Lawrenceville Church a Web 2.0 Congregation? What Do You Think?

I’ve obviously been rather reluctant to jump into the whole blogging thing. One impediment is my perfectionism (don’t want to post anything in public that doesn’t sing, and that I haven’t been over with my editor’s fine-toothed comb). Hence I’m a rather slow writer, and doing a post regularly seems way too much to do on my already spare time-budget. 

But, I’ve been doing a bit of reading about how churches need to use some of the “Web 2.0” tools that people – many of them younger ones – are using to connect with each other. 

Why not Lawrenceville Church using such tools to enhance our connections with each other?

My recent experience has confirmed what I’ve been reading: that some of the new web technologies, far from any atomizing effect on community, actually help people connect more deeply in “real time” and in face-to-face contexts.

I’ll give you an example. When I first started using Facebook, one of our newest members sent me a Friend Request. Like so many of the new members – and heck, let’s be honest, many of the 850 odd people already on the rolls – I did not know this person well at all. Maybe a few details among the many that people shared at the new member gatherings. But through the bits that he shares on FB, I have a much better sense of him when I see him and his family in person–and of course, that goes for the other folks I keep in touch with on that site. “Hey – I see you like the Mets. How about that Billy Wagner…darn shame, huh?” You get it.

BUT HERE’S WHAT I WONDER ABOUT…and here’s what I worry about as the church uses these tools in a bigger way. How do we maintain a healthy conversation, on a medium that often, because you are not communicating face-to-face, lacks nuance, and encourages quick and often angry communication? My rule for email is this: if there’s ANY whiff of emotional content or subtlety required, speak person-to-person. 

And in a medium where people can comment anonymously – such dangers seem to me to potentially multiply. Is there a danger of the blog becoming an online “suggestion box”, a forum where people in the community can avoid accountability for their communication that we as Christians do well to maintain? Is there a way we can require people not to make anonymous postings? Am I being paranoid?

What do you think?

Last thought – on the impediment I mentioned above – my perfectionism. Here’s what I’ve decided if we do jump in more fully as a church into the Blogosphere, at least for my own writing on it: I am not going to write long, eloquent (well, ahem) posts about theological subjects. I’ve got enough of a challenge coming up with adequate words for a weekly sermon. 

Instead, here’s what I’m thinking. First, to post questions that will enable conversation. Questions like, “Do we spend too much time talking about money as a congregation? How shall we be faithful in our talk about money?” 

Or, “How can we bear witness to Christ’s hope as we confront together difficult economic times?”

Those are questions I’d plan to post at some point in the near future, which I hope might provoke some useful congregational dialogue.

Second – perhaps the content for this blog does not just come from me, and the staff – it should come from the members and leaders too. So often, I get eloquent, well-thought-out responses from sermons, via email, and there is no medium to share such things. Seems ready-made for the blog form….

Lastly…here’s an honest question. Will people care? Will we make this effort to communiciate – “build it” – and will anyone come? How do we encourage a critical mass of people to use this medium to have a deeper conversation together, such that it really does enhance community life; enough people so that we get a real sense of what is going on in our real-time congregation? That is what I’m most up for – to use this means to have a real, meaningful and faith-building conversation together.

In any case – love to hear the opinions of anyone out there….

–Jeff Vamos