Twitter

Twitter. I think my favorite commercial right now is for some phone or internet company (effective advertising right there, people) that gives stats on what viewers are doing... "47% are leaving the room to refill your drink," "62% are flipping through the channels to see what else is on," "24% are twittering," "38% don't know what that means." It's quite humorous. But seriously, twittering has become quite popular. At PodCamp, this was made known to me quite clearly, as there was a twitter feed running all day that people could tweet to to let others know what was going on - which sessions were good, which were bad, when the beer was being served. And since then, I've encountered it a couple of times: my sister now has a twitter account, and upon attending a district meeting, the Christian Ed director at the church we're, I guess, now attending tweeted his response to the meeting, and shared it with me and the pastor we rode over with after the meeting was over. 

But, most interesting about twitter, I think, is this article from Time, and the responses I've read about it here and here. The Time article is about Twittering in church, and how some pastors are supporting this, even setting up a screen with the twitter feed on it to scroll during worship. The responses are both positive and negative - yeah, this is a great idea to get people more involved, and this is distracting, and takes away from the personal connection that is created during worship. 

I can see both sides of the issue. On the one hand, I appreciate the GBOD article (first link) in responding intelligently on this topic, giving both positives and negatives, and looking at the deeper issues connected with this. It asks why Twittering would be necessary, and challenges congregations to look at what Twitter would accomplish and ask how and/or why/why not this is already happening in the worship service. The second article simply states four reasons that Twittering should not be used in worship. The author provides four good reasons, but I don't think he really explained himself very well. However, I'm not here to critique his article. I have a few thoughts of my own to offer.

First off, I am impressed that there are churches responding to new technology. There are always some, I know, and so I'm not surprised, but pleased that the church isn't all overlooking new ways to connect and reach people. The church, as a whole, is often very behind the times in terms of contemporary issues, so it's good to see some trying to be involved in what's going on in the world. Being in the world, but not of. I also think some of the critics are a little harsh - give them a break! At least they're trying. It's like Amazon's Kindle... the first one, I'm sure, sucked. There were good things about it, but bad things, too, but at least it was out there, and it could be improved on from that point. Twittering in church, if it's ever going to happen, has to start somewhere. We're just at the beginning. 

On the other side, however, I completely agree with the GBOD's article and the four points in the other blog about why this is a bad idea - namely, taking away focus on what's going on in worship, and removing that personal connection. Twittering is supposed to help people connect when they are not together. When you're together, talk to one another. Connect face to face. And, also, worship is supposed to be a stepping out of your daily life to renew. If you twitter and tweet all week, isn't a break needed?

The best thing I think from the original article was its discussion of what's happening at Next Level, a church in North Carolina. The article cites that this church is not monitoring or displaying the twitter conversation, but isn't discouraging it from happening. I think this might be the way to go - people who want to be involved in it can be, and it won't distract others. Isn't that what twitter is in the first place? It's there to be there for those who want to use it, and if you want a break, or don't understand it, or are distracted by it, you just don't have to be involved. 

Finally, I think churches considering this need to ask a very important question: why do we worship? I think we get so involved in wanting to bring more people in to worship, into membership in our community, that we forget the real reason we're there. We're there to worship God. We're not there for ourselves. Worship is an act for God's glory. We're not even really there to "get something out of it." Bible study, Wednesday night dinners, covenant groups, and all the other activities of the church are there for us to learn and grow and serve. But Sunday morning worship (or whenever you worship) is specifically about honoring God. So, as we look at making worship purposeful, we have to remember what the real purpose is. 

Earnest...

Okay, so I know the show was, what, two months ago? But, finally, here are some pictures from my theatrical re-debut in The Importance of Being Earnest!

Here's the whole cast...


And my favorite scene... after spending an afternoon despising one another because we thought we were engaged to the same man, we realize we've been hoodwinked, and become immediate friends! "My poor, wounded Cecily!"


It was a great show, lots of fun. I am so glad I did it, not only because I got to be involved in theatre again, but I got to know some great college students.

And it's only just the beginning! I've been cast as Miranda in the upcoming production of The Tempest. I'm so excited!

New Beginnings

I, in essence, have a new computer. Not by choice. My hard drive crashed. And I lost pretty much everything I've done in the past year, which, luckily, wasn't much. I haven't been very productive in my personal life. But, most importantly, I've lost my pictures, and I've lost all my notes from Podcamp. So, that second wrap up you were all holding your breath for? Breathe now - it's not coming.

I did manage to hold on to my music, thanks to a handy little program called PodWorks. But all my pictures from the past year, including my "week in the life of..." pictures, are gone. (I knew I shouldn't have procrastinated in scrapbooking those!)

As frustrating as it is, I really am okay with it. Maybe it's because I didn't lose a lot of stuff. But it's kinda nice having a "brand new" computer. A fresh start. And, my hubby bought me a cute little green and black external hard drive to back things up on.

Isn't it pretty? And oh so functional! It even comes with it's own carrying case. Ah, the little things that make me smile...

Starting to Wrap Up...

I'm reaching information overload. Either that, or these last few sessions aren't that interesting.

I really got a lot out of 2 sessions today, Gavin's (the session I came for) and Storytelling for Gen X&Y.

I'll start with Storytelling... it was a really good session with a guy from Ethos 3, a company that strives to help people with presentations. His session was about presenting to and connecting with Gen Xers and Yers. I am a Gen Y, my hubby and sis Gen Xers, and I was intrigued by this session because I'm really into generational theory. (I had one or two class sessions on it in college, and it really spoke to me. Not quite sure what to do with it yet, but it's on the back burner.) But, this session he talked about how you have to know the culture of the people you're trying to reach, so he talked about his "cultural DNA" - all the things he grew up in/with that make him who he is today (nurture, for the nature vs. nurture fight). And then he gave some guidelines on creating a presentation. Overall, it was very interesting and gave some really good tips on creating presentations for this generation, including:

Get back to basics and leave ego at the door
Have Stellar content (craft a story), design it, deliver it
Know your audience (Myer’s Briggs, Multiple Intelligences)
Avoid templates
Know where you’re going, know what’s next
move quickly, keep slides moving - 3 sentences, then move to next scene - say main points, then move on
Cut 30% of fat of presentation before you give it

Some good ideas.

Okay, I'm on the move. I'll post about Spirituality and Social Networking later!

PodCamp 2009

I'm taking another step into the "techy" world and attending PodCamp 2009. I'm very excited about some of the sessions, especially the one being led by Gavin on Spirituality and Social Media. There are some others, too, mostly about social networking, so it should be an interesting.

I'm thinking I'm slightly out of the loop when it comes to all of this stuff. I don't twitter, I don't podcast... about all I do is facebook and blog, and not even that all that often! But I'm excited to hear some new information, hopefully learn some new things that I might be interested in getting more involved in.

25 Things and Other Fun Stuff

I've got a few links for you... we'll get there. 

If you're on Facebook, you've no doubtedly seen the "25 Random Things About Me" notes that have been flying around, amongst the others that have come out of it. As the hubby states, "this is so myspace." And it is, but we all indulge, at least to a point. I did succumb to peer pressure and posted my own 25 things. I tried to combine sarcastic humor with quiet truth. That's always my goal, and I feel certain I almost always fall short. 

Anywho, as a result (of the rampant 25 Random Things posts, not my post in particular), the blog for the Wittenburg Door (a great satirical website I have discovered as a result of this blog post I'm about to talk about) has posted "25 Random Things About God." It is wonderful. Go read it and laugh. 

In searching around this site (Wittenburg Door) I discovered two other gems in the world of Biblical humor. Noah's Blog and God's Creation Blog. Priceless. 

I love thinking of God and Jesus and other biblical figures as actually human, like me. It makes them relatable. I don't relate to the stuffy, proper, eloquent Father-figure that's always looking down his nose at you judging your actions to see if they are socially correct. I'm sure God can do that, if God wants to. But I don't think He does. 

Hence, number 11 on my list of 25 Random Things: "I believe Jesus laughed. A lot. I believe he fell in love. I believe he made his mother worry. And I believe that he didn't come to earth intending to die like he did. I believe that if we could have listened to what he was really saying, he may have not had to die. I believe it could have ended differently. I believe it can always end differently."

Hey, I had to add my own stuff in there somewhere. It being my blog and all.

Brothers and Sisters

In the midst of the party excitement, my family had some sad news to digest. My father's youngest sister, Martha, passed away last week. She was 52, and died of a massive stroke. It was very unexpected.

My father's family is not that large. There are about 10 of us now. Stark contrast to my mom's family, and even more so to my husband's family.

As a result of the small family, my sister and I felt it would be really good if we could go to the service. We weren't exactly close to this aunt, but wanted to be there for our cousins and dad. And since there are so few of us on that side, we knew our presence would be missed.

So we, with the wonderfully loving husband in tow, drove the five hours to her service Monday, and then turned around and drove the five hours back. It was a long day, but I'm very glad we went, to be there for our family, if not only for the words my father spoke at the service.

My father, the pastor, amazes me. How he is able to put on his preacher face and lead in the midst of grief I will never understand. He led the whole service, which was beautiful. And when the time came for the sermon/homily/honoring of the one who had passed, his words were peaceful and comforting, and quite beautiful.

He talked about brothers and sisters. And how the relationship between and among siblings is like no other. He used two quotes that he sent to us after the service, and me being a quote person, I latched on to them quickly:

"To the outside world we all grow old. But not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each others' hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys. We live outside the touch of time." –Clara Ortega

"Our brothers and sisters are there with us from the dawn of our personal stories to the inevitable dusk." –Susan Scarf Merrell

As I was listening to him, I got to thinking about my sister and our relationship, and how we travel through life sharing something with our siblings that we can't share with anyone else in the same way. Sure, our parents were there for our childhoods, and probably remember it better than we do. But that shared experience of living through growing up together not only affects who we are and how we see each other, but how we relate to one another once the growing up is done.

It has been a hard time for my family. It's one thing to bury your parents, you expect to do that sometime in your life. And the grief of burying a child must be on an entirely different plane. But the experience of burying a sibling is one I have never much contemplated before.

The words he added at the end of the service: "Go with God into the dawn of that new day and wait for us—we are on our way."