Education Innovation

Church In The Cloud

In a meeting the other day, my team and I were brainstorming about how to ship or transfer the Saddleback Church DNA to the 12 new Saddlebacks we are launching around the globe.

We had toyed with the idea of "Church in a Box", but we realized that everything we are using will eventually have to be digital.

I said, "If it's digital then it will eventually be accessed from the cloud. It's not church in a box, it's church in the cloud." Church in the cloud. That is the global church future. 

International telecom companies have a goal, to connect the entire world with Internet access.

Storage and hardware is also becoming cheaper and more available.

Most churches want all their content digital. Once it is digital it can be easily broken into smaller and smaller bits, or assembled into huge files of digital bytes.

A ubiquitous Internet will provide the power grid or the pipeline from which all this digital content can flow.

And because the Internet is social…all of the digital content from churches can be shared. No. It will be shared.

Because open source platforms and the philosophy of openness is becoming more expected by people and the organizations (churches too) that people work and interact with.

The cloud means we spend more time creating quality content and less time about where to store it or ship it. It goes on the cloud.

And once on the cloud the social sharing nature of users combined with openness of platform will spread the content far and wide. And one thing we know already, the better the content, the wider the distribution.

The potential for global distribution via social sharing is always one click away in an Internet connected world.

Church is going to the cloud because technology enables it and people demand it.

 

The Dark Side of Social Media and Discipleship

The Web

We all know the power of social media to connect and reach out. That is not disputed. But I have been considering the other side of the coin. There is a dark side. 

The web is such an appropriate name for the Internet. It truly lures us in, captures us, and is so sticky, it becomes nearly impossible to escape. 

It entangles us. Ensnares us. Traps us.   

 

Social Media and our Spiritual Life 

Is Social Media detrimental to our spiritual disciplines?

Can you go without media, without being connected to friends and family, without getting jittery and anxious?

Can you say the same about praying to God or thinking about God? 

Does being cut off from social media make you feel like you are missing out?  

Social Media stokes our appetite for attention and to be known and loved.  "Friend" is now a verb "like" is now a noun.

Facebook does not discriminate between our intimate friends and family, interests, and news. Friends become "fans" and we become "brands".

We consume info and manage relationships/connections in ways we never could face-to-face with people.

It's all facilitated by a corporate entity that is harvesting all our data and the info of our lives. 

We have commodified relationships. Friends and family...with ads. 

 

Networked Individualism

Our system of friends unbound by time or location. 

Physical location is not as important. We don't have to be present to be considered present. 

And at the center... it's not a location, cause, or common identity- but rather the individual- that is at the heart of social media. 

On-demand social connectedness.  We control and manage others access to us. Don't like you...block you.  

Dialed down human contact. Guard against commitment. Autonomy vs. Belonging. 

Insensitive to surroundings- we are not able to be present, while we are face down in our smart phones or iPads. 

We don't have to look up and see the messy people around us...we see the "digitized perfect reality" of those somewhere else. 

 

Christian Community

Psychically far away from those who are near. - We excuse ourselves from the call of God whom we serve and the situation/circumstances of those around us. 

Are we missing something...not actively connecting mind and spirit?

Ignoring people...God's creation. People that Jesus died for. 

Christian community requires real presence- with real people with real differences.

People who are not like us. People with needs. Broken people, unattractive people, people who will put demands on us, people who require attention, who require our time. 

This is at odds with social media-  all choice, efficiency, control. 

 

Technology and Discipleship

Is technology is more than just a tool? 

It shapes us and embeds itself into our social practices.

The new etiquette allows technology bleed into every aspect of our lives. 

What does sacrifice, servant-heartedness,  or selflessness look like on-line?

What does sacrifice or servant-heartedness look like surrounded by Google or Facebook ads? 

 

People as Channels

We have all the technology we need to ignore those physically around us/near us... and feel we have a good reason to do so.

We don't join as a family or jointly with our spouse-- we have to join individually and participate individually.

When we go to church or small group we are with people.

When we go online...we are alone...even when surrounded by people. 

Typically we express an idealized reality of our lives....not the painful dirty reality of our lives.

We let people in, but we manage them via privacy settings. 

It's the digital veneer that we project...not the raw reality of our needs, pain, and hurts. 

We have turned people into media channels that we tune into, turn off, mute, or ignore. 

 

God vs. Social Media

Think about your time with God and with people. 

• Do you have push yourself to carve out time to pray, read, meditate, and connect with God?

• Do you have to push yourself to stop and make time for people...messy people with messy problems? 

• Do you constantly, almost without thinking pray, reach out to God, and reach out to others. 

• Does it require effort? 

Think about your time online. 

• Do you have to push yourself to go online, Like, Friend, Tweet, post...to disappear into your screen and the web of social media.

• Do you constantly, almost with no effort go into your online into social media? 

• Does it require effort?

• Is it easy? Maybe to easy?

If We Treated Information Like Food

Like food, we all consume information. If we treated information like food then we may realize that…

1. Some of us need to go on a diet. We are consuming too much information.

2. Some of us need to add more variety. We are consuming too much from the same.

3. Some of us need to get off the junk food. We are consuming way to much junk. 

4. All of us need to ensure we are getting the essential information we need each day. 

 

8 POINTS OF “WHY” THE LOCAL CHURCH

1. Local Church has advantage of the largest participation.

2. Local Church has widest distribution. The church is everywhere.

3. Local Church has longest track record of good. For 2000 years the local church has been taking care of people and meeting needs. 

4. Local Church has fastest expansion. Nothing grows as fast as the church. 

5. Local Church has biggest motivation. LOVE.- the Great Commandment

6. Local Church has greatest authority. God has authorized us.- the Great Commission

7. Local church has the simplest organization. Use ordinary people where they are. 

8. The Local Church has the greatest conclusion. We know how it will end.

 

3 Notes on Leadership

• Big difference between letting people try and fail and letting them become failures. One is leadership, the other is neglect.

 

• If you aren’t willing to be wrong, fail, admit it, learn from it, and encourage that in others…you are not ready to lead.

 

• Leadership doesn’t have to be about changing the world…Leadership can be about changing someone’s day

 

If The Medium Is The Message

Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase ”The medium is the message“ 

This got me thinking…

What is the message when the medium is….

stone tablets

a scroll

a book

the Internet

a smart phone app

The 10 Commandements and the Bible have all been written in these mediums. 

If the medium is the message…what is the message of these mediums?

 

Leaders Let People Fail

Leaders let people fail…but leadership does not let people become failures

10 Things Cirque du Soleil Taught Me About Teamwork

Cirque du Soleil can teach all teams a few lessons..

1. Your team must be strong

2. You must have great balance

3. Momentum is key to performance

4. You must be flexible...very flexible.

5. You must practice

6. Support from each other is key

7. Everyone must play their role. 

8. What you accomplish may look astonishing to outsiders, but you know it comes from lot’s of hard work. 

9. Everyone needs to be in synch. 

10. Great teams have a story to share.

Bonus: 

When you fail..the crowd will be even more appreciative when you try again and succeed. 

 

Collaboration- It's Not What You Think It Is

Collaboration is not…

Coordination

Cooperation

Connection

Collaboration is... your team coming together to intentionally achieve more together than they could separately. 

Collaboration is 1+1=3

Collaboration leverages coordination, cooperation, and connection. 

 

Leadership Doesn't Have To Be About Changing The World

Leadership doesn’t have to be about changing the world…

Sometimes..

Leadership can be about changing someone’s day. 

 

Meeting Induced Dumbness

Do you feel dumb in group meetings? Do you feel like you have nothing intelligent to add to the discussion? You are not alone. 

From the Wall Street Journal - Speaking Up Is Hard to Do: Researchers Explain Why

“Have you ever clammed up at a party or found yourself tongue-tied at a meeting for fear of saying something stupid—even though you consider yourself at least as smart as anyone else in the room?

 Research from scientists at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute offers an explanation of why many people become, in effect, less intelligent in small group settings.

If we think others in a group are smarter, we may become dumber, temporarily losing both our problem-solving ability and what the researchers call our “expression of IQ.”

 

Systems, Mission, Vision, and Change

Systems

Mission

Vision

Change

If the system you use in the mission to accomplish your vision is not built to change

then…

your mission will end up being about changing the system at the expense of the vision.

Create a system that is able to change, that is built to change, that expects to change.

Build in change.

Your vision is counting on it.

 

Second-Screen Experiences In Church

Imagine seeing related maps, pictures, artwork, architectural layouts, bible translations appearing on your iPad, Kindle Fire, or similar tablet, as your pastor gives the message or sermon. 

This is the Second-screen experience. 

A learning church could harness this technology in the form of an app and allow for people listening to a sermon or message to see pictures or artwork of the people being mentioned in the message appearing on their iPads. People listening could have maps of biblical locations or ancient kingdoms instantly displayed on their iPads as the pastor mentions them. 

Think of Wikipedia or the Glo Bible, but in real-time, matched to the sermon you are listening to in the palm of your hand.

The ability to harness and enhance a message or sermon synchronously using second-screen app technology would have a powerful visual impact and increase learning and understanding. 

 

9 Point Paradigm For Launching a Venue

I wanted to sketch out a paradigm for my approach to starting a new venue for Saddleback Church. I came up with this approach that I call "Awareness" - AWAARNESS

A- Ambidextrous Thinking

Hold two competing, if not opposite, ideas embrace the duality and integrate them into a workable solution. 

Global and Local

Bigger and Smaller

Faster and Slower

Take risks and be careful

Bias Towards Thinking and Bias Toward Action

Kaizen and Tenakaizen

High Levels of Teamwork and High Levels of Personal Accountability

We Have the Answers and They Have the Answers

Data Driven and Skeptical of Data

Predictable and Change is Normal

 

W- Wisdom Stewardship

The knowledge, learning, and wisdom of the team is intentionally curated and viewed as an asset to be leveraged intentionally- not passively. New learnings are integrated with existing knowledge. No knowledge wasted. 

 

A- Adapting

Copy, imitate, mash-up, pirate, re-mix and re-purpose ideas from outside to fit your needs. 

 

A- Attaching

Find other who are on the same mission or doing similar things and look for ways to attach to what they are doing creating synergy and conserving energy. 

 

R- Relationships

Human capital is key. Avoid falling into hierarchical traps. Keep the organization flat and insist on people building relationships. Relationships must be established inside and outside. 

 

N- Network

Connect with other people, teams, organizations, and networks. Leverage personal networks, organizational networks, and social media to create serendipitous learning. Networks 

 

E- Experimentation

Create a “skunk works” atmosphere where people are not afraid to experiment and fail. Fail fast and fail forward. 

 

S-Sharing

Resources need to be shared between people, teams, departments, and organizations. Do not allow resources to sit that could be shared with those who can use now. No hoarding. 

 

S- Scalability

Try ideas and systems with this question in mind, “Can this be done bigger and at a larger scale?” Those ideas will have power. 

 

Learning Innovation Debate: Dance vs. Powerpoint

Take a few moments to watch this interesting TED presentation. After, I think you will be amazed at how much the dance aspect helped you to remember and understand an complex idea. I wonder if there might be lessons we can learn that can be applied to our organizational learning and training, our church messages, etc. Interesting.

A Thanksgiving Blog: Where Are the Other Nine?

You know the story. Luke 17. Jesus meets 10 lepers. Leprosy in the Bible times was an incurable disease, dooming its victims to a life of poverty, rejection and hopelessness.

via stevemurrell.typepad.com

Generation Ex-Christian: Why Young Adults Are Leaving the Faith...

by Lisa Birle

via collegeministry.typepad.com

Excellent synopsis of Drew Dyck's research based book "Leaving the Faith"

7 Ways Leaders Maximize Learning With Books

1. Analyze Learning Habits
    Is your learning planned? 
    How many books do I read in a year? 

2. Schedule Time for Learning
    Establish a reading goal
    Prioritize and schedule time to read
    Use empty time

3. Balance Your Learning
    Read people you disagree with
    Read broadly

4. Don't Just Read a Book 
    Wrestle with it
    Respond to what you read
    Mark up your books and take notes

5. Read Critically
    Author- who wrote it? 
    Testimonials- who recommends it? 
    Contents- what's in it? 
    Research- what are it's sources? 
    Reviews- what do the critics say? 
    Publisher- who sponsored it? 
    Audience- who is it written for? 
    Time- how long has it been around? 
    Red flags- are there problems with it? 

6. Do A Monthly Web Tour
    Find new books on the web and social media. 

7. Build Your Own Library
    Virtual or physical 

Creative Learning

Creative Learning

View more presentations from Steve Wheeler

Literate Church vs. Transliterate Church

Literate Church vs. Transliterate Church

Literate Church helps people read and understand God's word- the text

Transliterate Church helps people read and understand God's word- the text--AND--connect and collaborate with God's word-the text- across multiple social media and technology platforms.