Seven whole days

I have written about Memorial Day in previous years (here and here). It seems to me that there are plenty of people who like either to wave jingoistic flags today or hunt for bargains. But this misses the point. War is not something to celebrate. It is a devastating sin, and we must be willing count the costs. So today let us remember those who have been killed in war — soldiers and civilians, of all nations.

Shorpy Photo Archive brings us a photo for the day.

No, I’m not talking about dashboard Jesus. In fact, we’re talking about virtual dashboards. It seems that the Methodists have been experimenting with the idea of “dashboards” to provide up-to-date indicators on congregational health. It started in Alabama, but it’s spreading to other places.

By 2009, North Alabama had implemented an online Conference Dashboard. Every Monday, churches log in their numbers for attendance, baptisms, giving and other measures. Pastors—and anyone else—can see how their numbers stack up against other churches. Now, Bishop Willimon logs in every Tuesday to see which churches reported the greatest increases—and which had the biggest drops. Dials and charts on the dashboard give a quick glimpse of how the numbers are trending.

There have been protests, as you might expect. People object to any attempt to quantify the value of church. They worry that the wrong things will be measured. But I think these dashboards might be a good idea, though there are some pitfalls and limitations.

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Context is enormously important as we communicate. I’ve written a bit about this for Vestry Papers. To receive a message correctly, you have to read the situation. Don’t get mad at someone for being brief on Twitter. Don’t be offended by religious speech in a church. And do not take The Onion seriously.

Some people simply can’t get this right. I am both horrified and amused to discover there’s a blog devoted to the failure of Facebook users to know that The Onion offers satire. A sample:

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Simple is often best. Of course, that’s easier said than done. One of my tech colleagues at MIT used to keep a quote on his office white board: “Nothing is simple by accident.” We have to work at simplicity, whether it is good liturgy, good communications, good architecture, good food, or even good relationships.

Take communications, for example. To tell a story simply, you have to know the narrative really well. The best teachers and most compelling speakers have thorough mastery of their material and can speak on it effortlessly. A “simple” sermon requires very careful preparation and organization. (Most unprepared preachers will ramble — the opposite of simple elegance.)

So let’s apply this principal to videos about our church. Wannabepriest drew my attention to this awful, yet typical, video about the Church of England. This is just the sort of thing we usually see when someone is asked to make a video about a congregation or church. It has all the hallmarks of committee work, and it buries you in statistics that will hold no interest for the inquirer. This example happens to pick on the C of E, but 30 seconds on Youtube search would have yielded lots of examples from the Episcopal Church and its congregations.

Now, contrast that with this compelling video about Islam. Few people really care much about the number of adherents or how many congregations there are. Almost no one cares a wit about committee structures or wants a polity lesson. Instead, people want to know the why and the who of faith. Watch this one:

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In many ways, I am a progressive. But when it comes to the liturgy of the church, I am a bit old school. I like hymnals. You know, actual books. Until now, I didn’t realize there is empirical evidence to support my preference. Dave Walker has the scoop.

Click the image to enlarge. By the way, this cartoon first appeared in the Church Times.

Chris Yaw asked me to write a few words for a Facebook group (3,000 members and growing!) called “People Who Are Rather Fond of the Episcopal Church“. If you are on Facebook, go join the group and receive occasional messages and take part in good discussions. For those who aren’t on Facebook, here’s what I wrote:

People of faith have certainly had plenty to ponder lately. Between deadly storms, assassinated terrorists, and the spectacle of the royal wedding witnessed by two billion people (though it took place in a lovely and historic abbey, not everyone agrees on how God might be at work there…).

In the midst of this swirl, Thomas the Apostle walks onto the stage on the Sunday after Easter. Most people call him “Doubting Thomas” but I like to call him “Good Question Thomas.” He does what many would be afraid to do: he asks the obvious question. How do we know? How do we know that Jesus was raised from the dead? How do we know that God’s love is really stronger than death?

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