Virtual Methodist

I was sent this book specifically to review after I responded to a post/tweet on facebook/twitter (can’t remember which) at a time when I was seriously thinking about the role of social media in society in general and my life and ministry specifically. It is a relatively short book written in bite-sized blog-like chunks, or, given the subject matter, perhaps that should be byte-sized chunks. Despite its brevity, it packs in a lot of scholarship and reflection, indeed at times it reads like a literary link-dump, citing other larger works that have a more specific focus, but it builds a good case for how all communications technology, including contemporary social media, are not simply neutral tools, but serve to shape individuals’ neurological function and human society in general for good or ill. It is not a luddite rejection of technological development and its often unintended social effects, but rather, is a measured appraisal by someone who uses these tools, but is seeking to ...

Ok… It’s the last day of 2011 and before I head out to perform my last clerical duties of the year, as per the tradition (ie. I did it last year…) I offer you an eclectic set of VM’s Awards of the Year… as if anyone cares… Anyway, last year kicked off with what was to be my (and many people’s) favourite film of the year – The King’s Speech , in which Colin Firth stammered his way to a p-p-plethora of awards… Still think Helena Bonham Carter was the best thing in it however… It took until the end of the year however for me to come across my favourite album of the year… it was a Christmas present to my eldest son from some discerning giver… What do you give a jazz trumpet playing teenager with pretensions at being a guitar playing rock god (when not studying for medicine or strutting the stage that is)? – why obviously Wynton Marsalis and Eric Clapton Play the Blues Live at the Lincoln Centre … Two genuine musical genii sharing the same stage… And as I am eventually carried out of...

Maybe it's just my learning style, which is highly associative, picking up cross-cutting themes in a number of different disciplines, but recent reading in the blogosphere has been raising a lot of related issues regarding the over-all direction of modern worship and the use of technology in the same, and how that in turn shapes our corporate and personal spiritual lives... For starters, the whole issue of powerpoint... I am a convert if not a devotee... I use it in most services in my home church but do not feel disabled without it. I have however, both in worship and in other settings experienced the "death by powerpoint" phenomenon (142 slides in 90 minutes in a presentation on "The Review of Public Administration" by way of an after-dinner speech on one occasion). So these two salutory warnings regarding the inappropriate use of this technological tool in worship are very helpful (See Alan in Belfast and Scotteriology ). But, as Alan in Belfast points out it...

Just came across this before I headed off on holiday, and it rings bells after a month or so of technical problems... If anyone has a spare geek or two around their church, I'll gladly take them off your hands... It would save me an outrageous amount of time I waste tinkering with powerpoints, websites etc. Cheers

Way back in October last year I dangled a tantalising lure in the virtual pond, asking if anyone was interested in trying a " Lo-Tec Lent ." Didn't have many takers... Tho' I have noted that some others are giving up blogging... However, Lent has sort of sneaked up on me, and so, feebly, I am not taking up the challenge myself this year... Going to try giving up being a miserable curmudgeon instead... Anyone want to take bets on how long that will last? Cheers

Now I'm the sort of person who fulminates because some people are advertising Christmas events and it isn't even Halloween yet, but let me go one step further and suggest something for Lent. I've tried it out on a few others and it has frightened the life out of them, but it was borne out of listening to late night radio last night and some of my experiences over the summer of technology going bad and leaving me feeling decidedly uneasy about my dependence upon it. So here it is: A Lo-Tec Lent. 40 days without digital technology. No computers. No mobiles. No digital TV. No internet. No PDA. No Satnav. No pagers. No DECT phones. No ipod/mp3 player No digital radio No flights If particularly daring one could add to that no cars with electronic management systems, no dishwashers, no electronic keyboards etc. I propose it for Lent because it will probably take from now to then to sort out how I might manage without these electronic aids to existence. And the question is... woul...

Regular followers of this blog over the summer (what's wrong with you... have you nothing better to do with your time!) will know of my long summer love affair with a dusky voiced American lady called Maggie. Magellan Maestro, the GPS that was kindly lend to us by Ed and Lorrie Bawden for our time in Grand Rapids. Well, she impressed me so much that on coming home I was on the look out for a similar piece of kit at a reasonable price. And last week I spotted one... a Garmin Nuvi 300, at a third of its usual price. So it's a case of move over Maggie here's Gary... Now that's a female Gary, as this unit only offers female voices. Is there something wrong with a male voice telling you where to go? But anyway, she's not as sophisticated as Maggie... But I have simple needs. Getting me from A-B without a speeding ticket, accident or nervous breakdown will do. To see how she will work I have engaged in some Satnav cruelty I am ashamed to admit... I've programmed ...

Occasionally I have heard it said that having a relationship with another person outside of a marriage has actually enhanced the marriage. I have never believed that. However, I truly believe that my marriage to Sally has been enhanced during this trip by my developing love for a dusky voiced American lady, called Maggie, or Magellan Maestro to give her her full name. She happens to be imprisoned in a small electronic box and tells me where to go when I am trying to navigate my way around this strange place where people drive on the wrong side of the road (Although I definitely have the easier part of the deal in this exchange... I only have to cope with driving on the wrong side of the road... Geoff has to drive on the other side of the road, use a manual car instead of an automatic, and must cope with the shock of our petrol prices!). She is the electronic voice of the Satnav (or GPS as they call it here)which a couple called Laurie and Ed Bawden have leant us for the duration of ou...