Recently in Ministry Category

I've had the pleasure of being able to work with Jeff Slaughter at a number of events the past several years through my work with FUGE Camps here at LifeWay.  Jeff has, without a doubt, the most passion for leading kids to worship Christ than any other person I've known.  He is able to connect with children and not simply teach them words and melodies, but truly helps them build a relationship with God.

In my feed reader today came a post from one the gaming sites I follow, xbox360.qj.net, about the terms of use from Activision in regards to content created using Guitar Hero 3:

You hereby grant Activision a royalty free, irreversible, sub-licensable and non-exclusive perpetual license throughout the universe for use in any and all media whether now known or hereafter...

Have you been to the KNOWN website yet?  No?  Then you might not know we're offering a free sample of our Midweek resources.  By downloading the sample, you get to check out some of the stellar visual elements created by our graphic artists here, as well as - of course - a sample of our mid-week lesson which includes a plethora of ideas and a solid outline for your teaching time (and, of course, if you like the mid-week resources, the whole set can be purchased here).

This is not a political story.  Rather, this is a look at how the candidates and media outlets are finally moving into the new media realms to reach their viewers.  NBC news reports that more people have watched Tina Fay parodies of Sarah Palin on Saturday Nigh Live than have actually watched the broadcast of the program.  Checking the SNL website reports 2.4 million views.  Various youtube posts and reposts of the same videos easily take the total over 5 million views of the same content and it only aired two days ago!  The internet is quickly becoming a place to go to view things.

In my own life when discussing tv shows or movies with friends the question is no longer:  did you see that show?  the question is:  have you seen it yet?  because there are so many ways to get content now.  With a few exceptions, or if I just happen to be in front of the TV I hardly watch the TV in a traditional way.  I get all my news from podcasts, most of the big networks and CNN.  I watch and listen to content from podcast networks like Revision3 and TWiT and I have a cable company supplied DVR (which is less reliable than anything else).

The campaigns as well have been using the internet to get the word out, Obama's use of twitter to announce his VP nomination and both candidates websites have been destinations for supporters, media and the rare undecided voter.

But what does all this have to do with the church?  Well, what it says more than anything is that the people who make up our churches are using digital media and the internet more and more in their daily lives.  They're skipping commercials on their tivo's, they're staying connected to friends and family in more ways than ever and faster than ever.  The idea that it's only the young people is no longer true.  Every age, race, gender and political affiliation is using the internet and everyone on the internet has seen a dancing cat on youtube by now.  The challenge for churches is to use those tools as well, and allow your congeration to shape that.

So, what is your church doing?  Are you on twitter? facebook? myspace? are you podcasting?  is your website a destination for information and community?  Let us know in the comments and feel free to send us email feedback as well.  If you like or don't like this sort of thing from us we want to hear from you. 

I'll be honest; the point of this interview, from my end, was to promote the upcoming KNOWN resource coming from the student department here at LifeWay.  But these guys - even though they're in charge of that launch - didn't care about getting that message out.  They wanted to get the message of what they are passionate about (student ministry strategy) out.  And so, that's what we talked about.

This was also a learning experience as an interviewer, because I was determined to get at least a mention of the product in at the end, and tried to force a segue and, being the honest guy he is, Jeff called me out on it.  He knew what I was doing and was trying to get at, but he did not like the implications of my segue, so he argued about what I had actually said.

It was awesome to interview two people with so much knowledge in their field, and the evident passion they have for equipping the local church with the best possible knowledge, strategies and resources for understanding youth today.  This is a must-watch if you are involved in youth ministry.

One of the first people I really got to develop a friendship with here at LifeWay, outside of the Fuge office, was John Garner.  John had me come out and help run the media , lights and sound at RecLab for three years in a row.  During that time I got to know John's heart and passion for sports recreation.

One of my very first days here in the office, Craig Webb pulled me into his office to help with some graphics he was working on.  I was confused at what his intent was, until I found out that LifeWay.com/pastors offers a bunch of sermon ideas, outlines, graphics and corresponding powerpoints for free!