A few days ago, I blogged about my ongoing quest to learn more about Jesus. In that post I suggested that 2011 may be a year I devote considerable time to examining Jesus’ preaching via the Sermon on the Mount. Since that time, I learned of a unique opportunity to study the Beatitudes, which lead off Matthew’s account of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3-12).
Kimberly Knight, Circuit Rider and web admin for the Beatitudes Society, recently blogged about a new interactive live learning opportunity available to everyone thanks to a creative partnership between the Beatitudes Society and Darkwood Brew. The series, The Be@itudes: Nine Observations That Turn the World Upside Down (And Our Lives Rightside Up), is streamed live at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time every Sunday through March 6. For those who are not able to participate during the live sessions, a video archive will be available featuring the full episodes or shorter fifteen minute segments designed as discussion starters. Knight describes this unique opportunity and offers additional information about Darkwood Brew:
Hosted by Dr. Elnes and streamed live from Common Grounds Coffeehouse in Omaha, Nebraska, Darkwood Brew is much more than an online video broadcast. Darkwood Brew is an interactive experience where progressives gather physically in a coffeehouse and interact with online participants via live chat, Skype, and other technologies. Darkwood Brew draws on an ancient spiritual practices, modern interactive web technologies, world-class jazz, biblical scholarship, and a variety of arts in a mix they call Pneuma Divina.
Still in its infancy, the buzz has already started to circulate about Darkwood Brew, attracting participants from Seattle, WA, to Melbourne, Australia. It has even caught the attention of MTV, which sent a crew to Omaha to cover a December gathering. One prominent viewer, Phyllis Tickle (The Great Emergence) has this to say about Darkwood Brew: “What a knock-out in several ways, not the least of which is that at last somebody has contrived a way to almost completely integrate all the electronic possibilities into a coherent whole that is effectual to the hilt. Dear Lord, but this is amazing.”
So What?
Technology is changing the way people understand what it means to be church as well as how churches and parachurch ministries gather for worship and discipleship. How has technology impacted your congregation in these two areas? If your parish is not yet utilizing technology in ways that allow for virtual community, I encourage you to gather a small work group or team or sub-committee to explore some possibilities.
To explore this topic further consider reading one or more of these posts:
- Bringing Twitter Into the Classroom
- The Limits of Social Media for Ministry
- Churches Embracing Social Media
- Review of Sim Church: Being the Church in a Virtual World by Douglas Estes
- Review of Flickering Pixels: How Technology Shapes Your Faith by Shane Hipps