Return from Seattle & Tacoma

Posted by D. Goodmanson on May 13, 2008 in Church, Culture, General Technology | 3 comments

I returned yesterday from the Seattle/Tacoma trip.  Here are a few of the highlights:

Mars Hill Reunion 

I spent Saturday night with Jamie Munson an elder and Lead Pastor (Mark Driscoll is preaching pastor) at Mars Hill in Seattle.  Mars Hill has gone through a bit of transition and Jamie and I spoke about that.  We also spoke about how to create systems that reflect an organizations vision/values.  Through many seasons, Jamie has much to offer in this area of thought.  Lastly, he showed me a demo of their site, "The City" which was exciting and good timing since we launched a similar set of features with Ekklesia for churches and their members.

Soma School

Finished a week at Soma School.  Capped the week with lunch with Caesar Kalinowski and Jeff Vanderstelt. I continue to grow in my appreciation for the friendship and shared vision between Kaleo & Soma.  On Sunday I was able to spend the day with a family from Soma Community, Mark Tilden who took us (Bryce & Chad from Sojourn in Louisville pictured below, their wives inside in the warmth) on his yacht to Vashon Island.  Mark has built and sold internet companies, his latest venture is FlightStats.com so he and I spoke about entrepreneurial things together.

Heather & Family

My parents flew up from Sacramento and we all spent Friday/Saturday together at my brothers.  My wife, Heather and I took a walk around around the last place we lived in Seattle, Greenlake.  As you can see we weren't quite ready for the 'summer days' of Seattle, having been spoiled by San Diego's weather.  In all of our years in returned visits (we moved in 2001) we always run into people we know here, and this trip was no exception.  

All-in-all a very profitable trip connecting and learning from others.  I look forward to my next conference in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Life in Tacoma

Posted by D. Goodmanson on May 9, 2008 in Culture | 8 comments

Walking the streets of Tacoma, WA and ran into this nice little work of art:

Vintage 21 & Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

Posted by D. Goodmanson on May 9, 2008 in Church | 2 comments

David Fairchild & I are heading to Raleigh, NC.  It will be a couple day whirlwind trip to visit both Vintage 21 and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS).

Wednesday

• 9:00-11:00am SEBTS Q&A on Church Planting
• Rest of Day Acts 29 Regional Conference @ Vintage 21

Thursday

• Tentmaker Training @ SEBTS

If you are in that neck of the woods, drop on by one of these. 

UPDATE: Conference details are now posted at Acts 29. 

Soma School

Posted by D. Goodmanson on May 8, 2008 in Church, Church Planting, Ministry Design | 1 comment

I've been enjoying a week hanging with my brothers in Tacoma @ Soma School:

Soma Communities hosts 7 day intensive studies where participants work and pray with the community, study the biblical and theological foundations of Soma Communities, and reflect on the incarnational responses to the particular needs of its community, location and make-up.

This experience is for those individuals that desire a deep understanding of the Identity and Rhythms in which Soma Communities live. This intensive begins on a Tuesday and runs for 7 days. During this time you will live within our community, staying with members of our family, living out the rhythms of those you stay with. You will spend time in both urban and suburban settings.

It covers:

• Story of God Experience
• What is the Church? Identity & Rhythms
• Dialogical Teaching Class
• Building a Missional Community

Enjoyed a time with planters/missional thinkers from across the world.  About 1/2 in attendance are from Europe.  You can download some of the audio & notes from a past Soma School from January 2008.

Interview @ Godbit

Posted by D. Goodmanson on May 8, 2008 in Church, Church Technology, Ekklesia, General Technology, Monk Dev | 0 comments

Nathan Smith, founder of Godbit posted an interview with me.  About Godbit's mission:

The purpose of this site is to help the Church catch up with the rest of the world in adherence to Web Standards given by the World Wide Web Consortium, the governing body of best-practices on the Internet. The majority of Christian web design agencies are using outmoded methods of coding to create websites that the rest of the world would scoff at. Basically, they are stuck in the 1990’s.

Thanks to the Godbit community for their faithfulness to inspire the church and it's use of technology.  The interview discusses my role at Monk Development and Kaleo. Read the interview here.