So, my first ever official meeting about IT / Media / Tech with the leadership team took place today.

I’m still stunned and overall I think it went well and the pastor is now much more aware of what I think his role within the IT setup is. I also think he’s more aware of some of the possibilities and points where IT crosses over into other departments. I also think that maybe prior to today he hasn’t promoted anything to do with tech because he’s not a big user and he’s not someone whom understands the need for it except in business. He admitted a week or two back in front of the whole Church that you’ll never see him on Facebook and today I had to explain what Twitter was.

But I had somewhat of a Damascus Road moment when I realised what I needed to tell him. We were midst discussing the development of the Church website which we badly need and he even accepts that. However, he was talking about creating the content when it hit me. I stopped him mid flow and said that the content can pretty much take care of itself but for that to happen he needs to get his philosophy about the site written down. Once we (the Church as a whole) have that, then the content and the formation of the site can begin and will probably fall naturally into place.

Also today I heavily pushed the need to create a volunteer team that does techy stuff in the Church and fortunately the leadership team were 100% in agreement on this. My final success, I think, of the day was in getting them to see that media, etc doesn’t just happen because we have a few lines in our vision document. I’m pretty sure they know that but the added extra was that they now see that all the various departments from sound to worship to events, etc, etc all need to rely on IT and we need to have a coherent, forward looking IT plan in place.

I’ve given them a lot to think about and we meet again in about a month so I’m looking forward to the benefits.

You may have heard this one already… but after last Tuesday’s (in the UK) faux pas with gMail and then yesterday’s hiccup with gCalendar the mighty search engine giant has released a Google Apps Status Dashboard.

A nice touch is in making it available by RSS feed.

Courtesy of http://www.morguefile.com/creative/tethairwen

Now if the stuffy old C of E can do this, then I stand a chance of convincing my pastor that social media is not such a bad thing after all.

And because it’s taken me a few minutes to find the links I’m going to save you the pain and post them here:

Twitter – Lent Tweets

Facebook – Love-Life-Live-Lent

A post over at Crosswalk triggered this post and it made me think: “why do I serve and can I come up with 10 reasons?” So here’s my attempt to clarify the why in no particular order…

1. I don’t know what else to do.
2. I am called to be an “Armour Bearer” and the prime role of an armour bearer is as a servant.
   See my posts here and here.
3. God expects it – Joshua 24 v 15
4. I love helping people – this is my unique way of being able to give back.
5. I’m not offended that I get forgotten until the proverbial hits the fan!
6. I’m not in it for fame or fortune.
7. I was asked.
8. My mum, rest her soul, raised me this way.
9. Serving in my abilities and giftings hones my skills.
10. Because I will be rewarded for it – Colossians 3 v 22-24

I am certain there are other likely (and better) reasons than the ones I list, but these are mine and are off the top of my head … almost. So here’s my challenge – what are your reasons why you do what you do? Make it your top 5 and either post it as a comment or link back to your blog posting in a comment.

So here’s a weird one. I get a call to say that the users web browsing is ultra slow and could I have a look. Being the distrusting soul that I am, I don’t take the problem description at face value – hey, 25yrs in IT has taught me one thing and that is to keep asking questions because eventually the truth will out. I guess this is the same game the police play.

(more…)

Please take a moment to read the following press release. I’m honoured and delighted to be involved as one of the tech writers and look forward to the service it will bring to Church Techies all over the world.

For Immediate Release
February 17, 2009

All Around the World – Well known church technology site Church Tech Matters, is opening its door wide, adding new writers, a new look, and new community building tools all designed to help the church effectively use technology to reach people for Christ. (more…)

I confess, I’ve been walking my walk in a bit of a daze recently and certain things have suddenly hit home and made me realise what I’ve been doing. Or more accurately, not doing.

One thing I do need to do is be more accountable. Accountable for my day to day walk with God. Accountable for what I write here. Accountable to my family, for my health, my finances, in fact everything I do, think and say. (more…)

Working shifts can be a real drain on one’s will when you sit with 9 non-Christians.

Don’t get me wrong – the folks I work with are all top notch but sometimes the language, the gossip and the constant talk about topics I have no desire to pursue all combine to drag one down. So when Pandora shut its doors to non-US listeners I was gutted – Pandora was my escape when it all got too much.

I tried for weeks to find a way to regain access and for a while there was a proxy I used but it didn’t last. In the end, I gave up my search and resigned myself to not being able to escape as easily.

That was until I found Jango several weeks back.

Now I’m back in my groove – no pun intended – and I just pray that it remains! The great thing about Jango and Pandora is that you can create ‘radio stations‘ within which you set the style of music or even specific artists that you like. The logic behind the system then finds similar music / genre’s / artists and you get to vote on your taste for it or not.

What’s more, I’m always pleasantly surprised by the amout of Christian music available with the likes of Third Day, Casting Crowns, Jars of Clay, etc all being accessible. Go try it out and look me up if you create an account. As I type this I have the Dave Crowder Band singing “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing”