MinistryCOM 2007 | Session 1 | Terry Storch

Communication Revolution

The evolution of culture has birthed a communication revolution
Evolution (mass communication shifts):
• Gutenberg Press= printed word
• Radio = Spoken Word
• TV = visual word

The internet has changed it all.

Google is not a company anymore- it’s a verb.

The communication revolution is not a technology- it’s something different.
It’s all about web 2.0.

Web 2.0 is the “participatrory web.”
Web 2.0 is about enabling and encouraging participation.

The revolution has collided with the local church.

5 Impact Points where communication is impacting culture

Church 1.0- one way communication
- churches are masters at one way communication
- how to hold a microphone and broadcast information
- the problem with the web is that’s it’s about multi-faceted communication
- how are we engaging the guy with a MySpace that has pictures of drinking but is bringing people to our church?

Church 1.0 is all about service times
- if you want to learn about Jesus then “come when we do it.”
- it doesn’t work like that anymore, people want to be a part of what you’re doing
- service times don’t work because people want your content when they want your content
- church 2.0 is experiences anytime
- the content doesn’t have to be just your weekend content
- could we produce something specific for the web

Walls
- so many churches are all about a building
- it’s not about the building…there’s life outside the building
- what happens if a church decides not to have a service? Is church still happening?
- service times and buildings aren’t bad but things are happening outside the walls
- We serve an omnipresent God…he’s everywhere. Do we serve an Omnipresent Church? A church that gets outside of it’s walls

Re-Imagine Outreach
- in today’s community outreach should look radically different
- church 1.0 says to “go physically out”
- it’s not just physical anymore, it’s about virtual relationships
- Is someone in your church an “online community organizer”?
- Are you in a church that embraces online community or that has a firewall to block it?

The Power of 1
- church 1.0 says “everyone invites one”
- “just invite one person”
- culture has shown us that the power of addition is not as powerful as the power of attrition
- we need to get out of the mindset of just addition and into a mindset of multiplicaiton
- one person can invite everyone
- it’s not about the name on the side of our building- it’s about the name of Jesus

This collision has created a responsibility.

It’s not an opportunity. That means there’s only a chance that it can happen. It’s a responsibility. Jesus was pretty clear that we need to go and communicate to all people.

We are in a time like never before where The Great Commission can really happen.
1.2 billion people are online today.

We’ve moved to a world with 6.6 billion people. They estimate by 2050 there will be 9 billion on Earth.

We must transition for “an opportunity” to a responsibility.

It’s not about technology- it’s about people.

Who is the great cultural theologian of our time?
Ferris Bueller- “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while you could miss it.”

~ by Dave on September 13, 2007.