Just thinking about this--is the Pharaoh of Exodus one of the biggest dolts of all time? Think about the beginning of the story: "Golly, Mr. Pharaoh, the Hebrew women aren't like the Egyptian women--" and then he gives orders to kill off all the future work force, which apparently his people completely ignore-- and THEN his own daughter says, "Oh, that's a cute Hebrew baby--I think I'll keep that one."
At a meeting this afternoon, talked about the future of church. Talked about demographics. About worship style. About theology, and technology. Talked about a lot of social media stuff I learned at Social Phonics Summer Camp hosted at Solomon's Porch by Doug Pagitt and Tony Jones this summer. Two interesting bits: while talking about social media, one person voiced a very bad reaction to Facebook, because a few of our mutual friends from church post pictures of her that she doesn't like. We talked about changing her permissions and notifications, but still, as she pointed out, FB keeps changing things, and it is annoying. More striking: another person at the meeting interrupted my logorrehea of amazing new technical knowledge, almost in tears, to say she felt very left behind by this, because of divorvce and other factors could not afford a computer at home new enough to keep up with internet, does not have time to do it at work, doesn't have money for a smart phone, is offended that her kids and others budget this way even though she sees the reality, and she worries how many others like her (and younger with no money) the church is leaving behind as we make newsletters all electronic, and get all wired in other ways. Challenging question. We still need personal contact. We know there are more cell phones than TVs in the world now, but are we still leaving people behind? Forgetting those who aren't connected?
This article takes a look at the kinds of compromises people and governments might consider when a massive rethinking of their situation is thrust upon them. For some, it seems to work; for others, it sounds like a story they've heard before, pushed around by powers who seem to say they want to help but only on power terms, like "We're going to get you into a better neighborhood situation with better services, but only if you move."
Clearly there is some progress in Detroit. Is it enough, and is it good for enough people?
Last week I sat in a very different worship experience at Solomon's Porch in Minneapolis, and then spent the next three days there at a summer camp on Social Phonics/social media/all things internet related to getting the good word out through all kinds of social media. It was amazing. It made my head hurt from all the new info and all the screen time.
I was one of the older people in the room at age 54, and it made me think--where is the church really going? What is the future? I am absolutely convinced that it includes a lot of electronic communication, but I am also sure that we have to continue to reach back across the digital generation divide to the people who are not digital natives--which is most of the people in the pews in the congregation I serve now. So what's the responsibility? Part of my work, I think, as I am learning all this stuff, is to help older church members learn how to keep in touch with the world speeding past them, because they still have a lot to contribute, but they don't know how to get noticed. At the same time, we have to slow the world down and help youngsters remember that there are times when it really is good to turn off every electronic connection including your smart phone, and just talk to the person in front of you. Or just listen. Don't tweet about the sermon, or your lunch menu--just be there.
If you're reading this, you obviously have a bias for being connected, but what about it? Are there times when it's good to turn it all off? And what's the responsibility to generations who aren't quite sure how to keep up? We have that responsibility, right?
I recently attended a conference at a church called Solomon’s Porch in south Minneapolis. It was a different kind of church. The building was familiar enough—old red brick, built probably about 1910, with heavy oak doors and well-worn floors. It is in a neighborhood that has come and gone and is coming back again, with some commercial renewal, not unlike Wausau’s downtown.
But there were differences, too. The conference started with a worship service with the regular congregation. Most of the year, they have two Sunday evening services. There are no morning services. There aren’t any pews anymore, either. Those are long gone. Instead, arranged in concentric circles radiating from the center of the sanctuary—which they call the Great Room—are miscellaneous sofas, easy chairs, rocking chairs and stools. Family areas were defined by play gates that families seemed to have set up. I was clearly one of the oldest people in the room.
People spoke from the center of the room. It was a little hard to tell who the official leaders were, because it was very egalitarian. When the main speakers and some of the other parts finished, the congregation responded by snapping fingers, as if at a beat poetry reading. The service ended with communion, but we didn’t really end as much as move directly into visiting, for quite awhile, right there in the worship space, except for those who were drifting into the adjacent small sitting room to pick up coffee, soft drinks or wine, and continue visiting. Most of the congregation eventually drifted away, and the conference got its Sunday night business started.
Should every church replace its pews with couches and snap fingers after sermons? Not necessarily. An idea that feels natural one place is a gimmick where it doesn’t fit. But this was obviously an authentic Christian community that is growing and reaching people other churches are not reaching, because it is doing things a little differently. It might be something to think about.
So, I'm spending the day at an event called Social Phonics Boot Camp. It's about the amazing and vast world of social media, way beyond Facebook, and lots of it (amazingly) free. Free video streaming of church events--who knew? Embedded in Facebook page or website, whatever. I think we've got some upgrades coming, and some change in our outreach approach at First Presbyterian in Wausau.
