Online Sarcasim: Motivational Posters for the Emerging Chaos

Some of you may have (or have not) seen these....Motivational Posters for the Emerging [Church] [Conversation] Chaos circulating on the web. These in-your-face images are meant to challenge some of the current discourse happening around the Emerging Church. Two weeks ago now I was able to take part in a podcast & online conversation hosted by Tall SkinnyKiwi, aka "Happy Hour with Andrew Jones" at Shapevine, where I and EC-ites debated the reality or not of these images. So I thought I would pass them on, especially for my other research colleagues exploring Emerging Conversation online, it is also a great example of how the web can be used a s a tool for critique and response. Below is an image created by two of the people involve "Happy Hour" as their response the these images...

ELaunch: Voices of the Virtual World

Announcing the official launch of Voices of the Virtual World.

This ebook explores the growing influence of technology on the global Christian church. In this premier volume, we hear from more than forty voices, including technologists and theologians, entrepreneurs and pastors… from a progressive Episcopalian techno-monk to a leading Mennonite professor… from a tech-savvy mobile missionary to a corporate anthropologist whom Worth Magazine calls "one of Wall Street's 25 Smartest Players." Voices is a far reaching exploration of spiritual journey contextualized within a culture of increasingly immersive technology.

ABOUT WIKIKLESIA: Conceived and established in May 2007, the Wikiklesia Project is an experiment in on-line collaborative publishing. The format is virtual, self-organizing, participatory - from purpose to publication in just a few weeks. All proceeds from the Wikiklesia Project will be contributed to the Not For Sale campaign.

“The Wikiklesia Project has garnered some of the savviest writers and bloggers around in a daring attempt to radically democratize knowledge ­ and in the process unleash theological reflection where it matters most: the public sphere. This is not just some new way to self publish; it is a new and exciting form of collaborative theologizing on critical topics that concern us all. Welcome to your future.”

- Alan Hirsch, Author of The Forgotten Ways as well as The Shaping of Things To Come (with Mike Frost) and Founding Director of Forge Mission Training Network

The e-book is on sale for $15 on Lulu.com. For more information check out Wikklesia.

Wikiklesia: Voices of the Virtual World

After a short hiatus--thanks to a wisdom teeth extraction and 5 days with broken A/C amidst the sweltering Texas heat--I'm back.

For those who haven't heard about it I wanted to point you to a forthcoming e-book sponsored by the Wikiklesia Project coordinated by John LaGrou and Len Hjalmarson who came up with the idea for a collaborative "ecclesial e-book - virtual, self-organizing" that seeks to facilitate a "conversation on how technology is changing the church". Book One is called "Voices of the Virtual World" and brings together an interesting cross section of bloggers, emerging church leaders and a few academic types like myself. I have written a piece called "Living as the Networked people of God" which will feature a summary of my thoughts on what online christian community has to teach offline churches about community, caring relationships and technology. Each chapter will also be downloaded as an MP3 file, read by each of the authors. All proceeds from the Wikiklesia Project will be contributed to the Not For Sale campaign. Coming soon...so check it out!