The world has changed. The old rules are out.
It was bad enough when the World Wide Web made it possible for the voices of peoples long silenced to broadcast their ideas — crazy and eccentric as many of them are — without having to raise thousands of dollars to self-publish or to convince an editor-publisher to invest the capital to do so. Standards of grammar and communication ethics went out the window.
Now it’s worse. Web 2.0, the second generation of Web development, has turned every computer into a publishing house, an editorial department, a photography studio, and a movement rabble-rouser.
The world really is flat, as Thomas Friedman proclaimed in his book by that title.
For those of us who have held the privileged role of “editor” (the person who decides what news is “fit to print”), that privilege has disappeared.
For those of us who have held the privileged role of “preacher,” (the person who tells the people what God’s Word says and means), that privilege has disappeared, too.
Then again, maybe we were due for a change.
Actually, the change may be just what we Presbyterians need.
You see, we’ve long been flat world thinkers. Ours is the movement within Protestantism that set out to reform not only the core theology of salvation (“by grace through faith”) but also the core theology of the church. We said “Enough!” to clergy-dominated governance. We developed forms and structures that would hold our preachers accountable to elected and ordained — on par with the ministers — elders. In fact, we labeled both groups elders, with one focusing on the proclamation of God’s Word (teaching elders) and the other focusing on the exercise of church discipline (ruling elders). We also revived and redefined the office of the deacons as ordained leaders in ministries of mercy.
In the process, we were promoting a flat world, one that dethrones royals and elevates commoners, five centuries before Web 2.0.
Nevertheless, the Web 2.0 scene still feels discombobulating. In our earnest effort to be faithful stewards of our offices — as pastors, elders, deacons, educators, music directors, and the like — we have meticulously managed information, directed programs, and — yes, let’s admit it — operated like royals, the ruling class.
Caught in the vortex where flat world accountabilities meet the need for assertive leadership, many of us have tilted toward the latter, placing crowns upon our heads.
As the editor trying to faithfully steward this venerable publication, I’m all the more careful to try to do things “right,” translation, “to perfect the content.” But here comes Web 2.0, and an editing tsunami has overwhelmed my best intentions. Or, maybe I ought to say, it has undermined my need to manage and control. It certainly has challenged me to think “flat church” in truly Reformed, Presbyterian terms.
In fact, we tackled this special edition of the Outlook not only highlighting the development of Web 2.0; we prepared it in a little more freewheeling, Web 2.0 fashion. On my request, Karen Sloan, author of Flirting with Monasticism (IVP) and a leader of presbymergent.org, gathered a bunch of her friends together, first in person and then on a conference call to brief me on their goings-on. In the process I connected with other young leaders, including those in Decently.org, who publish blogcasts of their commentary on the church. Soon a couple of the participants set up a wiki site, which enabled us to brainstorm the shape of articles that they and we (Leslie Scanlon and I) might write. They took some assignments themselves, collaborating on one, and voilà , we’ve got a magazine highlighting Web 2.0 prepared in Web 2.0 fashion.
My recovery is proceeding well with the help of my control-freaks support group.
We are looking forward to hearing your take on this all-new mechanism for promoting an ages-old idea. It didn’t really begin with the Reformers. You find references to it in the way the Holy Spirit gifted all kinds of folks for ministry in the Bible days. You read about it through the history of the church, whenever God has empowered people to speak, to pray, to help, to heal, to lead, to serve.
The world has changed many times, and it changes still — whenever the Holy Spirit breathes new life and new ministry in and through the lives of believers and helps them to collaborate in the cause of the missio dei.
I suspect that the Spirit is enjoying using Web 2.0 as a new tool to that end.
-JHH
