspire blog, and follow Jamie and his church (In the Light Ministries Philly) via Twitter (@pastorjc).

What kinds of issues have you had with using various presentation-based technology? I tend to be a "display from my mobile device" kind of person myself ;)

Labels: computer, information technology, innovation, presentations

A study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project looked into how libraries will have to adjust given the rise of freely available digital resources. And while many cannot dispute that fact, it might be true that libraries would have another reason for existing besides just "holding old books" that should be explored.

One area that I can see libraries fostering is that aspect of community Internet. That is, becoming a place where people are necessarily needing to get the resources for connecting, and then becoming that place where those folks who are digital natives can learn about healthy computing.

I also see libraries as a place where the traditional "quiet time" could be passed for the occasional teaching on discourse towards technical matters. Making the library a place where one can talk and prove on the spot issues relating to net neutrality, digital convergence, economic and cultural gaps, etc. Basically, making the library more than a resource, but a jumping off point towards how we mold one another in these mobile communities.

Of course, I don't say all of this to mean that paper should go away. We should also utilize libraries as a place to teach literacy, first with paper and then with digital. Offering services so that no person is left in a situation where they cannot get at least the basic levels of literacy and knowledge for this changing world is kind of the role libraries have always had, and I think that just because we are more mobile with how we attain this information, we just need to adjust how we view libraries in light of this change. What are your thoughts?

Labels: community, education, information technology, resources

For almost all of my adult life, portable computing technology has been a part of my spiritual life.  No matter how small a role, it's always been a benefit to me somehow.  In everything from jotting notes, recording Bible studies, writing down scripture references to look up later, taking down ideas for topics to study on, and even just devotions and Bible reading.  It's always been something that I've used more and more over the years to help myself grow spiritually.

I started out the way everyone normally does, taking notes with a pen and pad every Sunday, but found that my notes would always get lost, or become difficult to organize.  (And even lost a ton of them along with my main Bible when my car was "unexpectedly towed" *blush*).  Ultimately, I'd get too frustrated with either looking for the darned things or trying to figure out which hand drawn outline went with what note and what order they went in according to the topical series being taught on.  PDA's saved my note taking life!

So years later, I've evolved from taking notes on a monochrome Palm Vx to a miniature laptop like Redfly paired to my AT&T Tilt.  The thing I have started to notice lately, however, is how much notice I've been getting.  As my function and mobile computing ability has developed, the devices I use have gotten a little bigger, and so it goes. 

While reading a discussion on another message board about my review of the Redfly, one of the participants in the discussion mentioned that he didn't think that laptops or PDAs had a place in God's house on the Sabbath.  This got me thinking.

Obviously I don't see anything as a problem with using technology in church, but I can see an argument for those that do.  There are definitely pros and cons to using devices like the Redfly.  Easy access and storage, the ability to backup notes to more than one device, and sharing with family and friends, are great benefits, but there are also drawbacks.  I experienced one such drawback not too long ago.

As the sermon was starting up, so was I, then discovered that a recent change I made to the OS had broken the software I normally use to take notes.  So for the first 5 to 10 minutes of the sermon I was troubleshooting to correct the issue.  I learned my lesson since then and haven't had any problems since.  I've also noticed that another guy I fellowship with started bringing in his 17-inch laptop to take notes as well, which is much more noticeable than my 9 inch Redfly.

With all the resources available to us online, technology is a natural progression to how things can be done in the church.  Think about it, we've gone from displaying lyrics to music on overhead projectors to laptops and projectors,  announcements are now done with accompanying Powerpoint presentations, entire church services are broadcast on TV and the internet and even the Bible is available freely in just about every translation known to man with a few clicks of the mouse.

This started me to thinking about how churches are currently using technology.  Recently John MacArthur released his entire sermon library on-line, the ESV study Bible comes with a key that unlocks an online version that comes complete with with commentary, my church offers the sermon outline and the mp3 of the weeks sermon free of charge weekly. 

The change is undeniable and even expected, the Church is already using technology to make the gospel more widely available. With more powerful portable devices becoming more and more available and the prices becoming more accessible, isn't it about time for Congregation 2.0?

Labels: Church Tech Today, information technology

Earlier this year, we pointed to Abilene Christian University's mobile initiative. The university would be the first to offer incoming freshmen iPhone and iPod Touch devices, and then integrate them into an entire mobile-culture.

An article at Network World peeks into what has happened at Abilene Christian University, and some of the blessings and challenges of going mobile in a university setting. Here's a snippet:

...When iPhone was released, the school bought nearly two dozen to test out. By December 2007, campus officials decided they had what they needed.

Well, almost.

The university decided to focus on just the incoming freshmen, rather than try to equip and support all nearly 4,000 undergrads. Even so, IT staff realized the campus Wi-Fi net had not been designed to support a fully and constantly connected population. "As I thought this through, I realized these [handhelds] were wireless-only devices, and much better positioned than laptops for doing all kinds of things like quick lookups," says Arthur Brant, ACU's director of networking services. "That meant these devices would be used a lot more than laptops..."

Read the rest of the article at Network World.

What can we gather from initiative that is beneficial for the Body at large? Specifically, from an implementation standpoint, we can see that there was a vision for use that had a lot of hands towards making this mobile-enabled culture happen. There was an acknowledgement of limitations, and a quick response to issues (where possible).

What ACU does as well as point towards a response to technology as the Body has has to understand. There are elements of use and culture, but moreso there is a methodology of equipping for the world at hand that needs to be done if we are going to live in this changing world.

As one who wanted to pull this off with PDAs while I was an undergrade (article written in late 2001, I graduated 2002), there is definitely some interest in me seeing the successes and failures here. But it also is encouraging to see that mobile tech can be used as a part of the education and Christian-life-skills processes.

Labels: community, education, information technology, iPhone, iPod Touch, mobility, tech

I had an editorial/article posted at Brighthand that also has some merit here in terms of getting a bit of an understanding as to where computing is going. The subject is called "cloud computing" and is usually characterized by applications, data, or some combination of both being stored on a network and accessible through the Internet (wired or wireless connection). While many in corporate settings might be familiar with this, other than email, most people are not aware of some of the positives and negatives, nor of the types of cloud computing options.

This article is more of an overview than something very technical. But especially for parents, teachers, and those in IT settings, you will want to understand this so that you can use and point those under your influence in a direction that speaks towards their needs, moreso than towards the market's desires.

Here is a snippet:

A term being bantered about a good deal since Apple's iPhone 3G release has been that of "cloud computing." Essentially cloud computing is when the data that you work with -- contacts, bookmarks, email, calendaring, etc. -- is accessible though an Internet connection and with several devices.

There are three ways of taking advantage of this idea of cloud computing: data completely in the cloud, local applications that utilize some data in the clouds with some local, and being your own cloud where you provide the local data from your device to a service.

Read the rest of The Three States of Cloud Computing at Brighthand.

Labels: communication, community, information technology, Internet, software, tech

Great thinking piece forwared by LJ talking about the amount of data that we have in front of us compared to in times past and what our response should be as Christians to this. Here is a snippet:

...Some days I thank God for the vast amount of information at my disposal. Other days I just wish it would all go away. In my more rational moments I know that this is impossible - the information is going to increase, not decrease. Therefore I am responsible before God to live a spiritually disciplined life in spite of this information overload. I am responsible before Him to carve time out of this information influx so I can just be alone with Him; alone with no telephone, no email, no internet. It is critical to my spiritual well-being that I find ways of removing and properly managing these distractions that keep me from spending the time He and I need to build a thriving, growing relationship.

Read the rest of Data Smog and the Christian Life at Challes.com

Labels: data, information technology

One of the comments in the virtual seminary post a few days back has me thinking a bit. As a person who has not (yet) taken any seminary classes, the idea of having classes that are virtual are quite appealing. Besides the ease in scheduling, it would also allow for the use and exploration of various types of mobile tech needs on both the student and teaching sides of things.

Ignoring the IT side of things - that would be better served for another post - what would a seminary training portfolio that encouraged the use of mobile tech (web-based apps, smartphones, laptops, etc.) look like?

Depending on the depth of the responses, this is something that MMM could consider sending to seminaries for further thought and opinion, and maybe some kind of initiation towards enablement on their side of things.

Labels: information technology, mobile, mobility, seminary, software, tech

Hopefully the folks at MinistryTECH won't get on me for getting this up late, but the next MinistryTECH conference has been announced and will be held April 23-24 in Colorado Springs, Colorado (USA).

MinistryTECH is a national conference dedicated to church information technology, audio-visual, and production professionals. Come join some of the leading church IT professionals to learn how they are using technology in their ministries.

In addition to the coming conference, there has also been a call for presentations for the 2009 meeting. Here's the information from the post:

We are accepting workshop proposals from ministry leaders, volunteers, and vendors on all topics relating to ministry IT, AV and production. Workshop submissions will be reviewed by the program committee and selected presenters will be notified by August 31, 2008.

While we would like to accept all proposals, we always have significantly more offers than available slots for speakers.

Workshop presenters typically cover their own travel and lodging expense, but do receive complementary registration to the conference. Breakout session speakers typically do not receive honorariums.

The following items must be included in your workshop proposal:
- Basic contact information (name, organization, mailing address, email, phone)
- Biography of presenter (1 page max)
- Session title Session summary (100 words max)
- Workshop outline (1 page max)
- Description of handouts to be provided
- Equipment needs

Email your proposal to tsanders@ministrytech.org. Deadline for submission is August 15, 2008.

Well folks, you have your assignments. Either make plans to go, or encourage someone to go. Lord willing, I'll have something to send to these folks as well, and maybe I'll get to see you there.

For more information, visit the MinistryTECH website.

Labels: church, Church IT, community, information technology, MinistryTECH, presentations, tech