Mobile Ministry Magazine (MMM)

As I sat with a friend treating her to a birthday lunch, I watched around us as several people were engaged in conversation while fondling or even outright using a mobile device. I noticed children playing with mobiles and tablets, consumed to the world displayed within them, while navigating the social context of being at an eatery. And even the venue itself was situated for such living, wireless connectivity, comfortable chairs for solo persons, and conversational arrangements for multiple-person groups, with foods being accessible in a naturally lit room. 

My friend picked up her mobile several times during the time we were there. She was going back and forth with family members and other friends who were passing her birthday greetings. I usually demote my mobile technology to a background place when with others, but soon found myself pulling out the iPad to begin thinking and sketching on the scenes around me. I caught a moment between chewing, talking, and thought when it hit me, these people aren’t the target of mobile ministry.

In a similar scene, I gathered with a group of pastors and community leaders for a luncheon. The conversation, brokered by a friend to us all, wanted to draw out attention to the needs and posturing of politics and faith in the Middle East. After a group introduction, we broke into smaller groups to eat and swap stories. It is usually in these moments that the peculiar nature of MMM gets to stand out a bit – one can make the argument that I’m neither pastor nor community leader, but have a voice towards both. 

The conversations waver between the networking chatter, sports, technology, and even upcoming events to further connect. Though the mood here is a good bit different than others when topics around technology are brought up. In this group, any conversations around computer technology can quickly take a bent towards disdain towards its influence, to fear of its implications. It is in this group that there’s less “playful” use of computer technologies, and more “how does this fit within our contexts.”

With my friend, I left our lunch meeting full in stomach, mind, and spirit. We had a great time reconnecting, listing to one another’s lives, and even learning what each other are doing new with our passions. Her’s is taking her towards fashion design, and her recent mastery of her new mobile phone has allowed her to begin to draw up interest around her designs and abilities.

With the other group, the conversations usually leave me in a readied quiver. Mobiles that get pulled out of the pocket during that time are accompanied with the statement, “I’m still not even sure how this thing works.” The few techies that attend those events are usually just as swayed by certain platforms (development or otherwise) as much as they are the messages they help to deliver. There’s less of a blend between the technology and life, there are more distinct boundaries between the layers here.

As I write this, I’m reminded of the Mobile Ministry Forum (MMF) meeting this past December. We talked a lot about mobile, but there were very few of us who were using mobile so actively that it opened up life around us. We knew the layers, but for some, the boundaries of its context were quite defined. And therefore the technology (devices, services, and/or experiences), framed walls that were items to be overcome on the road towards enabling a movement.

Mobile ministry is probably not for the people like my friend I had lunch with.