blogging and emerging church

Simonas (from Lithuania) left a thought provoking question on my comments a few days ago:

“the idea of the emerging church is very interesting and intriguing. i’d definitely like to find out (and, mind you, experience) the concept.
another thing i wanted to ask – why people blog, especially those, who are in this church approach? i like the idea myself, but i’m interested to find out the reasons that others have.
thanx a mill. Simonas”

The task of defining the emerging church is a mammoth one, (and i just got asked today to write up a definition) and i dont want to try it here, but it is fascinating that blogging plays a significant role. Many bloggers are also players in the emerging church. It is obvious that there is a cross-over of values – new media values and new church values, and the world of blogdom is one of those crossroads. when i get time, i would love to write something up and uncover this whole thing.

Andrew

Andrew Jones launched his first internet space in 1997 and has been teaching on related issues for the past 20 years. He travels all the time but lives between Wellington, San Francisco and a hobbit home in Prague.

9 Comments

  • Steve K. says:

    Tim Bednar at e-church.com has been blogging for awhile about the correlation between Internet culture and the emerging church. Here’s just one excellent post on his blog about that subject:
    http://www.e-church.com/Blog-detail.asp?EntryID=500&BloggerID=1

  • Tim Bednar says:

    Thanks Steve. I am writing extensively on the subject of spiritual blogging and the participator church in a paper called We Know More Than Our Pastors.
    What I have come to understand is the blogging is an aspect of what I am calling the emerging participatory church–one that basically interpretes the Cluetrain Manefesto to create new church systems. Like:
    :: Sermons are conversation
    :: Pastors co-create the church with their congregations
    :: Congregations are networks
    :: Congregations/networks get smarter faster than pastors/leaders
    This is just some of what I’m thinking about.

  • brad says:

    there is a parallel parachurch universe to what tim talked about with congregations as learning (or non-learning) communities, and it’s relevant to the topic of blogging. having worked in and around the christian publishing and conference industry for nearly 20 years, i believe blogs give people opportunities to “self-publish” quickly what would at best take 3 to 6 months for a christian magazine to print, and 12 to 18 months for a book. at worst, editors would not “get it,” or be looking for last year’s “success stories” to shape next year’s leaders. anyway, by the time all this happens, the culture and insider thought leaders and questioners have all moved on. looking forward to checking out the links … thanx …

  • Goyo says:

    Why I blog?
    Actually I am a reluctant blogger but I blog because I’m 3,000 miles from home, in another country and this is pretty much the best way for people to know what’s going on in my day-to-day life (which, if I may say, can be quite bizarre if you read a recent post involving a naked lady). I just launched the blog 3 weeks ago and it has worked well so far.

  • m says:

    tim bednar is reinventing the wheel. whee…crash!

  • matt says:

    andrew. there you go again. starting weblog conversation about someting i was just about to ask about. just to say that i am an experimenting wanderer in the emerging church/ emerging culture thing, and i too am a weblogger. i got the idea from an emerging church-planter and other emerging church peeps have got on to blogging thru me. obviously then blogging is the way forward.. or is it?

  • Jon Dale says:

    I find blogging therapeutic. My blog is focused on my entreprenureal activities (both business & church). Its fascinating how many people actualy read and comment every day.
    I used to have people asking me what sites I used and what I thought about such and such all the time. Now they just visit my blog.
    Blogging also let’s me categorize my thoughts and ideas. It’s great, next time a write a book or article, I’ll just look at all my posts on a specific subject. I’ll have my notes ready to go, and already have real life feedback from people in the form of comments.
    By the way, if you’re looking to blog. I’d highly recommend http://www.typepad.com. I’ve used several, and its by far the best.

  • thanks for the input. i have not yet got into the habit of bloging, but trying to. as some other blogger mentioned, it makes me *accountable* for my life and my thoughts. it keeps the checks on. another thing – i blog in lithuanian, which makes the audience a lot more limmited. i’d blog in english, but a lot of my folk people would not understand. so, it makes the audience quite limmited. plus, my blog is in my own website… i am still wondering how to introduce it to others who might care…

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