Holy Week with the Chromebook

It is Holy Week with the Christian community.  It started on Palm Sunday (March 20) and will proceed until Easter morning (March 27).

The three days before Easter Sunday are known as the Triduum (latin-"three days") and make up some of the most somber and yet significant days on the Church Calendar.

They commemorate Jesus' last days before his Death and Resurrection.

Holy Thursday/Maundy Thursday marks his last meal with his disciples, a Jewish Passover Meal (Passover in the Jewish tradition began on March 22nd and will continue until the 30th).

Good Friday marks the day of his death and Christian across the world will look to the cross and the salvation story of Jesus.

Holy Saturday marks the time Jesus laid in the tomb prior to Easter when the tomb would no longer hold him.

In the Christian tradition, we live the Christian message of life, death and resurrection with Jesus and our communities of faith during Holy Week.

I use my Chromebook during this time like I do most weeks, I use online resources for growing in my faith. There are numerous online offerings for celebrating Holy Week, below are some that I have collected:

Holy Week 101

Praying Holy Week

The Upper Room (devotional)

Forward Day by Day (devotional)

Alive Now (devotional)

Book of Common Prayer Online (prayers for Morning, Evening and more)

Bible Readings for the Days

CONNECT- Holy Week Special (30 minute radio show)

May this be a fruitful Holy Week for you.

AncientFuture Practices for the Church

Years ago, Leonard Sweet used the term "AncientFuture Faith" in a number of his books and in speaking engagements around the country.

He encouraged the church to embrace the ancient nature of the church in new and future oriented ways. I think Ancient comes easy to us.  We read regularly from scriptures that are thousands of years old, we have rituals that date back thousands of years.  For some churches, hymns that are a hundred years old are thought of us as new, and contemporary.

The Future doesn't come as easily.  We might embrace the technology and the culture we are in, but can't always connect it to our forebears who lived without Google and email.  The Biblical texts seem foreign to a culture who is far from the agrarian and rural roots of our past.

But this is the situation we have been placed in- we are people who have inherited and embraced a 2000 year old Gospel, and we live and find it compelling in the 21st century.

Working in the church with tools like websites, social media, email, and multimedia, and always attempting to share a message of Good News that  has its beginning with a 1st century Jewish Rabbi is an ever daunting task.

How do we do this with integrity and authenticity?  How do we use these tools that are so integral to our culture, and yet continue to live in a culture formed by the Gospel?  These are questions that I have been asking for a few decades now.  Each year brings new challenges.

This article crossed my path this month:  Ancient practices meet new technology when Episcopal monks share wisdom online.  It is the story of the Society St. John the Evangelist, a small Episcopal monastery in Boston.

In the nearly seven years that I have had a relationship with the group, I have seen these monks embrace technology in ways that are authentic to their life absorbed in daily prayer and the Book of Common Prayer.

In early days they used print resources to get their teachings across, then they moved to email.  During the seasons of Advent and Lent they would send short devotionals out to the friends of the society.  Devotionals to read that were welcome celebrations each day.

Then they started a series called, "Brother Give Us a Word" that began with a season, and now is something that shows up in my mailbox each day when they aren't doing special series.

Now their daily offerings come with videos and have links to more resources on their websites like sermons and documents.

Their resources have grown significantly as have their following on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Some questions:

• How can our churches embrace technology and our own weekly/daily patterns of life and share them with those seeking to grow in their faith? (United Methodists have the online Upper Room as one example)
• Who do we need to partner with to make this happen with authenticity and integrity?
• What kinds of time and financial investments would need to be made?
• Do we have the will to move in this direction?

Sunday Morning on Standard Time

Daylight Savings Time ended overnight.  My day just started, but it seems late already. Spring forward.

My regular pattern of getting up, showering and going to Sunday School was disrupted by a myriad of things, so I decided to drink some coffee at our local Starbucks (which amounts to a kiosk in a grocery store) and write a bit before I go to worship.

During many years as a pastor, this Sunday was always one of the worst of the year.  You lose an hour of sleep, you wake up a little jet-lagged, you show up to a congregation, and you quickly find out who didn't bother to change their clocks back (or you realize that many folks consider it a national holiday, and just don't get going).

It was on days like today that it would seem better to just phone it in.

And with the technology at our disposal, we could.

I personally don't recommend it for worship because I need to be in the presence of others when I make confession, when I pass the peace, and celebrate the sacraments.  Call me old-fashioned, but that's me.

On the other hand, I think of Christian education and formation as something that can be aided by technology. I think having a group of people in one space at a particular time is a good thing, but it is not the only way that education happens.

Over the years, I have done all kinds of things for classes and groups that I was leading when I was out of town or involved in another meeting.  Rather than postponing the class, or getting off of the lesson plan, I would create ways for the class to study the material without me being there.

Some examples:

• On numerous occasions, I videotaped (this was before digital media) me teaching or introducing the topic, and then giving directions for discussion.  My adult classes were very appreciative of this, and often said that the discussions were some of the best they had experienced at church.
• I have shared a "lesson plan" or a set of discussion questions with another member of the group who carried out a discussion during that group time.  I would make it a point to call or email the group during the week and get their feedback.
• I have called into a class or meeting and started the discussion by cell phone, and tried to participate from afar by conference call. This can be done using FaceTime, Google Hangouts, Skype or other means.
• Using Google Hangouts or Zoom, it would be easy to meet with the same small group without any of us being in the same place at the same time.  I have experienced a group Bible Study with 15 people using a paid conference call app.  It was not without its flaws, but we all met together without spending hundreds of miles on the road between us on Tuesday night.
• I have used free websites (Blogger, WordPress) as a depository of all of a class's discussions, a place to post links to articles and supplementary materials, and a discussion board. One might miss a class, but they could not say that they didn't know what was discussed at the last meeting.

This was low level technology that I have used over the last 20 years.  Imagine the possibilities if we harnessed the best of today's technology for Christian formation. (That's just what I plan to do in the coming months as a part of this experiment.)

Another Sunday on Chromebook- TextWeek.com

I spent another Sunday at church with Internet capability.

I spent a bit of time looking for phone apps before worship.

One of my favorite websites over the years has been The Text This Week.  It has always been a great resource for lectionary preachers, but after 18 years online, it has become a resource for anyone studying the Bible and looking for notes and commentary on the scriptures.  It has mobile editions for Androids and iPhones, but this afternoon I am writing about the web version from my Chromebook.

I have followed the work of Jenee Woodward since the site became public.  A seminary grad with great research capability, and the habits of a librarian, Woodward has never failed to find the latest and the best in commentaries, sermons, art and more.

For the past couple of decades she has scoured the Internet for resources on the texts for the Sundays ahead in the Revised Common Lectionary. She has carved out her own cottage industry from her home in Michigan and has provided a valuable resource for all who study and teach the Bible.

It could easily be made a Chromebook app if that was her desire.  It easy enough to bookmark it in Chrome and come back to it frequently.

In the hey-day of lectionary preaching, this was a common resource for many of my peers.  In the Roman Catholic, Lutheran and Episcopal denominations, this is still the norm.  Among younger clergy in other mainline congregations, it is less likely that a congregation will be using the lectionary in worship.

Even if a church does not use the lectionary every Sunday, I recommend it to those who lead in education and formation to use it as a resource.  I have not experienced another resource that systematically reads large portions of the Bible, follows the liturgical year, and can be used by persons across the age spectrum at the same time.

Easy to find commentaries and resources for each of the four weekly passages is made simple by The Text This Week.  Rather than just a resource for preachers and worship leaders, it can become a tool for the entire church.

As I continue to explore the Chromebook as a tool in Christian formation, I will offer some concrete ways to use this website and others in the systematic study of the faith.

Christian Formation and the Chromebook?

I ran a clip on my radio show the other day that continues to haunt me. Greg Jones, who was the former dean of Duke Divinity School, was talking about the change that technology is bringing to Christian Formation

The old tools that we had in Sunday School are still being used in the 21st century, but the children and adults that are in those classes are so much different than we were in the 1960’s when those tools became popular.



Many children and youth are surrounded by computers and other technology five days a week in school. They come home and their evenings are filled with all kinds of personal technology and the family room with Smart TV’s and Bluetooth sound.

Yet, in most every church I visit, the classrooms are devoid of technology. My own local church has an antiquated TV (one of those 100 pound numbers) on a cart that can be shared on the Sunday School floor.

We do have wireless technology in part of the church, but it was not installed to cover the building, and doesn’t have the bandwidth for more than a few of us to log on during the morning.

The Sunday School hour is typically paper handouts for children (sometimes for the youth that show up). My own adult group is getting further along, and there are a few folks who read the scripture on their phone or tablet rather than carrying around a printed Bible.

We are not the norm, because we do have some technology available.

What would happen if churches began moving into the culture that our children and youth inhabit nearly every other hour of their life? (It is the same culture that most every parent of children and youth inhabit--and some of us who are older than that.)

I am not talking about bringing video entertainment into Sunday School (that is a dated concept itself). What I am suggesting is that we need to bring 21st century interactive learning, with technology as a significant tool, into the formation of children, youth and adults in the church.

Bibles and study materials are easily available online. Combing through it all to find the best and most theologically sound materials will be the most difficult task for any parish or educator.

What if Christian educators began using technology to get beyond those couple of hours on Sunday mornings that have been the traditional time for learning in the church? Developing blogs, forums, chats and “hangouts” through the week to touch base with students would be just a few examples.

Having a planned curriculum of reading the Bible and reflecting on it in daily life might actually be easier with technology than some other means. Most every youth I know over 13 years old carries a phone--a daily text from a teacher/mentor with a link to a Bible passage and a simple question might be a great start.

My son had an email address at school since age 10, and he has now been a regular habit of checking email for over 12 years. Why not make a few of those emails each week an interesting encounter with their faith?

So rather than keep writing (and ranting), I will pause and begin to formulate a process to delve deeper into the subject. I will begin using this blog as a platform for regular articles about technology and Christian Formation.

I will use the Chromebook as one model of technology that may be an excellent option for local churches. This technology is relatively inexpensive (it is cheaper than most phones and tablet devices), it is easy to use and keep updated, and it has the potential for an educator to develop serious tools in the service of formation.

Feel free to comment, critique and continue the conversation. Until the next time.

Sunday Morning with Chromebook

I make no secret of my history and background.  You can see my whole job history here.

I have worked in the church for much of the last 38 years.  I've had other jobs too, but the church keeps calling me back. Currently, I am not a pastor, but I make my living doing Web & Communications work for the church.

The Bible has been a big part of my life.  I read it, study it, refer to it on a regular basis.  In older days, I carried it in book form.  I wore out any number of copies through the years.

Now I carry numerous copies on my phone, and use the You Version app.  The Chrome Web Store has a browser version of the app.

It has a few more capabilities than the mobile version, it is easier to read, and fairly easy to use all of its tools.  The app is quite portable and user friendly.  More and more of my friends in ministry choose to use apps like this as they lead their congregations.

I could see using the Chromebook as a regular part of a Sunday School/Christian Education program in a local church or community. The possibilities are huge for people of all ages to use technology for regular learning.  I can imagine some customized apps that could be tailored to a congregation/class and as easy as the Chromebook is to use and manipulate, it wouldn't be just the 18 and under crowd that would find it helpful. (I had a complimentary idea a few years back that might be worth exploring)

This Sunday, I am going to read the Bible on my Chromebook.