Church Online Confessional Booth

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Sep 5, 2006 in Church, Culture | 1 comment

Craig Groeschel is creating some controversy.  His church created a website (mysecret.tv) that caught the attention of the NY Times, Intimate Confessions Pour Out on Church’s Web Site.  The article begins:

On a Web site called mysecret.tv, there is the writer who was molested years ago by her baby sitter and who still cannot forgive herself for failing to protect her younger siblings from the same abuse.  There is the happy father, businessman and churchgoer who is having a sexual relationship with another man in his church. There is the young woman who shot an abusive boyfriend when she was high on methamphetamine.Then there is this entry: “Years ago I asked my father, ‘How does a daddy justify selling his little girl?’ He replied, ‘I needed to pay the rent, put food on the table and I liked having a few coins to jangle in my pocket.’ ”

Mark Driscoll had his Confessions of a Reformission Rev.: Hard Lessons from an Emerging Missional Church.  Now Groeschel promises to take it one step further, with the Fall release of Confessions of a Pastor: Adventures in Dropping the Pose and Getting Real with God . MySecrets.tv seems to be a prelude to Groeschels own book of confessions.  The chapters of the book carry titles such as I Can’t Stand a Lot of Christians, I Hate Prayer Meetings, I’m Afraid of Failing and Most of the Time I Feel Incredibly Lonely.   The book description states:

The Dark Side of a Pastor's Life – A Breath of Fresh Air Are you tired of pretending? Living walled up? Going only skin deep? Craig Groeschel , pastor of the thriving LifeChurch.tv, sure was. And in his refreshingly raw and real book, he comes clean. Not that he has anything other than typical, human stuff to confess. Check out a few of his musings: I have to work hard to stay sexually pure, I hate prayer meetings, sometimes I doubt God , and I can't stand a lot of Christians . Through his incredible honesty, he opens the door for you to follow suit. Are you ready to dig deep and let God shine through the genuine you? No more living just to please others. No more hiding. You can be who God called you to be. You can live for an audience of One.  

Yet, there is some backlash amongst Catholics who feel Protestants aren't holding confession in a high regard.  "This is no substitute for the sacrament of Confession. Why did Protestants abolish Confession, anyway," writes Wilfred at titusonenine.classicalanglican.net.  

More of confessions: One of the most famous confessional sites is a secular site, called Postsecret.  Donald Miller has a great story of using a confessional booth in Blue Like Jazz.

Free Derek Webb – How free is FREE?

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Sep 4, 2006 in Church, Culture | 3 comments

Derek Webb's free CD is available!  And it is free.  Yet, I've been trained to think, nothing in life is free.  So what's the catch?  Derek Webb writes:

as an artist (and often an agitator), this is something i am keenly aware of. my most recent record 'mockingbird' deals with many sensitive issues including poverty, war, and the basic ethics by which we live and deal with others. but i found that music has been an exceptional means by which to get this potentially difficult conversation going. and this is certainly an important moment for dialogue amongst people who disagree about how to best love and take care of people, to get into the nuances of the issues.

one of the things that excites me most about the future of our business is how easy it is becoming to deliver music to people who want to hear it….so this is why, on september 1st, we're launching freederekwebb.com, a place where anyone can go online and not just hear but actually download, keep, and share 'mockingbird' completely for free. In addition, freederekwebb.com will give you an opportunity to invite your friends to download 'mockingbird' in order to get them in on the conversation as well.

we hope this bold campaign will provide a jumping off point for conversations about all of these issues, and communicate my commitment to playing my part in starting them. so please help us spread the word: on september 1st, 'mockingbird' will be set free! (Free Derek Webb site)

So what is the cost of free? 

First, Derek Webb gets to engage a larger audience to promote his 'agenda'.  Thankfully, I believe and support the conversation Derek Webb is trying to promote.  His use of free music is a valuable tool in the communication with (persuasion of) others as it relates to faith, God and "many sensitive issues including poverty, war, and the basic ethics by which we live and deal with others." Derek music does a great job speaking into this conversation.

Secondly, Derek Webb now has a lot of email addresses:

We will collect your e-mail address and zip code. We will store and use your e-mail address to send you updates, tour dates, new releases, news on Derek Webb, and merchandise for sale on the derekwebb.com web site. This information will not be shared with, given, rented, or sold to third parties.  

Of course this is not new, we are all accustomed to handing out our email address in order to get something online.

Third, FreeDerekWebb is powered by NoiseTrade.  NoiseTrade provides free music and viral recommendation marketing.  This is a great idea to help artists capture interest in a world where survival requires a fan base.  (Yet, would this work with a lesser artist not of Derek Webb's status?  There already is a abundance of 'free' offerings for independent artists.  That remains to be seen.  Can Derek send an email to you to try you to migrate to other independent artists he recommends?  That waits to be seen.

CONCLUSION:  Free Derek Webb costs you your contact information. But after listening to the album, it is well worth the cost. 

tags: viral marketing, christian music, derek webb

Sermon Cloud : Sermon Syndication, Social Network and Tag Cloud

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Sep 2, 2006 in Church, General Technology | 8 comments

Sermon Cloud is ready for the masses.   Sermon Cloud is a website for a community to interact with sermons. What are the powerful sermons people are listening to? Who are the up-and-coming preachers of the day? Where are the messages about themes that you need to hear? How can you find a great preacher in your home town? Sermon Cloud was designed to help you with all of these questions.  Sermon Cloud users help let each other know which sermons they amen. An 'amen' is a recommendation of the sermon. Users can post comments about their interaction with these sermons (even the comments can be designated as helpful or unhelpful). Sign-up for free to begin interacting, commenting and recommending sermons today!

For Churches and Preachers: Sermon Cloud offers churches FREE Advanced Sermon Syndication & mp3 services. Are you interested in podcasting, syndicating and using all the other 'Web 2.0' buzzwords for your church? Sermon Cloud Features include Resampling mp3’s to be optimized for the internet, Syndicating content (Integrating directly into iTunes store, syndicating through RSS feeds.), Displaying recent sermons on your church website, Podcasting mp3, Sermon Streaming capability in our Jukebox player, Tagging System, Commenting on sermons, Community recommending sermons, Searching for sermons and more… 

Plus you'll want the sermon cloud tshirt ! 

NEW: See SonSpring's review of Sermon Cloud. 

tags: church technology, web 2.0, sermon syndication, sermon mp3s

The Future Dying Church

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Sep 1, 2006 in Church, Culture | 2 comments

As I mentioned in my Five Trends for the Future of Church Planting , I foresee a quickening of churches dying in America over the next twenty years.  There are tens of thousands of churches filled with communities that have shrunk below 100, 70, 50 and are filled with an aging population.  Many of these churches will not know how to survive. 

American church statistics¹ have reported:

· In America, 3500 – 4000 churches close their doors each year
· Half of all churches last year did not add one new member through conversion growth
· Churches lose an estimated 2,765,000 people each year to nominalism and secularism

The question looms, what are all these churches going to do when they need to close their doors?  I believe there are three options:

1) Dying Churches and Denominations can become large REITs.

2) Dying Churches and Denominations can re-invest in the Kingdom by turning over their resources for the purpose of Church Planting. 

3) Dying Churches can be replanted through letting go of control and bringing in leaders who will get them back on mission.