We had our first "Geeks for Christ" meeting today. This is a group forming to talk about developing the church's use of New Media and technology. We talked about a number of ideas springing from two steams of thought. The first stream is the need for churches to get a lot smarter about using new technology to do things cheaper and better. We can identify a number of efficiencies that could be achieved by having a Diocesan Standard way to manage finances, for instance. The second stream is about the need to get better at doing New Media evangelism. We need to be engaging our culture in languages it understands.
So right off the bat we are going to establish a Wiki where can share ideas, collaborate on projects, post resources, etc.
At our next meeting we are going to set a date for a "Geeks for Christ" Conference. We don't know the shape of that conference, yet, but do know that it will involve material from both streams, will appeal to Chistians of all stripes, and will involve featuring projects. We want people leaving the conference feeling energized, informed, and inspired.
Next, we believe we need to explore creating a set of standards for the use of technology in the Diocese. Establishing such standards will help guide Diocesan level policy making as well as parish-level purchasing. Having a consistent technology base will make collaboration easier and opens up the possibility of bulk purchasing and other economies of scale.
So that's a start--an ambitious start!
-t
2 comments:
Great initiative! Surprised to learn that there isn't yet a "Diocesan Standard way to manage finances."
Well--there are rules and recommendations about how the financial statements should look and what they need to say (though not everyone does it that way). We are talking about how the books are kept electronically. If everyone used the same software package it would make it alot easier to collaborate. For instance, to share the same book keeper across several congregations.
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