From the books I had bought, Thy Kingdom Connected by Dwight J. Frieson appealed to me most. The archaic language of the title belied the way out thinking and language within. This is a big picture book and I felt at first I had made a mistake in selecting it. Rather than talking about the internet and the church, this book uses the internet as a model of community and connection and communication for the church to learn from.
For example it looks at Google as a metaphor for a leader’s role – the parable of Google.
“We go to Google because we have come to trust that Google will consistently link us to what we seek. Google is a hub, not of information, but links to information….This networked vision of leadership is vital to understanding who a connective leader is and what relational authority is in a networked vision of the world.”[1]
I was beginning to realise that grappling with the internet is a two or perhaps three way process. We learn about the way the world is changing from the new technology and from there we can find the best way to use the technology but in the process we are also changed.
Already in that short quote are some of the terms Frieson has coined, new words or new uses of words to explain his concepts: hub, links, connective leader, relational authority, networked vision, but in the book there are many more: nodes (ourselves and anything we can have a relationship with), Christ Commons (Churches), Network Ecologist (Pastor) Catalytic Converters (Pastors facilitating change), Christ Clusters (Spontaneous Christian Groups), Connective Practices and And’ing (inclusiveness) and many more.
Frieson also uses Anrei Rublev’s “The Trinity” as an example of the relational connected nature of God[2], and he uses Jesus life and other examples to show the way we need a balance between control and chaos to allow God’s Spirit to enter[3]. He talks about story; all good stories are about the gospel, the great connection.[4]
Another very interesting post!
ReplyDeleteMy sister the Catalytic Converter!