Webinars to grow your church brain

July 2, 2009 by cpiatt.

I’ve had a number of requests for web-based workshops - or webinars - on various topics from blogging, facebook and podcasting, all as tools for ministry. I’ve finally set some dates up, so check out the info below and let me know ASAP which classes you’re interested in so I can reserve your spot.

Webinar Training Sessions
Click here to sign up now!

The following web-based training courses (webinars) are being offered. All courses are $20 and will last between 60 and 90 minutes.

Each session is limited to fifteen participants, so sign up early to confirm your spot in the training.

Using Facebook as a ministry tool
Tuesday July 7, 10 AM (MST) or
Thursday July 23, 1 PM (MST)

Learn the basics of “2.0″ social networking, how to set up a Facebook account, take a tour of Facebook and learn strategies for using it as a tool to connect with people throughout the week, beyond the  walls.

Podcasting 101
Wednesday July 8, 10 AM (MST) or
Tuesday July 21, 12 Noon (MST)

What is podcasting? How do I do it? Do I even need to? What can it be used for? Get an introduction to podcasting, including how to set up your own podcast, ways to promote it and content ideas for your episodes.

Blogging 101
Thursday July 9, 11 AM (MST) or
Wednesday July 22, 10 AM (MST)

Learn how to blog, what it can do, and how to best promote your blog for maximum exposure.

Want to participate? Click on any of the blue links above, or email me at cpiatt@christianpiatt.com and I’ll send you payment information.

After payment clears, your space is reserved and I’ll send you everything you need to log in to the seminar.

Posted in 2.0, social networking, youth, education, theology, church growth, webinar, young adult, church transformation, faith, Podcast, church, technology, emergent worship, emerging church, Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »

New podcast is up: Bridging the Gap

June 18, 2009 by cpiatt.

I posted my latest podcast episode titled “Bridging the Gap,” which is adapted from a message Amy offered recently. The idea centers around where people of faith are called, which is not to take sides, but rather to act as a bridge to bring sides together.

You can download it on iTunes, or you can go directly to it by clicking this link:

http://christianpiatt.podbean.com/

Christian

Posted in emerging church, church transformation, theology, church, faith, Blogroll, Podcast, Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »

Dialogue about my “Atheist Christian” article on Unreasonablefaith.com

June 11, 2009 by cpiatt.

A friend of mine alerted me to the fact that an atheist/skeptic website called Unreasonablefaith had re-posted an excerpt from my recent article called “Can you be an atheist and a Christian?”

It’s a highly-trafficked website, and already there are a number of interesting, thoughtful comments there. Thought you might find it worthwhile to take a look.

Here’s the link to the discussion.

Posted in theology, culture, church, faith, Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »

Can you be both an atheist and a Christian?

June 4, 2009 by cpiatt.

I probably spend at least as much time discussing theology with people who claim atheism or agnosticism as I do with other Christians. I tend to prefer it this way.

 

For one, it challenges me to really think about and articulate what I believe and why. For another, I’d much rather have some lively dialogue with people who think differently than I do than to sit around and agree with everyone.

 

After one of these kinds of chats recently, I started wondering if someone actually could be a Christian, while also not believing in a divine being. It began as a fairly abstract intellectual exercise, but the answer I came up with actually surprised me.

 

Depending on your personal Christology, I am pretty confident that you can be both a Christian and an atheist.

 

I should explain here what I mean by Christology. There’s a sort of Christological spectrum that helps define how each person perceives Jesus. Those who focus more on the divinity of Jesus, his miraculous works the significance of the crucifixion and resurrection within their theology of salvation would have what’s called a high Christology. Those who emphasize Jesus’ humanity, his works of compassion, his teaching and his love for all of humanity would have a lower Christology.

 

Though I’m not a big fan of the connotations that “high” and “low” attach to one’s beliefs, I didn’t make up the terms. As someone who has a pretty low Christology, it feels a little bit demeaning to be considered by others to have a faith system that lingers at the bottom of the God Chart.

 

But that’s not really the point. If you consider that the lower Christology focuses not so much on divinity and more on humanity, it begins to make sense how someone could adhere to the moral teachings of Jesus, and even try to pattern their lives after how he taught and lived, without actually having to believe in God.

 

Sure, there’s the challenge of what to do about the whole praying thing, but I’ve met plenty of atheists who still meditate without any intention of communing with God. But I’ve met plenty of people who don’t consider themselves to be Christians, but who I think are very Christ-like in the way they live their lives.

 

So are they Christians? It probably depends on who you ask.

 

One thing I’ve noticed about those with a higher Christology is that they tend to limit the definition of the word “Christian” to the boundaries of their own understanding. They’ll back up their belief with Biblical scripture, but in the end, the understanding that you must accept Jesus as your personal lord and savior is the only way to be a true Christian.

 

Through the research I did for a previous book on the spirituality of young adults, I found that younger people are increasingly comfortable with recognizing Christians as anyone who conducts themselves in a Christ-like way. Though high-Christology believers will likely decry this as an erosion of basic religious principles, I think it actually offers an opportunity to open up the best of Jesus’ example and teaching to a lot of people who have felt shut out or judged by Christians.

 

Even if we maintain a high Christology, do we really need everyone to agree with us before we even have dialogue? Is it possible that there’s a both/and reality that can counter our tendency to think in either/or terms? Can I arrive at my own truth through reflection upon the life and teachings of Jesus, possibly among others, without recognizing him as divine?

 

Some will feel the need to assert absolute authority in answering this question, and that’s all right. Personally, I think I could spend the rest of my life trying to understand the essence of what I think it means to be a Christian, and still only have a dimly lit view of the whole picture. Other people, atheists included, help me understand a little bit more about my own spiritual reality every day.

 

That personal growth is way more important to me than knowing who’s right and who’s wrong.

Posted in emerging church, pulp, culture, faith, Columns, Uncategorized | Print | 2 Comments »

Wolfram Alpha may change the world

May 20, 2009 by cpiatt.

Wolfram Alpha may change the world

By christianpiatt

I came across this site, sent to me by a friend today, and I’m still reeling from the potential is suggests.

Basically, imagine the volume of information contained in Google, but add to that the ability to manipulate and compute / slice up the information any way you can imagine. Their database set is still pretty basic relative to all the info in the world, though it’s already pretty amazing.

Check out the introductory video and see for yourself.

Interested in your thoughts.

Posted in economics, current events, education, politics, 2.0, culture, social networking, technology | Print | No Comments »

Lent: Celebrating the Common (from PULP’s April issue)

May 1, 2009 by cpiatt.

I know this is a little past Lent now, but I think you might still enjoy the sentiment of this column, originally published in April’s PULP.

Lent: Celebrating the common

As some may know, this is the period known as Lent – the weeks leading up to Easter - on the Christian liturgical calendar. Lots of Protestants aren’t even familiar with it, but our church tries to recognize it as a spiritual discipline if nothing else.

There are a few things Lent is known for, namely Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras. The idea behind this is that, since you’re supposed to give something up in Lent to remind us of the selfless or often-called “sacrificial” love demonstrated by Jesus. This begins on the first day of Lent, which is Ash Wednesday.

Some of us may know this holiday by some embarrassing moment when we’ve gone up to a person observing Ash Wednesday and said something akin to, “dude, you have some shit on your forehead.” The tradition actually is that the palm leaves from Palm Sunday, which is the Sunday before Easter, used in worship the year before are burned and mixed with oil, then used to place a mark of the cross on a person’s forehead. This is to serve as a reminder that we all came from dust, and hence will return to dust.

Fat Tuesday, then, being the last day before this period of fasting and reflection, is the last chance to get all the naughty bits out of your system. Problem is, a hell of a lot more people observe Fat Tuesday than Ash Wednesday.

Oh well. Everybody loves a party.

I actually had a college student friend of mine say recently that Lent is her favorite time of the Christian year. Whereas days like Christmas and Easter have largely become as commercialized as Valentines or other Hallmark Holidays, Lent actually requires something of us, and causes us to search inward to discern what’s really important in our lives.

For those who like to complain that all young folks are a bunch of narcissistic self-indulgent whiners, I might suggest that a growing movement known as “neo monasticism” suggests otherwise.

Neo monasticism, which is based on the ancient lifestyle of monks, emphasizes simplicity and communal interdependence. The best example of this is the monastery in Taize, France, where more than 6,000 young people travel every summer to sleep on the floor, cook meals for one another, sing chants and pray four times every day.

No rides or movie theaters. No iPods. Not even a Chipotle for miles. It’s about as different from contemporary life as one can get without being completely off the grid. And that’s pretty much the point.

This movement, brought to the forefront during this Lenten season, celebrates the common in our lives, embracing simplicity and freeing us from the shackles of want. It may be a passing fad, but it speaks to something deeper in our culture. We may have become dependent upon constant distraction and obsessed with comfort, but when we spend even a little while reflecting on what really matters, there’s something in us that’s restless for deeper meaning.

Posted in emergent worship, pulp, emerging church, culture, faith, church, Columns | Print | No Comments »

NewSpin column - April PULP

April 25, 2009 by cpiatt.

NewSpin

Christian Piatt

 

Originally published in PULP Magazine

In the spirit of April Fool’s Day, we are encouraged to write something out of character. For me, in this column, that would require me to write something complementary about local politics.

I feel the same way about this as I used to feel when my mom tried to get me to eat green beans. Maybe I’ll just hide my column under the table and hope the dog eats it.

Seriously, I am pretty stoked about the prospects—which I think are actually very real and achievable—of Pueblo becoming the Green Energy capital of the West. People were excited when Vestas announced they were coming to town to build one of the world’s largest wind tower plants, mostly because it meant good jobs.

We greenies, on the other hand, were excited for a whole different reason. The idea that the very ethos upon which our community has subsisted for decades could change in the very near future is such a big concept that I’m dumbfounded more people aren’t talking about it. 

Add to this that there is news afloat that we may also be the beneficiaries of one of the largest solar energy arrays ever built—enough to power every home in Pueblo county and then some—pushes us even closer. The fact that President Obama signed his new energy bill in Colorado speaks to our prospects as a Green state.

Leaning upon the steel industry to keep us afloat has yielded mixed results, but there are several benefits to retooling now, while we have the chance. First, our nation’s thirst for energy does not drop at nearly the rate that the demand for steel does when times are hard. Second, unlike steel, wind and solar are renewable, meaning they can continue producing indefinitely. Finally, there’s a good deal of money in the stimulus bill for infrastructure to encourage Green development like this, which means we might be able to get our workforce newly trained on the Fed’s dollar.

The possibility that Pueblo, of all places, could become a net-zero community (one that produces at least as much energy as it consumes) should have every citizen in our county limits chomping at the proverbial bit. It should, at the very least, be the final motivation we need to implement a county-wide recycling program, to suggest to the greater public that we actually believe in this Green Energy stuff, and we’re not just in it for the money.

Okay, enough positivity. On to Pueblo City Schools Superintendent Covington. If there’s any validity to the myth that Pueblo has a self-esteem issue, it’s reinforced by opportunists like Covington who, in about a year, was almost lured away to Louisiana, having used Pueblo as a convenient stepping stone to further his career.

Never mind that he’s set a multi-year plan into motion that he has no intention of seeing through. And never mind that would have left us holding the tab for a budget deficit in the millions. What’s worse is the message it sends to our children, which is to get what you can, when and where you can, and that long-term commitment takes a back seat to personal gain.

Though he has removed his name from consideration in Baton Rouge, much of the potential damage already has been gone. He knows, as do we know, that if or when the next best thing comes along, his bags are already packed and waiting by the door.

Posted in pueblo, current events, education, environment, economics, Columns, culture, politics, Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »

Faith 2.0 - May PULP

April 23, 2009 by cpiatt.

Faith 2.0

 

What’s the difference between religion and theology?

 

There are two different definitions for religion, with one focusing on the belief in a supernatural deity or deities, and the other referring to an institution used to express this shared belief by a community. Theology, however, is a rational process based in systematic thought that sets about analyzing religion and its many facets. There are many different types of theological inquiry, but the root words come from Greek meaning “to study God.”

 

Why are there so many years of Jesus’ life unaccounted for in the New Testament?

 

It is true that Christian scriptures only record Jesus’ life from birth until he was about twelve, and the picks up again at around age thirty. Though no one knows for sure what went on during those “missing years” there are lots of theories. Some believe Jesus went east and studied the great eastern philosophies, whose influence arguably can be seen in his adult teaching. Another myth is that he traveled with Joseph of Arimathea, the wealthy man who provided Jesus’ tomb at upon his death, to England. There are also theories that he spent time in Alexandria, Egypt, with which he seemed to be familiar as suggested by the gospel texts.

Posted in church transformation, young adult, youth, 2.0, emergent worship, emerging church, Columns, Blogroll, faith, church, Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »

New Podcast now posted in two parts

April 11, 2009 by cpiatt.

My new podcast, “All Or Not At All,” is now posted in two parts. Check it out.

This episode is a two-part interview with Josh Einsohn, Hollywood casting director and social activist. He founded www.AllOrNotAtAll.org in response to the passage of Proposition 8 in California.

We talk about life in tinesltown, civil rights, how his faith informed his worldview and what it’s like growing up a gay jewish kid in the Texas Bible Belt.

You can find this and other episodes at http://christianpiatt.podbean.com, find a player on my main site at www.christianpiatt.com, or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching “Christian Piatt” in the iTunes store.

Posted in politics, parenting, children, proposition 8, young adult, culture, Blogroll, Podcast, faith, church, Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »

When the worst brings out our best

March 22, 2009 by cpiatt.

When the worst brings out our best

By Christian Piatt

Originally published in PULP Magazine

 

I’ve been robbed a couple of times since we moved back to Pueblo, and it never ceases to piss me off. I had the front bumper and the license plates from my old truck taken, along with cash and other stuff, but it was no different in Fort Worth. I lost a few car stereos and an equivalent number of front windows in our few years there. So I don’t hold a particular grudge against the crime here.

 

Then somebody ripped off the church.

 

We’ve been tagged a couple of times, being over on the south side near some known gang activity. So far, we’ve been able to remove or paint over it all, but recently someone actually got inside and took some stuff.

 

Clearly it was someone along, on foot and it a hurry, because they left things like my amplifier, the computer in the office and some other potentially valuable items. But they did take the projector, valued at several hundred dollars, which we learned only on Sunday morning when we went to use it and it was gone.

 

The entire service was thrown into minor chaos, both because we had to scramble for a replacement and because there’s something very unsettling about getting robbed. Even in a church, where the stuff is communally owned, it feels like a deeply personal violation.

 

What’s funny is that the projector being gone didn’t torque me as much as when I realized they had taken the little coin bank from the altar, which was in the shape to the church, where kids and others had been putting their change for months to give to our denomination’s new church ministry.

 

That does it. I don’t care how badly you needed the money, or if you spent it on medical bills or a cure for cancer; whoever did it officially became an asshole in my book at that moment.

 

I’ve been getting over the anger gradually, but what has made the greatest difference has been the response of the people at the church. Within a couple of days, we had one person donate a permanent replacement projector to the church, and another family offered to pay for one before they knew about the replacement. I encouraged them to put that generosity to good use in one of our other causes, to which they gladly agreed.

 

We also had a local band offer to do a fundraising concert for the church building, which has undergone no small number of repairs in the last couple of years, just to keep from falling apart. So as I stepped back from my rage about the violation, I saw the grace, love and generosity that overshadowed all of the ugliness.

 

Now that’s church at its best.

 

It’s funny sometimes how we have to be faced with a challenging situation in order for the best of us to rise to the surface. For me, the incident certainly brought out less than my best side, so I’m grateful that so many others are more gracious than I.

 

Now, if we could just tap into a steady flow of that collective spirit, even when we’re not in the midst of crisis, we might just make something of this little blue marble we call home.

Posted in church, faith, Columns, Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »