The Technical Language of Ministry and Missions

1
The Technical Language of Ministry and Missions

• Ben Kelley, Ph.D., P.E.
• ECS Professor Dean

ECS Scholars Day, 1-Feb-08
2
Technology Influences History
Statement of Fact

• Fire
• Wheel
• Bronze Age
• Industrial Revolution
• Internal Combustion
• Digital Electronics

3
Technology Influences the Church

• Fishers of Men
• Water Wells
• Gutenberg Printing Press
• Circuit Riders
• Radio Sermons
• Televangelists

4
ECSers Have a Vocabulary

• IEEE, ACM, ASME, SWE, NSBE
• ?S, ???, ???, ??S,
• VLSI, ASTM, LVDT
• Moores Law, Wolfs Law
• Coulomb, Watt, Maxwell, L'Hôpital, Pascal Newton,
  Doty, Gaitros, Thompson, Farris
• My favorites Franklin Edison

, ABET
5
Baylor, ECS, and the Church

• Judge REB Baylor
• BGCT, BSM, RUF, FBCW
• Chapel
• Christian Scriptures Christian Heritage
• Engineers with a Mission
• Appropriate Technology
• with a Christian worldview.

6
Technology Affects Our Lives
And so also the church

• iPod
• iPhone
• FaceBook
• MySpace
• YouTube

7
We Are Technology
We Are The Church
Technology is a part of the Church
8
e-Commerce, e-Mail, e-Learning

• e-Missionaries
• Coined by Saddlebacks Rick Warren
• Access to dangerous regions
• Communications through e-mail, web sites
• e-Discipleship
• Bible study course online
• Self paced Advantage of web attributes

9
e-Everything/Anything

• e-Bible
• Searchable online bibles
• Available for mobile devices
• eBible Teacher adds PowerPoints SS lessons
• e-Vangelism
• or Internet Evangelism
• Reach un/underserved populations

10
Cyber

• CyberSitter (internet filter)
• CyberAngels (virus protection)
• CyberDefender (anti spyware)
• CyberShot (SONY camera)
• CyberCheck (remote PC control)
• CyberGuys (online hardware and software)
• CyberErotica (movies)

Seven of Nine Species Human Cybernetic
11
Cyber

• CyberChurch
• Virtual church
• Meets in cyberspace
• Members minister to each other
• Takes advantage of internet (geocities, yahoo,
  MySpace, Second Life, Cell/Smart phones)
• Operates across vast physical/geographic platforms

12
Cyber

• CyberMissions
• Taught in seminaries
• front-line use of computers and the internet as
  tools in achieving the Great Commission.
• reaching the next billion internet users that
  will come online in the next three years.

13
Cyber

• CyberEvangelist
• First as non-Christian term promoting www
• Significant portion of ministry is online
• Position held by Jeremy Ciaramella at Portland
  International Church of Christ
• CyberMinistry
• The activities Of a CyberEvangelist
• Lots of community/connection advice on internet

14
Other New Staff Titles

• Pastor of Technology
• The individual who decides what technology
  investments are essential to achieving our goals
  of communicating the Gospel. Tyndall Wakeham,
  Ecclesia Church, Houston
• PastorPreneurs
• Entrepreneur pastors often involved with church
  plantings and transformations and that have
  responsibilities for managing many elements of
  the church business and ministry.

15
Other High-Tech Vernacular

• MegaChurch
• 2,000 or more weekly worshipers
• Some simulcast to branches
• LifeChurch (20k members, 11 locations)
• Online Outreach
• Al-Anon
• Newsletters, web casts, blogs
• Web Missions
• Examples are exhaustive some robust

16
Academic Conferences

• ICCM
• International Conference on Computing Missions
• AC4
• Association of Christian Computer Centers
• IMC
• Internet Ministry Conference
• CEEC
• Christian Engineering Educators Conference

17
Interesting Thoughts

• Risk Management in dangerous regions
• By 2010 internet evangelism will represent
  majority of decisions for Christ Campus
  Crusade
• One-to-many and one-to-one
• Asynchronous and Archived
• Wide geography Low cost
• Particular niches Seeker driven

18
Other Vernacular Quips

• The Geek shall inherit the earth.
• Give me that on-line religion.
• Christianity is not a theory its a life.

19
(No Transcript)