Church Mojo

Explaining the Trinity to Geeks

Mark Alves — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 12:00:57 +0000

How would you explain the Trinity to a geek, you ask? The concept I’m about to describe below is one I’ve ruminated over the years, wondering if it was helpful or if it was blasphemous. As another Trinity Sunday passed, I decided to publish it.

Reflection for Trinity Sunday

Think of the elements of a website. You’ve got the words and pictures, you have the underlying site structure and directory names, and then there are the links that connect. When you bring these separate parts together, the whole is much greater than the sum of the distinct parts.

The same principle is at work with the Trinity. While it’s impossible for our human minds to comprehend the infinite love of God, we can get a glimpse by looking at the persons of the Trinity.

So let’s take a closer look at how understanding a website can give our nerd friends some insight into the Trinity. Now we all know that in the beginning was the Word (that will represent our words and graphics). The Word was begotten by the Creator who designed our world. Together, those two form our webpages–words and structure. But the bonds between those two are so strong and interconnected that we have links that spring forth, in the form of the Holy Spirit, to help us to see connections that we would otherwise miss, to enter into a deeper understanding of God. Putting it all together, we have three distinct elements working together.

Now if this doesn’t work for you, there’s always Saint Patrick’s clover leaf analogy or a more formal definition of the Trinity. But for your web geek friends, try this one.

Filed under: Religion

Best Songs About Mary for Mother’s Day

Mark Alves — Mon, 10 May 2010 01:35:05 +0000

A Twitter friend recently asked about recommendations for Mary songs that a non Catholic might like. Two Michael John Poirier songs jumped to mind:

I’ve got these on tape and CD, but it took some digging to find them online so I want to share them in the spirit of Mother’s Day today. (You may need to hit the purple play triangle and then the gray triangle in the Rhapsody button at the bottom.)

Please give them a thoughtful listen and then consider buying them to support Michael John’s wonderful music ministry.

And now for something from a completely genre — the Mother’s Day rap my sons put together for my wonderful wife:

I hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day. If you have a favorite Marian song, or your own Mother’s Day project to share, please do so in the comments.

Filed under: Content Ideas

How Church Imitates Baseball

Mark Alves — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 03:36:12 +0000

In honor of opening day coming on the heels of Easter, here are the top 10 ways going to Mass imitates baseball.

Top 10 Ways Going to Church Imitates Baseball

By jcarwash31 via Flickr

10. Sometimes you stand and sing, other times you sit.
9. It can go into extra innings.
8. Hard to follow without a program.
7. Uncomfortable seats.
6. Sometimes you spend more than you want to.
5. Gotta know how to read the signs.
4. Come early to get good seats.
3. Long line for alcohol.
2. You’re preparing for post-season play.

And the number 1 way going to church imitates baseball…

1. If you screw up, you get sent down.

Good luck to your team this year, unless you’re a Yankee fan.

Filed under: News

Should Churches Participate in April Fool’s Day?

Mark Alves — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 04:31:18 +0000

Toyota, in the guise of a baptismal font recall, was the target of my church’s annual April Fool’s Day stunts. (I’ve covered some of these parodies before.) April Fool’s Day usually falls during Lent and in 2010 it was on Holy Thursday. Is it appropriate for a church to celebrate April Fool’s Day during Lent?

Baptismal Font with Unintended Acceleration from StCharlesChurch.org

Yes.

Our goals:

Increase traffic to the site.
Show that we don’t take ourselves too seriously.
Give members of the community a reason to share the church’s web address with others. It’s difficult for some to overtly evangelize, but sharing a link to a funny site makes it a lot easier.

We’ve met all of those goals the past several years.

At the same time, we’ve focused on spoofs and parodies rather than outright tricks that could legitimately fool someone. You don’t want newcomers showing up for a non-existent event because they weren’t in on the joke, especially during Lent. It’s a balancing act, but based on the traffic and feedback it’s been worth it for us.

Would your church consider putting on a stunt for April Fool’s Day?

Filed under: Church Marketing

It’s Safe Again to Show YouTube Videos at Church

Mark Alves — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:45:58 +0000

Have you ever tried to show a YouTube video at a church event, but worried about what kind of naughty or racy clips would show up in the so-called related videos section? At last, Google is offering the ability to filter out inappropriate videos on an opt-in basis.

The filter is called Safety Mode and you’ll find a link to it at the very bottom of all YouTube pages. You can select it on the fly or log in and make this your default. This video explains more.

Please note that I’m against censorship and I’m not suggesting this is for everyone. But it’s helpful to church ministry staff and volunteers–along with parents–to have this choice. If only there were a similar filter available when we’re watching NFL games live and inappropriate commercials come on! For now, I’ll keep my trigger finger on the remote.

I enjoy watching funny clips with my boys, but dread wondering what filth might show up nearby that I’ll have to quickly scroll by. Now I feel like I have another tool on my side.

Have you run into this issue when showing videos at your church? How do you handle it?

Filed under: Google

Weather-related Church Cancellations — More Tips

Mark Alves — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:40:02 +0000

By abac077 via Flickr

The Blizzard of 2009 gave me a few more ideas about handling weather-related cancellations at your church so check out that updated post.

If you were stuck in the snow I hope you had fun. On a number of social media channels, many folks are commenting how the snow has been an early Christmas present that has focused them on enjoying their family, making cookies, playing and slowing down in general. It was a great antidote to the usual holiday stress that can arise at this time of year. I had a blast sledding and making a snowman with my boys. How about you?

Posted in Uncategorized

This Week in Twitter for 11/27/2009 — Black Friday Edition

Mark Alves — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 15:12:53 +0000

Via graphicleftovers.com

In a week dedicated to conspicuous eating, football and shopping (and giving thanks), Twitter continued to elbow its way to the front of the line and the best spot on the couch.

BLACK FRIDAY CIRCULARS AND OTHER ADVERTISING
It’s impossible to miss the Christmas sales ads this time of year. Speaking of advertising, Tweetmeme covered the latest Twitter advertising plans, the NY Times warned A Friend’s Tweet Could Be an Ad (via @AndrewBates), and Twitter to launch paid business accounts from the Telegraph via @thebrandbuilder.

And what better gift than The Perfect Twitter Client via @scobleizer?

Given the theme of this blog, A Twitter App for Every Purpose Under Heaven grabbed my attention for gift ideas. If the headline concluded with “Under the Sun” instead, that would have led us to Brian Solis’s question of whether Twitter was a Nova or Supernova.

Even if you’re sure you’ve found the perfect gifts, it’s always a good idea to pay attention to a store’s return policy in case there’s a problem. But who do you turn to when Twitter is the merchant? Twittercism asks Does Twitter Need an Ombudsman? (My answer is a resounding Yes, especially when Twitter keeps removing the Twitter help desk ticket option.) Dave Winer explains the customer service problems he ran into with Can Twitter Users Link Out.

BUY NOW — NEW AND IMPROVED!

Gmail users tweet twice as much via @KrisColvin
How Twitter Makes You a Better Writer by CopyBlogger
A Better Way of Blog Commenting via Twitter (Social Media Fish)
3 Stages of Presenting with Twitter by Pistachio
Use ReFollow.com To Find The Most Engaged and Dearly Departed from Twitip.com

After all that shopping, you might want to take a break at the official Twitter sports bar spotted by @TomMartin

Happy Tweetsgiving, everyone! And try out TurkeyTwitter for a roundup of #Thanksgiving tweets.

Posted in Social Media

Thanksgiving and Advent Checklists for Church Websites

Mark Alves — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:45:56 +0000

Thanksgiving and Advent are almost here. You still have time to cook and shop, but what about getting your church website ready for these holidays? Here are Thanksgiving ideas for your church site and Advent content suggestions to get you started.

Posted in Content Ideas

This Week in Twitter for 11/20/2009 — Twitpocalypse Now

Mark Alves — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:57:43 +0000

Sarah Palin starts her book tour, Barack Obama says he’s never used Twitter and Oprah says she’s hanging it up in 2011, prompting @caseywright to quip that maybe the Mayans were off by one year. In case the end is near, get your spiritual life together with the 10 Commandments for Twitter and the 7 Deadly Sins of Twitter. If it turns out we are going to stick around a while longer then learn from the president’s example and be clear in your church bio page about who is doing the tweeting–especially if you have ghost tweeters.

Speaking of things ending, what happens when your favorite URL shorteners go kaput? 301works.org is trying to help out. If that doesn’t work, try retweeting those links a lot, which you can now do seamlessly through Posterous.

Who can save a world gone mad? It’s a job for SuperTweet. SuperTweet advertising, that is, according to Robert Scoble. Is that enough to fend off the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? What about the 3 Ts of Business — Telling, Talented and Tangible? These are three traits that hold up for Twittering churches, too.

In football this week, it’s starting not to look like the end of the world for the Titans as they rack up some wins and where the NFL Commish joined a tweetup in the stands. But on the college side, the BCS’s new Twitter account is a calamity according to Shel Holtz at Social Media Today. And in our last bit of gridiron news, Twitter called its own audible at the (top) line with “What’s happening” replacing “What are you doing” as the welcome prompt.

In definitely more than 140 characters, Charles Curle Design compiled everything you could ever want to know about Twitter. In other roundups, Tom Maduri @tmaduri pointed out 47 Awesome Twitter Tools You Should be Using from DeonTee.com and Brian Clark showcased his funniest tweets.

Lists were big in last week’s round up and they continue to make headlines with the new option to add descriptions to your Twitter lists. You can organize those lists with Listerine (no, not that kind), according to Lifehacker.

We learned this week that “unfriend” was the word of the year. That wasn’t the end of the world, though, as many Twitter words were in the running.

And so we don’t end this calamitous post on a down note, here’s a sample from the Twitter: The Album — music written in only 140 characters of code.

(Charlie Hoistman)

What changed in your world of Twitter this week? Tell us now while you still have a chance!