Greg Atkinson

I’ve blogged about Innovation3 before, but I wanted to blog about it again.  I’ve heard from so many that are “considering” attending. They know the line-up of speakers is great, Robbie Seay Band is leading worship and it’s at my church (crazy chill with Greg) - but they just haven’t made up their minds, yet.

I’ve got 3 new pieces of info for you to consider:

1. Register now and use “Church2.0” as the code and it will give you $50 off per person.
2. I’m teaching a new class (which is born out of my second book - this will be the first time I have spoken publically about what God is stirring in my heart and what my next book will be). My class is Tuesday at 3:00pm and the title is “Unconventional Innovation”.
3. The people that I do know are coming are great folks. We are going to have a blast. I have 5 pastors from around the country staying at my house. I know of some cool cats that are going to be flying in town for I3 and there are several meet-ups going on. I love hanging out, networking and socializing. 

Go HERE to register and remember to use the promo code. If you can… be there!

Several conversations lately have led me to consider the integration and universality of technology in a local church context. To be integrated means “combining or coordinating separate elements so as to provide a harmonious, interrelated whole” or “organized or structured so that constituent units function cooperatively.”

Universal means “affecting, concerning, or involving all”, “used or understood by all” or “present everywhere.” As I continue to chew on this concept, other words that come to mind are total, comprehensive and whole.  

I serve as a technology pastor at a church. For years “tech” was considered one person’s role (the techie, tech director or AV coordinator) – whether volunteer, part-time or full-time. Now in most local church situations there is still the need for this AV/tech role that oversees the sound, video and lights for corporate worship services and often oversees and supports campus-wide AV needs. IT is obviously another growing area in the church world and usually requires a dedicated volunteer or paid staff member or the use of outsourced companies.

I’ll be the first to admit that those that serve in “tech” and IT roles in a church have a unique gift mix and personality. In most situations these servants and leaders are seen more as geeks than pastors or ministers. I see my role as a pastor and shepherd, but that’s a topic for another article.

I bring the idea of universal technology up because we’re seeing a shift in the way the Church looks, functions and ministers to the world. The reality that we are missionaries in a digital age is becoming increasingly more apparent and hard to ignore. This brings the whole concept of “technology” to the forefront for regular pastors and church staff members – including the non-techie.

The conversations that I have regularly with pastors are about their desire to learn, understand, apply and fully utilize technology for ministry. The shift is bringing about what I call “universal technology” – meaning every Church leader is engaged in, using and communicating through technology – not just the tech pastor.

Events, gatherings and conferences that I’m regularly apart of look a lot different. The Church 2.0 Local Forums that I host around the country or the churchtechcamp, happening today in Dallas for example, 3 years ago would have been a room full of “geeks” (not my word, I got that from Mark Batterson) and “techies” (that is my word). Now, one walks into a “churchtechcamp” and it’s full of church planters, senior pastors, bloggers and lay leaders/volunteers that are involved in community/small groups and discipleship.

I’m fascinated by it and am enjoying just sitting back and watching this shift. Of course there are still giant conferences like NAB and InfoComm where us techies get together and talk about all things tech-related and the make up of attendees and speakers looks a lot different, but overall I see a change in the use of the word “tech” and the concept and adoption of “technology”.

This new reality that I’m referring to as universal technology is a good thing and a long-awaited one by me, personally. I’ve always viewed technology as a tool and not a toy, so the thought of senior pastors, worship pastors, youth pastors, communication directors, small group leaders, missions and outreach leaders, etc. getting interested, involved with and captivated by technology is a beautiful sight to me.

What about you and your situation? Are you seeing volunteers and staff members that don’t have “tech” in their title or job description talk about technology, Facebook, Twitter, blogging and online ministry?

After 13 years of ministry on a church staff I’ve learned one simple, but very true law of ministry: Sunday comes every week. It doesn’t matter how big the event, conference, concert, production, musical… you name it - doesn’t matter what you just did, Sunday’s coming. 

It is relentless. I know this. I’ve known this for many years, but it struck me yesterday when we were in our production meeting for this Sunday and we were all tired and mentally exhausted from the previous week’s Christmas production.

This is my “ministry law” that I offer to you, friends. What law would you add?

CHRISTMAS RESOURCE:

This Christmas season at Bent Tree we’re using the Christmas Pak 4 by SermonVideos.com - thankfully they have it in HD.

Have you heard of The Idea Camp? I have and I’m speaking there this coming February, along with some other great friends and facilitators. This is something that my friend, Charles Lee, is putting together and I’m really looking forward to. Here’s the info from Charles:

• The Idea Camp: a FREE hybrid conference for idea-makers to share, network, and implement ideas
  • We are gathering some of the most innovative and creative leaders from around the country to share ideas, intentionally network, and move collaboratively into idea-making. Whether your passion is church leadership, non-profit work, social entrepreneurialism, technology, media, creativity, culture making, church planting, spiritual formation, compassionate justice, etc., this is the conference for YOU.
  • You can learn more HERE and HERE.
• Dates: February 27-28, 2009
• Location: New Song Irvine
• Cost: Register Online for FREE by Creating a Profile at www.theideacamp.com
• Facilitators
  • We are gathering some of most creative and innovative leaders from around country to facilitate meaningful conversations about idea-making. SEE FACEBOOK/WEBSITE FOR CURRENT LIST
• More Info? Email charles@theideacamp.com
• Other Links:
  • Facebook Group

EXTRA:

Read my article that I posted on Monday Morning Insight yesterday HERE. It’s about how to shake things up in your daily routine/avoid ruts. I think you’ll enjoy it.

I’ll be hosting a Church 2.0 Tribe this year at Q. Q was held in New York last year and I couldn’t make it - I really wanted to . This April 27-29 it will be in Austin, TX. I and many other friends will be there. I’d love for you to join us. 

Q is a unique conference for leaders that “get it” and are interested in highly relevant and missional things. Q does cost more than a lot of conferences, but if you register with my coupon code (Church20) - you can register for $525 until 12/31.

More about Q: Q is a gathering where church leaders and cultural influencers from the fields of business, politics, media, education, entertainment and the arts are exposed to the future of culture and the church’s responsibility to advance the common good in society.

Q TALKS are 18 minute presentations given annually at the Q gathering by thought leaders and practitioners on the topics of the future, the church, the culture and the gospel. Be inspired by their big ideas and find ways to discuss and process them with your closest friends and inner circle (the Church 2.0 tribe).

I hope to see you in the wonderful city of Austin!

Wait. Hold the phone. Don’t crucify me, yet. Allow me to share with you my heart and where I’m headed with that title. I’ll tell you my thoughts on seminary and continued education later on, if you stick to the end. If you don’t read this whole blog and say something mean, you’ll probably look like a jerk.

Our Worship & Arts department has 5 interns.  2 college students and 3 Dallas Theological Seminary students. 4 of them I get to spend time with and invest in. 3 of them I spend a little more one on one time with. 2 really get the most from me and 1 is someone I spend a lot of time with - my intern and friend, Jonathan Moon, who I’ve referred to before on this blog.

Jonathan graduates from college this year with a degree in Cinema and Television. Am I encouraging him to join our staff at Bent Tree? No. Why? Because that would be selfish of me and short-sighted. Yes, he could continue to crank out video projects for our church, but the truth is we can find someone else to create videos. 

Jonathan’s passion and dream is to be a producer in Hollywood. So, as his boss and mentor, what do I do? I push him out the door. We are a sending church. I’m constantly saying, “When you’re in LA…”, “When you change Hollywood…”, “When are you going to visit and stay with my friend, Cynthia Ware and spend some time with my friend, Phil Cooke?”

Enough about me, my intern and our situation. Here’s what I’ve felt and thought through for YEARS:

Why is it when we see a young man or woman that is sensitive to the Holy Spirit, has a solid prayer life, devours the Bible, clearly walking with God and “on fire” we automatically say, “You need to go ‘into the ministry’?” Our warped view of “ministry” means that they go to Bible college and/or seminary and become a preacher, minister or missionary. 

Do we need current and future preachers, ministers and missionaries? Absolutely. Hear me out. I’ve just seen too many people over the years that were “on fire”, but were called to something in “the secular world” - only to be looked down upon and shamed because they didn’t go “into the ministry”.  Shame on us.

Here’s what we need, folks: We need Christian, Spirit-led, God-fearing, prayerful young men and women to go into Hollywood, classrooms/education, hospitals, military, law and law enforcement and dare I say: politics. I grew up hearing that all politictians were crooked, evil and dirty. That may be true for some, but it doesn’t have to be true for all. Why can’t we send Spirit-filled, Godly, prayerful youth into our government? 

Do you see what I’m getting at? All of this must be sought after with prayer. I’m not saying go here or there - listen to God. What I am saying is to not assume that those leaders in your youth group are destined to “ministry” and should head to seminary. Maybe their ministry will be outside the local church. Maybe they are being raised up to change the face of government/politics, movies and Hollywood, education, the medical field and our military. Just maybe.

For the record: I guest speak and teach at colleges and seminaries. I’m pursuing my PhD. I’m all for continued education, learning and personal/professional growth. I just think we need to see “ministry” more holistically and broader than just being on a church staff.

Dream with me:

• What if Christians were shaping what we watch on TV and movie screens? I’m not talking about Christian shows or movies (don’t get me started on that). I’m talking about Christians making movies that are not offensive and have a spiritual/redemptive thread woven through them. Deep stuff like CS Lewis was a genius at. 
• What if Christian youth went to law school, became an attorney and joined IJM and started helping to literally free slaves??? 
• What if a sold-out Christian became a pediatrician, hospice nurse, surgeon? I’ll never forget going into surgery 2 years ago and my surgeon asking if he could pray for me before the surgery. I’ll never forget going into surgery 9 years ago and the anesthelogist singing hymns as he was prepping me. What a witness!
• I don’t need to tell you the stats of kids, the lack of a father figure/single parent homes, abusive homes and unhealthy situations. Think of them being able to build a healthy relationship with a Christian teacher. 
• What if we had Christian scientists and researchers that marry their brains with their morals and ethics? 
• What? What? What? Do you ever just dream? Dream of what the world could be? 

NOT - Forgive me in advance: here comes a rant. I have very few pet peeves, but those I have drive me crazy. Today I’d like to share with you 2 of them:

PET PEEVE #1: When I order a softdrink on a flight and they pour it in a cup and keep the rest of the can. What? I’m a big boy. I can drink the whole can. Stop holding back. Moving on…

PET PEEVE #2: Christian leaders and pastors that act like superstars. There are several reasons why this gets under my skin.

• First, I’m a networker. I take joy in getting to know other Christian leaders of various postions/roles, denominaitons and church sizes. I love meeting and getting to know people and that’s not going to change no matter how much I think I “make it” one day.
• Second, I’m a busy guy who serves on a mega-church staff, has a family, friends, a blog read daily by many people, writes for various websites and magazines, is writing a book, speaks at conferences across the country and still takes the time to respond to the many emails I get from people around the world each day.
• Third, I see and know other Church leaders that are even busier, speak and write more and watch as they take time to answer questions, meet local peers in ministry and help others.
• Fourth, I serve under an extremely humble Senior Pastor, Pete Briscoe. He’s seen our church go from around 200 people when he arrived, to now over 5000 under his leadership and is still one of the most genuinely humble and down to earth leaders I’ve ever been around. He has a very sensitive spirit and a true humility that makes me proud to know him.
• Fifth (I saved the best for last), I look at the example of Christ. Christ washed his disciples feet. He was a servant leader. He touched people that were not supposed to be touched and hung around with people that the religious would not. 

Are you orange? ORANGE IS THE COLOR OF FREEDOM. Wearing orange shows you’re a part of the movement to stop slavery. 

Also, I had a great phone conversation with Charles Lee from JustOne this week. They are working on some wonderful initiatives to raise awareness and support for some causes that the Church should take seriously. We’re meeting where they headquarter for the Church 2.0 Local Forum in Portland on Nov. 7th. I look forward to hearing more about their ministry as they share at this gathering.

Here are some facts that were printed in my church’s bulletin this past Sunday: The modern practice of human trafficking enslaves 27 million people around the world. This is more than at any other time in history. UNICEF says that most children who are trafficked are “sold” by unsuspecting parents who honestly believe that the children they have just “sold” (most for under $5) will be educated, learn a trade, and be carefully looked after by their new “caretaker” (human trafficker).

Little do the impoverished parents know that their child is likely to be sold several times, moved to other countries, and will become virtually untraceable. The United Nations office on drugs and crime has estimated that the total market value of illicit human trafficking is more than $30 billion dollars per year - a third of this profit coming directly from the sale of individuals.

This is not simply a problem on a foreign shore: there are more slaves in the United States today than ever, including the era of American slavery and the Civil War. The Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST) reported that every ten minutes, a woman or child is trafficked into the United States and forced into labor. The CIA recently reported that as many as 50,000 women and children are brought into this country every year under false pretenses and then forced unwillingly into roles as abused laborers, servants, and prostitutes.

*** I blog about this because this is a huge part of Church 2.0. Church leaders in the 21st Century have to be aware of and battle against social justice issues. What can you do?

• Donate: I listed some great organizations in my last blog on slavery
• Get Educated: Check out the links HERE
• Pray: for the victims of human trafficking
• Write: Send a letter to your local and state officials asking them to approve stiffer laws against human trafficking.

Today I leave for Tulsa. Church leaders from around the state of Oklahoma will be gathering to discuss issues such as design, innovation (I hope to stretch their view of innovation), technology, social justice, leadership, missions/outreach, communications, working together as the Church (capital “C”) and whatever else God leads us to discuss. Please pray for this gathering tomorrow. Below are the details:

• Register for Tulsa on Facebook HERE. Not on Facebook? Register HERE.
• Sponsors for Tulsa are: Fellowship Technologies,  EasyWorship,CircleBuilder, National Cine Media, Planning Center Online, Unifyer and SermonSpice.