In the Great Tradition of Itinerancy...


Abstract:
...knowing my posts are more likely to be read by my congregation, my colleagues, and my supervisors certainly makes the dynamic much more interesting.

Body:


I will be moving this year to a new pastoral appointment. That's the main reason I haven't posted much recently. The stuff that is consuming most of my mental bandwidth right now is preparing for this move.

I'll be leaving my role as pastor of a small rural church to become an associate pastor at a large multi-staff urban church in Birmingham. I'm excited about the opportunity. I'm sad about leaving the friends I've made here.

I decided a while back that I would be mostly transparent about my blogging and my relationship with my church. Some blogging pastors choose anonymity. I respect that. I've wanted anonymity occasionally, since I would love to post stories or vent about certain issues. But when I considered anonymous blogging, I began to question my motives. I heard Thumper saying, "if you can't say something nice, don't say nothin' at all." I felt it would be a better discipline, in my case, to keep a tight reign on my tongue. I don't broadcast the existence of my weblog at church, and I do tend to speak more frankly on the web even than I do with church folk. Even so, I try to post nothing that I wouldn't be ashamed to say in a Bible study or Sunday school class.

My context is changing, though. At the new church, there will certainly be more internet exposure and more internet literacy. It will be interesting to see how this changing role and changing context affect my online presence. I may not have as much time to post, for one thing. But knowing my posts are more likely to be read by my congregation, my colleagues, and my supervisors certainly makes the dynamic much more interesting. I don't really know who is reading this. Members of my new congregation might be reading this right now! If so, peace be with you. I look forward to meeting you. Please ignore all those previous posts about sex and vulgar language - at least until you get to know me :-)

Actually, there may be more opportunities for internet community ministry and collaborative blogging at the new place. It will be interesting to see how things shake out.

I'll be posting some recordings soon, I hope. My podcast schedule has been pretty lean lately.

Posted: Wed - May 10, 2006 at 11:11 PM           |

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