Everybody wants to grow. Personally. That is on an individual level. Organizations? Of course. One hears it all the time. But, in reality, what do we want? How we present ourselves to the outside world reflects what we really think is important. Call that curb appeal. How about YOUR church? Worship is a start. We all want visitors and NEW members. Probably best they think like us though - BIG SIGH HERE. Isn't it the truth though? What we project and ask for - well, we just might get. If there is any getting to get. More like us I mean. So, how do we think we should look? If you are an older congregation, a traditional congregation not spending alot of time "seeing" how you look to that outside world, I bet the following - YOUR Sunday Bulletin FRONT cover has a PICTURE of YOUR church and WHEN established or founded. I would almost bet my life on it. Why? Because churches made up of demographics in that frame of mind see themselves identified by the building and historical length of service as though these two particulars will magically give that community permanence. But, THINK about it. What would a first time visitor find relevant on that FRONT cover? OH. YOU use pretty covers from a bulletin cover firm? In other words, you pay good money for tacky irrelevance? EEK .... I'll let you mull that over and give my thoughts in the near future. Of course, it will hook into the WEB. Of course.

The United Church of Christ has a WebTips page for building a church website. The first thing offered is hosting plans with links to several. Interestingly, WebMedley is still provided. We still have a relationship with them? That is news to me. Apparently we do. WebMedley has a page on the UCC website that speaks to it's PAID VERSION. WebMedley no longer offers the FREE Still Speaking websites although they do support the old ones. Hope the UCC is getting a residual. The FREE publicity is nice. For them. I have always found these short-lists offered by the UCC to be rather cheesy. I guess it is all in who you know, who is in the bubble. But, here they are. I will speak to each.

Some of you know that I have a vision disability which means I use adaptive software on my computer although real life presents it's problems. I love to play golf getting back into the game last year after 5 years of non-play. You might ask why I put the clubs away. And, why I brought them back out. For starters the game is NOT EVEN CLOSE to the same. So, one has to get past that and ACCEPT the limitations. Secondly, one NEEDS a good buddy that is patient and willing to listen. The sight that I do have allows me to get started in the right direction. But, I don't see the flight of the ball, It is difficult to determine what lie the ball is laying EVEN after a perfect shot down the fairway. And, putting is chancy. Again, there is absolutely NO WAY that I can figure out break without some advice. A good buddy is an necessity. I have him in Dan Tucker. Does he give me more than I need or less at times? Sure. But, it is fun again. So, here are the rules for assisting someone with a visual disability to get back into the game, stay there and enjoy. The rules are not too difficult. LISTEN. BALL FLIGHT. DISTANCE.

Pebble Beach and the US Open are history. A supreme test of golf. But ..... In a December, 2009 story, How Smart is Tiger Woods? I asked an obvious question, at least to me and suggested that Tiger take a year off from professional golf to get his life back together. After his performance so far this year and zero wins I don't think he is acting very smart. Today he is flying with NO golf coach. Figures he can figure it out all on his own and I wold imagine (really takes not much imagination) that he is writing the new story for his life with no coaching either. As, I see, Tiger has made it clear that his personal life and family life take second seat to his golf career. He has chosen a game over substance. This will doom him to failure. In both. I sure hope that Tiger sees the folly of NOT facing his deep-set addiction/disorder, note this is not a neurosis, and a need to get in tune with reality. Need to get into some type of lifetime 12-step program? Yes. But, the averages are not good. Especially, if you don't own up to the fact that YOU have a problem. Deep rooted problems at that. Some have suggested the need for a strong faith connection. I wouldn't deny the power in that course of action ......

I am always mystified by website designers throwing out a fear card. I am doubly mystified by those same website designers who give absolutely zero pricing information on their websites. Case in point is ChurchWebPlus. Here is the first claim they (Rick) make on their website. The idea for ChurchWebPlus was hatched in 2007 by Rick Stoffiere after becoming frustrated with the business models available from church and faith-based website design vendors. Is this true? Hardly. In 2007, the market was in the midst of change (gaining momentum since 2003) the result of a plethora of open-source Content Management System products which allow for 24/7 online editing of websites by a faith organization/church teams and NOT requiring the designer or vendor hosting the site to do anything in that vein except to act as a knowledge base when questions on editing were requested by the editing team. The whole landscape changed. So, where is the frustration? I really don't know. There were more choices then AND there are more choices now. Now, I did a bit of sleuthing. Rick sold Newbury United Community Church a plan and there are glowing reports about him from Newbury on his website. But, if you look for ANYTHING on the Newbury site that TELLS YOU what CMS is being use what conclusions will you come to? In the source code, ChurchWebPlus is spelled out as the content generator. Read, software program. So, Rick throws a dart at THOSE proprietary systems and creates his own? Well, not really. He uses the CMS program Joomla. See also Joomla FB. Any cursory look would not divine as much. But, yes, it is true. Rick even conceals THIS WONDERFUL FREELY OFFERED collaborative open-source system as HIS own. Good grief. For me, this is an ethics issue even if back links ARE NOT required. You just give just due where it is due. Talk about throwing darts at yourself. Not to mention key-word stuffing (highlight that black area at the bottom of the Newbury website) which is amateur stuff that CAN reduce your search engine relevance.

I realized five years ago when my wife graduated from seminary, that she needed something they don't teach in seminary nor offer to any degree in the information given when developing your profile and casting it out to churches in the interim and search process. As a newly minted seminary graduate, my wife, although graduating with high marks and busting with life experience, had no history of church pastoral experience on her resume. It was a no-brainer for me. She need some type of communication format that gave search committees a taste of her persuasive power and delivery in the pulpit. So, I developed a DVD of the same. Since then, I have acquired newer and updated tools that allow for audio and video both as digital memory on CD/DVD or online. All of these approaches allow a search committee to receive your passion for ministry in your words.

TV AD-1. TV AD-2. Don't get me wrong. I love this church and the people that make it A CHURCH. But. It took awhile for me to get a handle on these two ADverts from First Congregational United Church of Christ in Mount Vernon, OH. There was a nagging feeling that an opportunity was lost. The problem? There is no praxis for the God is Still Speaking statement. What First gives you is an intellectual exercise. I think what has happened is folks THINK they need to come up with profound responses to the statement when the answers really lie in their everyday life within and outside the church. Nothing is said of the following (voice or visual) and I the problem lies here. Maybe they have forgotten from whence they came. I doubt it though. Just clouded by too much side-street brain work.

' I attended the Rev. Geoffery Black installation - our newly elected General Minister of the United Church of Christ. The audio snip to which I speak in this article is delivered by Hawai’i Conference Minister Charles Buck. Take a listen. In due time I will have the complete audio polished and published. I enjoyed the installation. It was a wonderful experience. And, I like the direction the United Church of Christ is moving. Or, is asked to be moving. But, I wanted to share this particular segment of a pastoral charge to the members (that is us) which would be the denomination as a whole. I don't take these things lightly. Nor do I think anyone should. Words and collections of statements are powerful. And, give clues to where we stand and where we wish to go. Here, the story line is the theme which has been alluded to throughout the run-up to and in this installation. Proclaiming the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ. Spreading THE Love.

Now that the dust has settled a bit, I am willing to provide some critique. Watch the video at the top of the Home page. I have "watched" this video produced by Think Media of Cleveland, OH quite a few times. In accessing the WEB ADVert by the United Church of Christ "The Language of God" it is important to come up with some sort of criteria for this critique. I don't pretend to be inside the mind of the UCC, but, I do have perceptions and they are usually quite good. I know that the ADVert itself cost $30 K. Is it worth it? My first reaction? Too costly a production for the outcome.