Technology, Theology & Ministry
I’m not an SEO guru, that’s for sure. When I designed my first WordPress theme, Cleaker, I didn’t put any consideration into Search Engine Optimization at all (which sucks for everyone who is still using the 4-year old theme). So that’s why I rely on folks like everyone at StudioPress to make me a killer theme that will get me ranked well in Google.
But one important part of the whole “getting yourself noticed by Google” is what you title your posts, and I have just 3 quick examples for you:
Fundraising. Ugh.
That’s what I think every fall when I realize that we have some awesome mission trip opportunities, but that we’re going to need to raise some money. So, if you’re like me, you start to make a list of all the “standards” when it comes to fundraising: pancake breakfasts, car washes, rummage sales, flamingo-ing, etc. It’s a bit depressing, and I never look forward to the work that goes into these types of fundraisers.
As I was preparing to come up with a list of fundraisers for this year, I asked my network on Facebook & Twitter what their favorite fundraisers were, and a friend sent me a note about the Wall O Money. She had told me she made close to $10,000 on this fundraiser the previous year, and so of course, I was all ears!
The Reverend Dr. Frederick W. Schmidt, Jr. had a great article on Patheos this past Monday about seminary education entitled “Is It Time to Write the Eulogy?: The Future of Seminary Education.” The future of traditional mainline seminary education, as we have known it since its incarnation in the United States, is something that many are beginning to critique and rethink. Of course, most of the folks rethinking it are outside of the seminary context, and many within think things are just fine.
I studied at both Princeton Theological Seminary and Columbia Theological Seminary. The schools couldn’t have been more different. The joke at Princeton was that everyone was “pursuing their PhD” and if that didn’t work out, they’d be pastors. There was always a competitive spirit and the focus was primarily on academics and performing exceedingly well. We were grooming PhDs and pastors of traditional, east coast mainline churches. Being at a school like Columbia was incredibly different; the goal there was training pastors and that’s what they did. The academics were still excellent, but we were on first-name basis with all the professors, you could grab Brueggemann as he ran across campus in his Birkenstocks and have conversations with him, and the president (Laura Mendenhall during my time) was accessible, very easy to talk with, and cared about her students in visible ways.
But I’d say that both schools are primarily training pastors for churches that doesn’t exist anymore.
I totally feel like I’m late to the game when it comes to blogging about Rob Bell’s newest and most controversial book, “Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived.” I guess the only difference between me and so many of the folks who were blogging about the book weeks ago is that…well, I read it (and to be fair, some of them have now, by this point).
So, whether you like my thoughts on the book or not, I feel like actually reading the book before writing a review on it automatically gives you additional credibility that folks like Justin Taylor didn’t have when they started the “is Rob Bell a universalist” fiasco. Now, obviously Rob probably really appreciated it considering the fact that “Love Wins” has been in the Top 100 books on Amazon for the past 25 days, and it’s currently #3 on Amazon’s Bestselling Books.
So, I’m going to try to not make this too much of an in-depth review of the book, but rather just some thoughts around the book specifically and the topic in general. If you want to read a great review of the book, check out this great review from Julie Clawson.
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