I like to eat. I enjoy eating out. I've brought these two things together in a manner that can be shared with the world by writing Google restaurant reviews. In recent years I've written 80 reviews that include 444 pictures. And those pictures have now been view just over 11 million times (up from just over 4 million a year ago and just over 1 million two years ago). Leading up to Thanksgiving in 2022 I shared my then Top 10 Plates (based on total views). This time last year, I shared an Read More …
Social Media
Goodbye Twitter, X, or Whatever You’ve Become (#2169)
Yesterday I deleted my account on the platform formerly known as Twitter and now renamed X. After investing thousands of hours on the platform over the last 15 years, it became clear that it was time to part ways. Memories I've reflected on my experience at several points along the 15 year journey, including: So What? Social media has changed a great deal over the last fifteen years. Importantly, the platform formerly known as Twitter has changed dramatically only over the last Read More …
Struggling to Celebrate A Twitterversary (#2156)
X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, informed me yesterday that I've been a part of that community for 15 years. A Strange Year Last year, I reflected on my first 14 years noting that I might soon leave X given the many unfavorable changes that Elon Musk had implemented since purchasing this once great platform. And, yet, somehow I've lingered. And, now, I'm writing again after another year has passed. Sadly, I cannot report that there's been any signs of restoring the platform Read More …
So What Faith Turns 15 (#2129)
So What Faith launched 15 years ago this week. In June 2009, while I was serving First Presbyterian Church in Naples, Florida I decided to become a blogger. I knew I wanted to share messages about matters of faith that matter with an audience wider than my congregation and believed that blogging was the right tool for that moment in time. Except that I kept going and going and going and . . . now 15 years later well after the heyday of blogging, I continue to faithfully create new Read More …
Top 10 Plates of Food (#2090)
Thanksgiving week has arrived. I'm looking forward to spending time with my family, but also to enjoying great food. Top Plates Last year I tried something new when I wrote Top 10 Plates. In that post I reflected on the most popular plates of food I'd ever shared online through a Google review (ranked by number of views). The process of creating the list was an exercise in remembering not simply the food on the plates but the people I was with and the experience of each meal. Top 10 Read More …
10 Invitations to Conversation (#2083)
While I read many new books and share ratings for the best of them with you once a month, I most frequently share quotes of interest via X, the platform previously known asTwitter. Today, I'm sharing 10 quotes from recently published books as an invitation to theological conversation about one or more of the topics they explore. Read More …
14 Years of Tweeting (#2080)
A few days ago the social media platform formerly known as Twitter alerted me it was my 14th anniversary as @sowhatfaith. Since this may be my last such anniversary, I decided this was a good time to reflect on my journey. Getting Started In the early years, I spent more time on Twitter than anywhere else in social media land. And, I regularly wrote about those experiences here on So What Faith, including celebrating several twitterversaries and a reflection an award I Read More …
Celebrating 14 Years of So What Faith with Popular Posts (#2064)
Thanks for being a supporter of So What Faith - a site where matters of faith that matter are explored and where good questions are always more valuable than easy answers. As a writer, I always wonder if anyone will read my words. For So What Faith, I'm able to answer that question thanks to Google Analytics. Note: Google Analytics as I've always know it is coming to an end. Effective July 1, 2023 a new Google Analytics launches. Given this big change, I decided to run some mid-year Read More …
Daily Blogging – Reflecting on the Discipline (#2061)
I just finished a week of daily blogging. Over the last seven days, I posted once a day: Where’s Greg Worshipping? 8+ Congregations in 3 StatesMy Experiences with 14 UCC CongregationsMidlife & MiD Life: A 9th UpdateMy Religious Traditions Are Missing 8 Million People!The ELCA is Missing 4 Million People!The PC(USA) is Missing 2.6 Million People!The UCC is Missing 1.3 Million People! This routine was quite different from my norm. For the last several years I've averaged writing just Read More …
Top 20 Posts – All Time (#2024)
I've written more than 2,000 posts here at So What Faith over the last 13 years. The Top 1% of these form the Top 20 Posts of All Time (based on total page views). The list below includes the title of each post, year of publication, and change in popularity when compared to last year's list of top all time posts. Prayers of the People – Youth Sunday (2009) [+1]Pastoral Prayer – Love (2014) [-1]Are 10,000 Churches Closing Every Year? (2019) [unchanged]Review of Not a Read More …