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The Church Sofa Awards 2011

Welcome to the second Annual Church Sofa Awards, where we celebrate the best and sometimes worse moments of 2011.

Church Notice Board of The Year: This was a close run thing with this gem from back in June getting the most hits, but this one isn’t a peoples vote – so we’re going for this little poster we found back in August:

 

Twitter Hero: Kathryn Rose aka @artsyhonker for organising the Flash Evensong outside St Pauls (Nominated by @Gerrarrdus).

Best Web Project: Easter Live – For giving me an excuse to play with Lego…

Biggest Challenge: Only takes 3 seconds – An amazing watch…

The Peoples Choice of Best Christian / Church Blog: The Vernacular Vicar. As voted by… lots of people…

Best Alien: Elvis – He even featured in his own road trip video.

Villain of the year: Harold Camping – The End of The World guy…
Honorable Mention: Westminster Abbey – for showing us how not to do PR…

Simpsons Moment of The Year: The Importance of sermon prep…

 

So have we got anything wrong? Are then any awards which we should have included??

Should the Villain had been different?

Let any debate begin!

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The Crowd, Mistakes, and I #digidisciple

When I was younger, I came across a pastime known as “people watching”. Every now and then, a friend and I would find ourselves in the front of a coffee shop, and the two of us watched the outside world. We’d sit there, comment, and take it all in.

As I’ve grown up. I’ve realised that was stupid. Coffee shops are not where the action is found. For real people watching, go to a train station! Preferably a nice big train station. You get to see people who lost, confused, and sometimes saying good bye. But you also get to see people having laugh, relaxing, and being reunited with loved ones. Even if its just their luggage. This is where you really get to see people at their most emotional… People watching at its best…

The other Monday, I found myself upgrading from “People Watching” to “Manic Christmas Crowd Watching”. You see, I made two mistakes on that day:

  1. I thought that Christmas shopping on a week day would be easy.
  2. As I work in technical support, I looked for shelter from the Manic Christmas Crowd in a local computer store. I figured it would be quieter, that I could gaze at gadgets I couldn’t afford, as well as possibly get an idea of what some of our customers may be calling in about after Christmas.

I thought it would be a space to build my nerves up to take on the Christmas crowd again. As I burst into a space to breath, I became aware that I wasn’t in a quiet breathing space, but I was surrounded by yet another Manic Christmas Crowd.This crowd seemed different to the normal type.

This lot weren’t storming from one place to another. They looked a little slower, some looked a little lost, some fairly stressed. I heard people mutter about prices, how fast it goes, and if it was ADSL compatible. Yes I was in that section of the shop.

Various emotions and various needs, but be it on with new iPhone, router, or printer, the members of this particular manic crowd were all looking for new ways to connect with people. Part of me wonders if we’re all part of this crowd at times.

Looking back over the sight of that confused rugby scrum, part of me wonders:

  • Where does the Church fit in a world of people, looking for new and faster ways of connecting?
  • Do we concentrate so much on individual meetings, that we forget about connecting with people during their lives?
  • What do you think?

Above originally appeared on The Big Bible)

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10 Random Thoughts From The Christmas Photoblog

So. Our first Christmas project – The Original Christmas Photoblog has now finished. Here are ten random thoughts that we’ve had while putting it together.

  1. What would Mary and Joseph look like these days?
  2. How old would Mary and Joseph be?
  3. Would they have problems finding space in a Hospital?
  4. Would they end up homeless for a period of time?
  5. Are today’s wise men rich?
  6. What do the Wise Men of today do? Do the general public have access to really know?
  7. What does power really look like?
  8. How welcoming are we as a country to people that need our help?
  9. Who are the shepherds of today?
  10. What view do we have of Christmas?