About 70 people had "Conversation and Coffee" with Len Sweet today at the Parish Resource Center in Lancaster, PA (http://www.parishresourcecenter.org/) .
It was great!!! Len challenged us immigrants living in the "Google World" to grasp the importance of image and experience as over print and reason. For most of us who were 'born' ( at first I typed 'book' -talk about Freudian typing) in the Gutenberg age, we need to learn to communicate the gospel in a image world. I would invite you to a conversation on some practical ways we can do this.
Len spoke about young adults 'twittering' during a speaking engagement he had and the tweets were posted on a screen. One said, "Len has lost me , are you following what he is saying?" Instead of blowing that statement off, he noticed it and responded to it. It allowed for further dialogue and connection with his audience. To many of us that is 'foreign'. But as I thought about it, in the black and pentecostal traditions, the 'amens' and 'shouts' and the 'talking back to the preacher' are the 'tweets' in those traditions. They help the preacher to know he/she is on target; it is their instant feedback.
Do you have ways you have made your worship/ministry more image enriched? How are you communicating in a "google' world. What are your questions/concerns. Let's chat.
Dave
I agree, it was a wonderful morning with Len. He made us all think! Carol
ReplyDeleteI've recently set up a test Facebook site for Immanuel UCC in Shillington, PA. I planned to keep it private among a few of us, but other members have wanted to be involved. I get more requests everyday. Marti Blog: http://celebratejoy.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteI very much appreciated Len's approach. Not too many people are talking about 'embracing' the Google age. Most people sneer and say it has no place in worship. Len opened my eyes to possibilities in my church I had not thought were realities. My pastor and I were very excited about the implications.
ReplyDeleteIt was a great morning. I quickly faced the reality of this Google world when I left PRC and went to a cell phone provider to make a change in service I needed to make. I was able to help a fellow "immigrant" get registered on the computer just so that he (and his wife) could get service in the store. He was not at all happy about the process and this encounter provided me with a first-hand illustration of continuing to help myself and our church find our way forward as we "interface" with this Google culture! Eric A.
ReplyDeleteEric, part of our ministry as followers of Jesus is help help others make their way in this new land. We may struggle ourselves along the way ,but as Len would say. "follow the 'true north star' - the Bright and Shining Star- Jesus"
ReplyDeleteDave L.
I loved what Len shared with us, feeling like he gave voice to the passions in my 37-year-old Google heart. At the same time, I could almost feel the sense of palpable anxiety. Len pointed out a chasm between where we are and were we need to be. A chasm that we may not have been able to describe, but one that each of us has undoubtedly felt. It was like he had us stand at one side of the Grand Canyon, described the path the river’s years of flow had carved, and simply said to us “jump.” And my questions were really “what will change in our churches because of this event?” and “will anyone have much of a clue as to how to put into practice what we were so inspired by today?”
ReplyDeleteDave, this blog is a great idea, and I would love to gather both online and in the hard-wired world to continue the conversation [and its implications] with some of you!
Dave Helmuth
dave@adlibmusic.com
I appreciated Len's use of the "Gutenberg/Google" metaphor. It is thought-provoking and seems to be a good shorthand way of describing one of our many cultural divides.
ReplyDeleteHowever,I question his claim that the individualism which defines U.S. culture came into being because people were reading books. Reading need not be an individual event. Consider the Harry Potter phenomenon, in which entire communities were created via love of books and the stories they contain. I realize that speakers often make extravagant claims to get our attention. But this one seemed to me to be "one oddity too many."
A couple of other questions come to mind, which may reflect my Mennonite theological bias.
1) Is there any room for a critique of the "Google" world that will not be dismissed as "imperialistic?" It worries me when Christians seem ready to embrace the culture uncritically. Yes, we must engage the "Google" world and shape our telling of the gospel story accordingly. Len is right about that. But doesn't the gospel always critique as well as invite?
2) I understand that we must not mistake the teachings of Jesus for Jesus the Christ. Still, don't the teachings of Jesus point us to Him? Don't we learn something about the person and character of Christ when we hear him commanding us to love our enemies, to feed the hungry, to visit the prisoner, to release the captive, to welcome the sinner, etc? In my experience, what draws the "Google" generation to Jesus are precisely such radical demands.
I've gone on too long here! You asked for a comment, not a sermon!
None of this is intended to be negative. As you can see, Len definitely provoked me toward some serious thinking. I am very glad I was in attendance. And I also intend to read some of his books, and so get the full version of what I assume was a good bit of shorthand. Thanks for bringing Len to the PRC!
In response to Dave H'comment- "will anyone have much of a clue as to how to put into practice what we were so inspired by today?”
ReplyDeleteWhat are ways your church is trying to speak to the Google world?
My hope is the PRC can help faciliate discussion as well as resource ways to put ideas in practice. Bill Easum's "Hitch Hikers" workshop is based on doing evangelism in the Google world.
Ron raises some good pointa- Len and speakers like him do often push the extreme to get our attention. I think the anabaptist 'community' may be ahead of mainline churches when moving from individualism to community as it has been a part of their culture.