The Web as Prophetic Critique to the Church?

Steve Collins, ever the creative thinker for new forms of church, muses about the web and its impact on documents. He speaks of the control that authors once had on their text, a control that the web obliterated as readers break up, interpret, and parse the document in any way that is suitable to their uses. Steve then turns his sights to the church and ponders what might happen if the web impacts the church as much as it has cultures.

What might the church learn from the web? Any modern church leader is trained to maintain control over the whole process of what we know as church, manifesting most specifically in the maintenance of order. Our church authors/producers/leaders are not prepared to release the text/church service/way of life to the readers/consumers/members. None of their training has prepared them for this uncontrolled way of living in community. So much of church training assumes the leader will face a passive audience that will receive their 'text' in its entirety. We are not trained to participate in church as an ongoing dynamic conversation of equals. I know this, because I train these same leaders.

What would it mean for leaders to let go of control, to realize that it is pointless to try and contain the life of faith, just as pointless as it would be to attempt to control the web? What would happen if our authority to act as leaders came from the many unsolicited links one receives rather than the title one bears? What would happen if our members can post 24-7 and are not required to sign in through a single portal, i.e. not seek permission for ministry but are trusted as friends and colleagues to create meaningful God inspired activities?

I'm just posing a few questions, to which I do not have good answers. Stepping back a bit, it has been an elusive task of the church to see the priesthood of believers realized. If we want to imagine what that an egalitarian, spirit-led community might look like, we need look no further than the liberating freedom that many experience within the web community.

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Comments

[maggi]

totally agree about letting go of control; and I too am a big fan (and friend!) of Steve C.

But isn't it true that "texts" have always been split up, misquoted, re-parsed, reinterpreted, etc etc? Your average book quotes all kinds of bits and pieces of ideas from other places...

[Wess Daniels]

I agree with this idea in my experience Blogging is a great excersize in community dialogue, every voice is equal. No one is judged by what they look like, only one what they have to say and what interests they have, this is a much broader way of communicating. I have been recently telling some of my friends about blogging, and how it is much more than an online journal about "me." It works best when it is reflective and interactive, each reader tossing in their own thoughts, critiquing, suggesting, etc.

[Rhett Smith]

Ryan,

Great post...It's a scary thing to let go of control as a pastor, but very beautiful to watch those in the ministry embrace responsiblity, leadership...and to grow amidst the messiness sometimes.

[ryan bolger]

Maggi,
Thanks for stopping by...Great question!

I agree -- we humans grab snippets of this 'text' and that 'text' to cobble together our worlds. Even though one main text is being put forth as the text, we still have the power to pull from, quote, whatever parts we see fit.

I think what is novel about the web is the ease to which this is done. At this point in its short life, the web is inherently democratizing. The structures are there to foster these sorts of equal voices and to decentre the single authoritative voice. It is not that a hard-copy wikipedia could not have been put together ten years ago, but the structures required to do so were insurmountable and thus unthinkable. Folksonomies like del.icio.us give the individual much more support in creating an alternative voice to the mainstream texts.

Just my initial thoughts...
Peace,

[Professional Business Plan]

Hi,
I totally agree about letting go of control. That's a great info. Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to see the future discussion on these points.

Professional Business Plan

[Archie]

I love this blog site! Just like KimClement. Please visit KimClement.com because there's a lot information about prophecy, prophet, and etc.

Archie

[REligious Grants]

Good points here, I agree with you concerning we need look no further than the liberating freedom that many experience within the web community.

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