So, I’m pondering.
I’m pondering this blog – am I really going to use it? Is it time to start blogging again? I have really wanted to get aaronklinefelter.com up and running with my own hosting package (through a friend) and running WordPres via that – instead of relying on the hosting foibles of someone else. Reason being is that I have 817 posts in Blogger that I have no way of accessing (publicly, atleast – I can still get them from the back-end and I have a copy saved locally). I really want to bring them over and have them and my new postings all in the same place, but I’m not quite sure how….
I’m also pondering the nature of my blog – I quit blogging for 2 reasons: 1) Blogger broke. 2) Work. How do I put this tactfully…. there was some tension around the fact that I blog… not just what I said, but the nature of blogging in general. I decided that I just didn’t want to mess with it, so I stopped. Perhaps I’m a wuss, perhaps I’m wise (good chance I’m both in fits and starts). Well, its summer now and I’ve been wanting to get back into the swing of things. But I’m full of questions…. Since I will invariably express my views theologically, socially, politically, emotionally what does that mean for those to whom I am accountable (be that for income or other)? Certainly I will endeavor to be respectful and honorable in all I do and say – but oft times it is the unintended that offends more than the overt. I’m not sure what to do with that.
There are 2 prevailing reasons why I’ve wanted to get back into the spiritual discipline of blogging. (And, yes, I really believe it is – or can be – a spiritual discipline) 1) We’re about to have a baby. Sarah is due in less than a month and our little family of 3 is about to become 4. We’re going from all pink, all the time to trucks and cars and the like. We are having a boy. Name… TBA. (And, yes, Cloey plays with trucks and cars and doesn’t only have pink… but on balance…)
2) We are in the discernment process of the possibility of planting a church. I need a space to ponder out loud about this process. What does it look like? How do we do it? Where do we start? What am I reading, thinking, praying, dreaming, hearing, seeing, regretting, fearing, hoping, expecting, believing, imagining, pondering? So many questions! It would be helpful to me if I had a space where I could process this stuff – out loud – with the option and hope of feedback. Connections and collaborations both globally and locally – with folks on the outside looking in and those who may engage with us in this planting/birthing process.
So there you have it, a post about posting, a blog about blogging.
Aaron, I’m looking forward to more blogs. Tell me more about your church planting plans! What shape of church are you thinking of? House church? A more “traditional” Sunday gathering in a building?
I’ve blogged mostly as a way to figure out what’s really in my head in the process of church planting and leading people in the Kingdom. It’s been a helpful practice for me.
Pat – yeah, not sure what all it may look like as of yet… definitely house church-ish, but probably not straight “no-large-group-meeting”. I could envision it as having an active and missional Sunday gathering that blended ancient liturgy and practice with innovation and creative spunkiness. We’ll see…. God is up to something…
Sounds just about right to me
Please think out loud. I am in that mode too, but for lots of reasons no timeframe yet. But I’m really looking fwd to hearing what you’re processing through.
Hey, would you prefer comments here on the blog, or on the facebook link to the blog entry, or … ? I have a sneaking suspicion that this will be a good, long conversation.
I have the same sneaking suspicion….
Not sure where I’d prefer comments… let’s try facebook as it is marginally less public and could be a good way for me to play with that app.
Damn the man! Missed you blogging…
Aaron. It is always good to hear your reflections on faith, culture and spirituality. I am proud of you in the many ways that you are humble about what you know and open to vast historically broad theological reflection… while keeping the child-like “Jesus loves me, this I know, and depend upon…” I would like to say, I want to be like that “when I grow up…”
I have tried lots of time to start blogging and have faced the questions you are struggling with. It would likely increase my changes of blogging if I was able to stay in conversation with your response to your challenge… it might make the process something that “we” can strategize, optimize, in some way.
The particular questions that you raise about mega church “consolidation” is in my mind related to all the “economies of scale” arguments, and also to the branding movement… I think the mindset in general favors “over simplification” in the name of efficiencies… Consider the parable of the beloved parking lot, and ask how many people were required to help people park in the former Hardware Big Box store lot. How many people now seemed to be required? The drive thru espresso experience somehow gets translated into the Sunday “expressed” event…