:: Thursday, October 09, 2003 ::
Participatory media, participatory church
Fellow blogger Tim Bednar, who has a knack for pulling together disparate bits of information and synthesizing them into something blogworthy, does just that with his recent posts regarding the rise of bloggers as the new amateur preachers. Noting the trend of the blurring of lines between blogging and journalism, as outlined in this We Media white paper about the rise of participatory, peer-to-peer journalism, Bednar observes that the clergy actually have much to learn from their congregations, just as journalists could stand to listen to their readers, viewers and listeners. This sharing of knowledge, this breaking down of barriers, would benefit everyone. (See also Bednar's post about congregations knowing more than their pastors.)
I find this "participatory" discussion on journalism and clergy both fascinating and amusing. As both an amateur journalist (the only kind there is) and an amateur minister (bi-vocational youth pastor), I've always tended to approach both vocations ("callings," if you will) from a grassroots, populist perspective. Ever since my J-School professors drilled it into my head, I've maintained that journalism is not a profession and should never become a profession. (For more about this, see this post from about a month ago, in which I comment on this Columbia Journalism Review article about "the new amateur journalists".) By its very nature, journalism should be participatory, and it has been throughout the years.
Was Thomas Paine a professional journalist? Was Edgar Allen Poe? Mark Twain? Nellie Blye?
Somewhere along the line, however, journalists got cocky and fell into this trap that their "high calling" set them apart as some sort of priestly tribe. Maybe it happened when they started building journalism schools and started sending budding journalists to college rather than into the print shops. Maybe the same thing happened to preachers when they started sending them to seminaries rather than out on the circuit.
I don't know when or how it all began. But I maintain that journalists, to be as objective as possible, should not be set apart. They should not be professionals.
The same, I think, should be said of clergy. The best ministers I know are bi-vocational "amateurs" who have learned their craft through personal study and practice. My pastor, who has been in ministry for nearly 50 years, never attended seminary. Never even attended college. He barely graduated high school. But he is a scholar of Scripture and life, and his wisdom far surpasses the wisdom of many well-educated professional ministers.
:: Andrew 11:05 + ::
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:: Wednesday, October 08, 2003 ::
Blowing it
I blew it big-time in our youth group meeting last night. I got mad and lost my temper and a curse word flew out of my mouth. Then we had a time of prayer, led by the 15 or so teens there, in which all but two offered prayers for me. It was the most astounding prayer meeting our little group has ever had. I still feel like crud, though, for letting what happened happen. Like Alan, I don't like to appear weak to those around me. This is especially true when I'm around young people who look up to me. I wonder if they'll ever see me in the same light. Maybe they shouldn't. Maybe this is a good thing.
I still feel like crud, though.
:: Andrew 07:27 + ::
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The corruption of nations
An organization called Transparency International (which calls itself "the only international non-governmental organisation devoted to combating corruption, brings civil society, business, and governments together in a powerful global coalition") has come up with something called the Corruption Perceptions Index. According to this index, Finland is perceived as the least corrupt nation in the world. The U.S. and Ireland are tied for 18th place on the least corrupt list. The Scandinavians appear to be the least corrupt in the world, while Bangladesh, Nigeria and Haiti are perceived as the most corrupt.
Link via MetaFilter.
:: Andrew 16:40 + ::
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U2 getting Edge-y?
So U2's got a new album out, and according to Ananova, frontman Bono, the Patron Saint of Pomo Pundits, says it is "driven by The Edge's anger at seeing pictures of him "shaking hands with dodgy politicians'."
Says Beautiful Voice: "It's filled with big tunes and it's driven by a guitar player who is sick of the sight of me shaking hands with dodgy politicians. The anger is unbelievable." He adds: "The Edge is the most gifted guitar player of his generation - that's obvious. He's driving it and he's going, 'This is enough. If I see one more photo of you with a dodgy politician I'm going to throw up.'"
Link via No Rock'n'Roll Fun, which offers some commentary: We wish that instead of using his guitar to work out his frustrations on music, The Edge had used his guitar to work out his frustrations on the soft-top of Bono's head. Ouch.
:: Andrew 09:30 + ::
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:: Tuesday, October 07, 2003 ::
Something that's been bugging me
Something that really irks me about the blogosphere is the number of bloggers who don't attribute the sources of their links. I'm particularly bugged by the number of Christian bloggers, many of them in ministry, who fail to attribute the source of links they find in the blogosphere. I guess that shouldn't surprise me, considering how often clergy plagiarize from online materials. (Link via a Google search.) But is it too much to ask, fellow bloggers, to attribute your sources and toss a link back to them?
:: Andrew 07:34 + ::
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:: Monday, October 06, 2003 ::
Apocalypse now?
Surely somewhere in the Lost Sayings of Jesus are words meant to be recorded along with wars, rumors of wars, famines and earthquakes: Woe unto you, when you see the Chicago Cubs and the Boston Red Sox playing one another in the World Series. For then shall the end come. But Matthew must've dozed off when Christ spoke the verity.
A Cubs vs. Red Sox World Series match-up is closer than it has ever been. All signs point to the end of the age.
Don't believe me? Let's turn to the sports desk. Phil Sheridan of the Philadelphia Inquirer predicts: "Given the histories of those two teams, there is a chance the world will end while they're tied in Game 7. But that's a risk baseball fans would be willing to take. Because barring, you know, The Apocalypse, somebody would have to win. And that would be pretty darn cool."
The two teams haven't met in World Series play since 1918, which was the last time the Red Sox won the World Series. A young pitcher named George Herman Ruth won two games in that five-game series, but two years later Sox owner Harry Frazee sells Ruth to the dreaded New York Yankees for $125,000 and a $300,000 loan. Also a Broadway producer, Frazee used the funds to underwrite the opening of "No, No, Nanette" -- and to usher in the Curse of the Bambino. (See also Bambino's Curse.)
The Cubbies, meanwhile, described by sportswriters as the "hapless" Cubs most years, haven't won the big one since 1908. This year, Chicago won its first postseason series since 1908, ending a 95-year drought. Still, both the Cubs and Bosox have one more obstacle in their respective paths, in the form of the Florida Marlins and New York Yankees. The Cubs have the home-field advantage against the Marlins, but the Red Sox, ever the underdog, must go to Yankee Stadium first, and perhaps without outfielder Johnny Damon, who suffered a concussion from last night's collision with teammate Damien Jackson. Could the curse again be rearing its head?
:: Andrew 08:17 + ::
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40 Days of Purpose: the anitdote
Wade Hodges has the cure! A brilliant idea. I see conferences, a 20-city "Angst Tour," and of course a book with accompanying Bible study booklet, T-shirts and coffee mugs.
:: Andrew 08:26 + ::
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Blogging with abandon? Or abandoning blogs?
According to this survey of blog-hosting services, "66.0% of surveyed blogs had not been updated in two months, representing 2.72 million blogs that have been either permanently or temporarily abandoned. Apparently the blog-hosting services have made it so easy to create a blog that many tire-kickers feel no commitment to continuing the blog they initiate."
I think I have a few of those tire-kickers on my blogroll. I feel a bout of blog/housecleaning coming on. Better go lie down until the feeling passes.
:: Andrew 08:17 + ::
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Simon Dawes, 
