Last summer we were at Parachute Festival as well as PassionFest. But this summer our family will only be at PassionFest who have asked me to teach a workshop. I offered to speak at Parachute but they already have their speakers this year and don't need me. [sob sob] They are very different festivals, as…
Read MoreHey children!
We are camped about 15kms from Ephesus, Turkey. So this morning, being Sunday, we passed the Bible around the family and each of us read a chapter of Ephesians. What stuck out to me was when Paul addresses the children directly: “Children, obey your parents.” 6:1 This letter would have been read out to family groups…
Read MoreHow does your church rank on the Informality Scale?
How much does your church resemble the community around it? Contextuality is a hot issue. Pyromaniacs have posted a lot on engaging the culture over the past year. Emerging church folk have popped up on the other side to defend it. Even I had some response to John McArthur’s “Contextualization is a curse” rant. More importantly, there…
Read MoreHanging out in Istanbul
We are taking a week’s holiday and we chose Turkey. We arrived in Istanbul yesterday. Amazing, wonderful, historical city. The people are REALLY REALLY friendly and I totally recommend all my friends to come to this country to visit and enjoy. Last night I went out with my son, Sam, who is with us for…
Read MoreWild Jesus freaks gathering at a festival
This week we will be part of a global gathering of emerging urban underground ministry leaders who are coming together as part of a roundtable event. Cornerstone Festival in Illinois, USA has generously allowed us to gatecrash their event and in fact has even put some of us on the speaking schedule. Like me, my…
Read MoreMission in Digital Frontiers: Learning Day in Adelaide
Next week I am doing a learning day at Uniting College, Adelaide, South Australia. Thanks to Dr Steve Taylor, Director of Missiology, for inviting me over. You might remember Steve for his EmergentKiwi blog or his excellent book The Out of Bounds Church?: Learning to Create a Community of Faith in a Culture of Change.…
Read MoreTop 200 Church Blogs. Do reformed nerds really rule?
Church blog rankings have one purpose and one purpose only: To allow the reformed bloggers to ridicule the emerging church bloggers. If there was another purpose, it would be for all of us church bloggers to stroke our tender blog-egos. Kent Shafer just released his Top 200 church blogs and it seems the Reformed bloggers…
Read MoreJapanese house churches and the earthquake
Its mind-boggling, this catastrophe in Japan. Massive earthquake, then powerful tsunami, then nuclear meltdowns, then volcanic activity . . . its like a Godzilla movie come to life! Its tragic beyond the scope of my imagnation because nothing on this scale has every happened in my life-time. During my time in Japan some years ago,…
Read MoreTallskinnykiwi in Christchurch like . . . this Saturday.
Its really last minute but I am doing an informal meeting tomorrow in earthquake-devasted Christchurch, New Zealand to meet with a few young church and mission leaders who invited me down here. We will meet in someones house which doesn't have running water so use the toilet before you come. A lot of you have…
Read MoreOn location at the 2011 Christchurch Earthquake
We spent yesterday in Christchurch and spent the night just south, camping in tents with many of the quake victimes. Here's the skinny on whats going on. Scientists say our 6.3 2011 Christchurch earthquake is actually an aftershock of the 7.1 Canterbury earthquake of 2010. What's it like being here? It's damn DUSTY, due to…
Read MoreA church where you can bring your dog and order a beer
Prague: Nice gathering at Sir Toby’s pub yesterday for church. We brought our dog along and he wasn’t the only dog. I really DO admire a church where someone can bring their dog, order a beer, and sit on a comfortable seat. Next week this church moves to Prague’s newest and greenest hostel/hotel called Mosaic…
Read MoreLunch with Christian Entreprenuer Mathias Schwender
Today I am in Prague and I just had lunch with Christian social entrepreneur and businessman Mathias Schwender, who joined up with New Yorker Chris Syvertsen to open up Prague's newest and most environmentally friendly hotel/hostel called Mosaic House. You may have read about it recently on the New York Times article "Green Hotel and…
Read MoreDid the online church start in 1985?
SimChurch author Douglas Estes, who participated in our Cyberchurch Symposium earlier this year, suggested the 1985 date for the origin of virtual online church. I asked him about it recently and he responded: “Andrew, Thanks for blogging about SimChurch and taking part in the blog tour. Your question was, “Can you elaborate on the date…
Read MoreSimChurch
Douglas Estes releases his book SimChurch which deals with virtual communities and cyberchurch. Douglas came over to London for our Cyberchurch Symposium earlier in the year. Its a good book and a helpful addition to the literature, of which there isn’t a whole lot. A blog tour is connected to the book. Start with Cynthia.…
Read MoreTop 100 Church Blogs
TOP 100 CHURCH BLOGS (as of September 4, 2009)
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Criticism of Virtual Community and Cyber churches
Is the cyber-church a REAL church? I was studying and writing last weekend on virtual communities for a number of articles and also for speaking in Las Angeles next September at the Christian Web Conference. There are lots of arguments against virtual communities being “real” but there one quote that is probably the most comprehensive…
Read MoreCyberchurch: When I went head to head with the Bishop of London
As preparation for our Cyberchurch Symposium this month, I posted a screencapture video of the opening day at the Church of Fools (2004) when I approached the holy of holies and went head to head with the Bishop of London. I knew the Bishop and I would always see eye to eye on this kind…
Read MoreIs the Virtual Church a REAL Church?
Douglas Estes, one of the participants of yesterday’s Cyberchurch Symposium, and who managed to get lost in London twice during our walk [must be a curious fellow] is releasing a book on the Cyberchurch in a few months. He interviewed me for the book and a few questions I just dug up from an old…
Read MoreCyberchurch Symposium Today in London
Ok – Here I am in London for the Cyberchurch and Online Community Symposium. This is an intimate and somewhat casual meeting (the word “symposium” means literally “to drink together”) for some really interesting and qualified people, divided up somewhat equally among thinkers, practitioners and supporters. Here’s the group: – Douglas Estes (PhD) is flying…
Read MoreHow To Gate-crash a Cyberchurch Service and Take Over the Pulpit.
This Saturday, leaders of online faith communities come together for a Symposium in London. I am hosting the event, actually, In preparation, I thought I would upload a video of my time at Church of Fools, a cyberchurch experience which would later would lead to St Pixels Church. It was 2004, opening day, and I…
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