the words of the Preacher

You know I’ve heard a lot from others about reading the book of Proverbs for daily guidance, especially under the premise that you can always turn to the chapter for the current day of the month… but how often do you hear about Ecclesiastes? Maybe most of you a lot, but I haven’t. It’s odd book in the Bible; many things in there that left me scratching my head…

thoughts on social media

I was requested recently to put together a little bit of info about social media (I wasn’t specifically talking about Facebook, Twitter, blogging, etc – just in general), including purpose, benefits, commitment, etc.

Here was what I presented. What do you think? Did I miss anything?

SOCIAL MEDIA

Purpose

1. communicate
   1. easy & effortless – it doesn’t take much money or manpower to implement or use it
   2. ubiquitous - since it is so available and pervasive it isn’t hard for people to miss the message
   3. variety - social media takes many different forms, words, audio and image
   4. viral - the beauty of social media is that your message can expand well beyond it’s intended audience – therefore exposing and introducing new people to your cause and community!!
2. Connecting – unlike communication which most often pushes information in a “one-way” direction, connecting must create a conversation. You must ask, Will Social Media create conversation within the community? Are people able to talk to you the minister/ministry team leader? Can they talk to one another? Also, part of the conversation involves other key elements:
   1. contribute - can others contribute in helpful and meaningful ways to the conversation? Are they even able to shape the conversation?
   2. collaborate - does your social media allow the benefits from the collective hive of experience, skills and knowledge from your community?
3. Call to Action – Social Media must prompt people to do something. It can’t be passive. Some of the calls to ACTION might include:
   1. Go – are you asking someone to go and serve others in some way?
   2. Give - are you asking someone to give either of their time or financially to the cause?
   3. Pray - are you calling people to act in concerted and persevering prayer?
   4. Mobilize - are you asking people to spread the message of the cause to their friends and networks?

Benefits

• spread the word – about the ministry to friends of those connected people (”viral” communication)
• enable a conversation – “empowers the masses, it encourages conversation and allows a people to contribute and collaborate.”
  • Ask Robert & Melissa possibility…
• new way to reach out to those not connected with PITH already – may be able to spread the word about PITH concepts and ideas to those that are not even connected to the church…

Commitment

• takes awhile to get going and others to connect - must dedicate several months to using it before others hear about you
• Not always effortless - takes time to write a well-worded 140 or less character message (Twitter) or even what you’re doing

Downsides

• lose control of the message – “When a church engages in Social Media, it loses control. I have made this point in numerous interviews about Social Media. If you are a leader or a church that values and insists on control of your message – then stay away from blogging, keep far from Twitter, and don’t bother with Facebook.”
• can easily be impersonal – can very easily be “the pointless-presented-as-meaningful. It is the idea of ‘connection’ that in reality is mostly the surface appearance, of connection. It serves well to keep people in isolation, from relationship – but encourages them to believe they are really interacting.”
• Can become very consuming and addictive - time spent checking and sending messages can become overwhelming

References

• Social Media and Loss of Control
• Why Should Your Church Invest in Social Media?
• facebook holdout
• The Church Online – Developing Effective Web Strategies

change in construction project plans…

Quite awhile back I talked about expanding my kids’ clubhouse… which didn’t work out that way. Initally I changed plans to build a separate treehouse, but then it became too big.

So, a few weeks back I decided to just make a small one and a friend provided some leftover wood… and here’s the result:

It was quite a bit of fun building!

what others are doing…

I’m going to try to continue the theme of external focus. I was sending emails to the gal in charge of our external focus team, but I figured I’d just pile together several articles that I’ve come across lately:

“A collective effort” (Chesterfield Observer)

During the cleanup, which is hosted annually by the Ampthill Civic Association, close to 60 volunteers assisted seniors with yard cleanup, tidied a neighborhood park and disposed of excess yard trimmings. The JDA redevelopment committee hopes to see similar events take place in other neighborhoods along the corridor.
And there is plenty of work to be done. In a 2005 survey of 1,931 houses located in Jefferson Davis neighborhoods, 14 percent of them were found to have heavy wear and aging, while 37 percent were in moderate condition.

The Plans, The Hope, The Future (View from the Bridge)

Great vision thoughts; I’m sure I want to be part of doing something like this, especially this concept of whole families doing things – not separate divisions (kids, teens, mothers, fathers).

Richmonders Involved in Strengthening our Communities

The mission of Richmonders Involved to Strengthen our Communities (RISC) is to bring together diverse congregations in order to powerfully address the root causes of poverty and injustice in the Greater Richmond area. RISC’s member congregations are located throughout the Greater Richmond area and are diverse in their socio-economic, racial, denominational and geographic backgrounds. Congregations in RISC work together to build relationships, listen to common concerns, research community problems, and then to take action to see that systems in the community are held accountable to principles of justice and fairness.

Community Emergency Response Team Course Starts June 2

The course provides citizens with basic emergency-response skills to help themselves, their families and neighbors during that critical time before professional emergency providers can arrive.

Pocoshock Cleanup a Success

The Environmental Engineering Water Quality Team and Friends of Chesterfield’s Riverfront hosted a community cleanup of Pocoshock Creek on Oct.16, 2004.

visit the Park – June 6th

As usual, it has certainly been awhile since our last trip down to Monroe Park (Feb 21st!), and the weather is getting a little bit nicer so it’s getting time to pull out some lighter clothing for sharing so…