Some weeks back, we put out a thought asking if the use of 4Sq and similar location-broadcasting social networks could minimize the need for pastors to have offices and add some accountability to the activity of intermissional ministry (this post)? It met with some comments via Twitter, but I think it took some of the in-person chats in an interesting direction. While many people responded that it probably wasn’t a bad idea for a pastor to not have an office, they weren’t sure how other ministral functions would be effected. That’s fair – we only talked about the behavior and activity of the pastor, not those who support their ability to be prepared, present, and preaching.
So, let’s take it a bit further, and address the idea of presence and then see what we can do to build into digital spaces the perspective and behaviors that make sense for pastorial contexts.
Location, Location, Location
We’ll start with the aspect of this idea of an office that usually/rightly gets the most traction. Location. Well, its not so much the where of location that people are looking for as much as it is a sense that they can spatially orient themselves to your time and presence. Once someone is able to resolve this spatial relationshp, everything else tends to make sense.
This is the first aspect of this idea of digital/virtual pastoring that seems to throw folks off. Not so much that they will always access the pastor in that space, but that they know that in such a space, that person has a posture of availability. When that space is thrown into a virtual perspective, its hard to resolve “oh yea, pastor can help me becuase they are where I am.”
Show Me Your Face
Pardon me for saying, but I always find the story of Moses asking to see God’s face one of humor and obsuveness (is that a word) by God. For one, he mooned Moses (“I’ll show you my hinder parts,” funniest thought ever). Then, it wasn’t even that Moses got to see God’s face, he engaged with his voice, but not the entirity of His identity. That’s what Moses wanted to engage, and I’m not sure God was quite up to letting Moses do that.
The parallel comes in when we are using technologies such as email, instant messaging, and SMS where we also have some baseline communication with one another, but each party isn’t on the same plane – they aren’t looking one another in the eye. Yes, the communication might be honest, but (to quote a friend), “I can’t believe you unless I can look into your eyes.” Video chat helps here (Skype, Facetime, video calling, etc.), but there’s still that break in the physical space that’s harder for some people to get over than others when it comes to matters of talking, teaching, or counseling.
Reach Out and Touch Someone
With each communication technology, we seem to want to get closer to the experience that’s so well felt when we are in front of one another face to face. Improvements in the performance of wired and wireless networks (speed, latency, resolution, etc.) as well as what we can do on those networks are simply a matter of trying to make that experience of communication as engaged as touch. And yet, it never quite matches. As mentioned in the previous section, each connection, device, application, and protocol adds a layer to the interaction that isn’t our skin (smell could probably be added here too).
And so the virtual office fails to be a point of touch in a literal sense. But, there is language, emoticons, and output interfaces (haptic feedback, electromagnetic waves, etc) which we put in place to imply that experience. Sometimes its successful; SOMETIMES WE WONDER WHAT IN THE WORLD FOLKS ARE THINKING (using all caps means what again). We get the connection, but not exactly the fullness of connecting that our senses are built for.
So, with those items in mind, how can we create a digital space – or even virtual one that takes into account the needs of the office of pastor-teacher, while at the same time embracing some of the positive value of these digital technologies?
Architecting the Digital/Virtual Pastor’s Office
Remember, we are starting from the idea that there is no (leased, rented) physical office.
In terms of location, we could use public spaces such as a library, coffeeshop, train/bus terminal, or even a city park. If we are simply working on administrative tasks, perhaps the quieter the better. If meeting with people one-on-one (virtual office hours), then perhaps we are meeting in a small business eatery that’s inside of the community of the local fellowship, or even owned by one of the members. Some churches have their own hotspots within their churches, perhaps these could be leveraged as location points as well?
Once the physical location is established, its up to the individual minister to set some ground rules: how long will you be available in this space; what topics are ok to discuss in public, and which need a more private affair. I’d like to think that from an IT perspective that there’s some consideration to data privacy, content management, and maybe even how you might be getting online. I’ve always liked the idea of using your mobile to be the hotspot, so that you have some sense of control and management over the connection in this case (might be an additional expense, so that’s got to come into consideration as well).
You’ve got your space, now what about your face? Perhaps in this digital office, you are setting aside a specific amount of time to respond to text-only messages. Emails, IMs, etc. might get some kind of priority ranking, in case you might be in that virtual space for admin reasons. If you are looking at doing video (video counseling, collaboration moments), then maybe you are in that more private place, but also not in such a public space that you’re speakers or voice are transmitting to those around you the confidental details of the conversation you are keeping. Though, you do publish it (“virtual office hours on Google Hangout from 10AM to 12PM on Tuesdays” kind of thing).
As for touch, I’d say that you’d do similar to what you do with the video and admin time, making it clear which times in that virtual space that you would be available for people to walk up to you and say hello for pastor-centric items, being open to the random conversations of the space in other times. We all want to be touched by the literal presence of someone else, and so to keep that in place allows some bit of leveraging what works digitally (announcing that you are there), and the best methods of people getting that touch if they are coming to you. If you are bringing the mountain to them (so to speak), then perhaps that’s an instance of muting or turning off the ability to be contacted by all except the most important contacts, making sure that you stay present in the presence of whom you are with.
In a post last year, we talked about a pastor going to this model; its good to look in and see the challenges and opportunites that have happened since.
Present and Presence as the Digital Thumbtack
The model of life here is that we can live and work by using mobile and digital technologies quite effectively if we take into account the environment, costs, needs, and audience. Within this space of mobile ministry, we are also inclined to take into account the implications of the technology to those we interact with. Its not so much a different balance than going without digital, but there are these items that we can do, which if we don’t consider the results could be a hindrance rather than a help.
While writing this, I’m sitting in a coffeeshop interacting with people coming in and out, sitting and reading, and such. I’m in my office, using things digital and virtual in nature, but staying aware and open to the senses God built in us in order better demonstrate the connection to Him and one another.
If you’ve been paying attention to the wealth of events noted on the #mobmin (mobile ministry) calendar, you’d know that its been a pretty rocking time in terms of conferences as the spring as worn on. With summer meetings just around the corner, we wanted to let you know of two upcoming conferences we’ll be attending – with the hope that you’ll come out to one or both and join for conversation, networking, and knowledge sharing.
Mobile Ministry Methodology (v1)
Thursday, April 12th, 2012For the years that I’ve been looking at this intersection of faith and mobile technology through the lens of MMM, one thing has honestly escaped much of the conversation around the topic: if this intersection is valid, then what do people do to get past that intersection and into some relevant demonstration of their faith. In effect, what’s the method to the madness?
Being able to devote much more time to MMM in the past two (2) years has granted my thinking and action spaces to do just that – figure out the methods and some streams of activity within them. You’ve seen this in part if you’ve followed this site for sometime and watched its evolution. In this post, I kind of want to pull all of that together into what amounts into a mobile ministry methodology. The goal of this methodology is to literally demonstrate the definition of mobile ministry in the midst of practice and application.
What is A Mobile Ministry Methodology
The Mobile Ministry Methodology is a framework designed to assist individuals, ministries, and organizations determine the value, prospects, process, and successes of mobile ministry projects. Derived from SDLC methodologies, this framework is designed to keep the a singular goal in perspective despite tendencies for scope creep.
Please note, this is a framework. Therefore, activities within each phase might differ depending on the project. That said, the phases are quite rigid in keeping the focus of the project on both ministry and mobile applications.
Phase One: Determine if you are working on a mobile ministry project
The first step of this methodology is to determine if you are indeed working on a mobile ministry project. While it might seem that any project utilizing mobile devices and services is a suitable ministry project, the determining of whether it is a mobile ministry project falls towards whether the goals and activities within the project affirm the definition of mobile ministry:
(short version of definition)
If your answer to this question is that you are not working on a mobile ministry project, this methodology and process will not be helpful to you. If the goals of your project would like to line up with ministry, as well as keeping that technical component of being mobile, a good place to check the motives and goals of the project can be found using the following Biblical references:
Phase Two: Identifying the Frame for Mobile Ministry
There are several contexts in which mobile technologies have been used, or mobile behaviors tracked and observed. However, all of these are not specific illustrations of ministry (faith-building, faith-tradition extending, faith transformations can all be used as terms here). When mobile intersects with ministry, and the resulting actions are a change in behavior towards both technology and faith, then we can say that mobile ministry has occurred. MMM’s investigation and logging of activity in this space has identified these contexts (displayed here in their primary and secondary frames, linked to articles published here which correlate):
* These topics had their primary tag changed in the course of developing these articles; process is underway to normalize these.
Phase Three: Identifying the Primary Focus for Mobile Ministry Activity
Activities within the previously mentioned frames of mobile ministry have engaged in one or a combination of three focus areas:
Previous discussion on these.
The focus is determined by the core and learned competencies which area needed in order to direct the mobile ministry effort. Many mobile ministry projects will involve two or all three of these at some junction, but the primary focus clarifies how in the later steps you can better identify gaps, resources, and implementation items.
Whether you are using one or all three of these layers, it is helpful to have within your project person(s) which have specific knowledge of the devices and their capabilities, the programmable and political natures of the services to be implemented, and/.or then a definition of the experience for users, administrators, operators, developers, and any other stakeholders. Within these layers of mobility are a wealth of forks which will determine the success or failure of your project if they are not accounted for at this junction.
Engaging the Project Activities
Once you have identified the framing and focus, the methodology begins to take place. While this might look different for specific outfits, the software development lifecycle (SDLC) methodology actually grounds the following phases of the methodology/process:
Phase Four: Establish the Three Pillars
The first phase for the mobile ministry methodology involves what we call the three pillars: goals, issues, and resources.
This would be similar to the project initialization and analysis phases of an SDLC/Agile methodology. It is within your dissection of the issues and and resources in which an analysis of the feasibility of your project will come to light.
Phase Five: Design and Test
Design and Testing should happen in concert with one another. It will be clear after the identification of the goals and issues what exactly needs to be focused on. Design should therefore take place in two phases – staging prototypes/examples and test-ready prototypes/examples. I am personally of the opinion that you spend more time refining the design than testing multiple iterations, but I know of many people having different philosophies here. I’d also recommend that any design and testing (especially if we are talking applications, software, and workflows) should take place with live data, and not dummy data.
Testing is about whether you are making realistic steps towards your goal, and have you developed an experience with your product to match the expectations after that goal is met. Anything that you are testing that does not have direct correlation to solving the issues which prevent your goals from happening should be dismissed (or in some cases, lowered in priority). Testing should also be designed to correspond to the availability of your resources in concert with how the results of the testing knock off all or some of the issues raised in the previous phase. There is potential for projects to spoke into additional requirements or opportunities as a result of the testing/testing data, so I would recommend that anything learned that does not positively effect your specific goals, be dropped for another project or future iteration of the current project.
The testing scripts should be designed so that they can be used in the Post-Implementation phase for reporting and support needs.
Phase Six: Implement
Implementing a mobile ministry project can be a difficult proposition. If this is an application, implementation might look like a slow-beta period, or a larger “let’s see what happens” kind of release. When it is a business process, implementation cannot afford such slow releases, and usually includes additional time and resources towards addressing items that could not show up in testing, implementing training, and finishing the reporting queue.
Your public feedback queue and media channels should be established and utilized at this point. Mechanisms such as Twitter, Facebook, Get Satisfaction, etc. are excellent for acquiring and monitoring specific feedback, while also lending a (hopefully) positive light on your ability to manage the roll-out of your product.
Phase Seven: Support, Report, and Reinitialize
Supporting your product includes having the appropriate documentation (text, video, etc.), publicity support, and consistent presence (support forums, email channels, etc.) which allow you to take in and categorize compliments and issues related to the implemented iteration of your project. Support does not necessarily include fixing all of those items which are brought to your attention – some items need to be input into the queue for re-initialization into another project.
As with your testing queue, the reporting structure that you use to watch usage, trends, and spot potential problems down the line should be in place here. Your report data might come from server logs, emails, or a combination of several streams of data, to which are collected in a regular report by which project managers an stakeholders can have a concise view of the project as it related to the specific goal.
Reinitialize means that you’ve met enough the goals of your project, and due to the data gained within the design, testing, implementation, or support/report streams, that you have an update to the project that you can do. Again here, the goal needs to be specific, but also not deviate greatly from the original product’s goal. It is not uncommon to go back to the drawing board and rebuild at this point.
Review of the Mobile Ministry Methodology Phases
View these phases in a graphical process map:
This process map was created in Google Docs for collaborative purposes. The Google Docs version will always be the latest iteration of this.
Items Not Seen In this Methodology
This methodology has been designed to be very generic. How you or your team manages their tasks, template documents, or other assets is not the point of this methodology. It is a framework to assist you/your team to understand from the outset of the project how to focus your efforts without losing focus of the faith and technological implications of your product. If at the end of your project, you have clearly demonstrated that you have forwarded some/all of the key ideals or behaviors of your faith tradition, then you can successfully say that you have engaged within mobile ministry.
If you have any comments or questions towards this methodology, please do not hesitate to email or send a message via Twitter. Its my expectation that this methodology will enable groups, such as those involved within the Mobile Ministry Forum, better identify successes, challenges, best practices, and other aspects of mobile ministry that have been hard to define and implement.
Associated Resources
Tags: best practices, definition of mobile ministry, flow chart, layers of mobile, methodology, Mobile in Analytics/Marketing/Development, Mobile in Discipleship/Education, mobile in media, mobile in missions/evangelism, mobile in personal/moment, mobile in spiritual/theological/psychological, process, process flow, resources
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