9/23 Event: “Never Alone? The Perils and Promises of Community in the Digital Age”

LIKE - (C) IstockPhotoInterested in social media, changing technology and culture? This coming Wednesday, October 23, 2013  I am speaking at the Learning Community at First Church Boston.  The talk is titled   “Never Alone?  The Perils and Promises of Community in the Digital Age.”   If you’re in the greater Boston area I hope you’ll join me.   There is an optional dinner ($) before the talk, but the talk at 7:30pm is free and open to the public.  It will be a combination of presentation followed by discussion.  Full details below.

“Never Alone?  The Perils and Promises of Community in the Digital Age”
Speaker:  Peter Bowden
October 23, 2013  First Church Boston, MA
66 Marlborough St., Boston, MA 02116 Map
7:30pm Presentation – Free
6:00pm Optional Dinner – $12  Online Reservation for Dinner

Thanks to smart phones, people across the world are becoming increasingly connected to the Internet and each other. There are now more cell phones on our planet than toilets, and these phones are getting smarter and smarter. The trends in our country?  Despite the vast potential of social media and tools like Facebook and Twitter to bring us together, we are statistically some of the loneliest people on earth.  What happened?  Where are we going?  Combining presentation and facilitated discussion, we’ll explore the trends and the all important question: “What kind of lives and communities do we want to create?”

Peter Bowden is an independent television producer, and consultant working with nonprofits and congregations helping them adapt to changing technology and culture.   Peter is a frequent speaker and is known for his contagious enthusiasm. He is the husband of Amy Freedman, consulting minister at First Church.

More Information

Announcing Jan 4th, 2014 Social Media Intensive for Congregational Leaders

Like - Social Media

Friends, on January 4, 2014 I will be leading a social media intensive for congregational leaders.  This event is being held at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson, AZ.   If you are a minister, congregational staff or volunteer interacting with human beings in the United States with internet access and mobile technology,  this event is for you.   Registration is open nation-wide. Hope you can join us!   Full Details & Registration ~ Peter   

Social Media for Ministry, Outreach and  Membership Growth with Peter Bowden

January 4th, 2014  *  Tucson, AZ

Oh yeah! Join us...

Social media is fundamentally changing how people form relationships, consume information and make important life decisions.  This has significant implications for congregations, from  how we share our news and announcements, to how we invite people into membership. For our congregations to thrive in the 21st Century, we must understand these changes and learn to use the communication tools of our time with purpose, skill and integrity.  Join us for this day-long social media intensive for congregational leaders!

Event Location
Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson
4831 East 22nd Street Tucson, AZ 85711

Event Sponsors
Special thanks to our sponsoring congregations and the Rev. Charles Gaines, my mentor,  for helping to make this event possible.

Testimonials

“Peter’s passion for social media communications and Unitarian Universalism is contagious. His vision for our future is something we need to learn and embrace.” – Don Southworth, UUMA Executive Director

“Peter provided our team with an opportunity to learn together about social media giving us a common understanding of the benefits and costs of utilizing it. His enthusiasm for social media is infectious, making us feel not only that implementing it is possible and perhaps inevitable as our world continues to evolve.” — Sara D., Church Administrator, Cedar Lane UU Church.

“Peter’s training on Social Media was clear, instructive, and interactive. He is dynamic, engaging and brings an enthusiasm to his sessions that is contagious. I recommend him highly.” — Mark Bernstein, Regional Growth Development Consultant, Central East Region of the UUA

Religious Education Schedule Poster

The following guest post is by Barb Greve, Interim Director of Religious Education currently serving the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta, GA, and includes links to download files of the described religious education schedule poster.  ~ Peter

By Barb Greve

Barb Greve

I noticed that several of the Religious Education/Exploration classes in my programs were struggling with following a consistent schedule of components from week-to-week. I suspected that having such a framework might help the attendees and facilitators alike know what to expect each session. I also know that for some of us, knowing the meta-schedule helps to reduce our anxiety and thus allows us to more fully participate in the learning session.

To address both these needs I created a visual schedule to put in each of our Religious Education/Exploration program’s class spaces. My intent was to create something that helped to remind everyone in the class what the order of the day should be and to do it in such a way that allowed those who couldn’t read to be able to follow the schedule easily.

So far the posters have been warmly received. They are too new to know if this will help for the long haul, but I suspect they will. With an ever-changing volunteer corps and learners whose attendance rotates in unpredictable patterns, everything we can to help those in the classrooms know what to expect is bound to be helpful.

This poster I created is available to any and all who would like to use it. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. This means that you are welcome to use it as is, make changes to it and reproduce it but can not put the original or any derivation up for sale. This was created for the common good of all Unitarian Universalist Religious Education communities.

Download Files

UU RE classroom schedule poster

Music for the revolution! Melodeego at 350MA Rally at Mass State House

Melodeego rehearsal at 350MA Rally at Mass State House.  Music for the revolution!
http://www.melodeego.com

350 Tem Blessed performance at MA #S1225 rally

Tem Blessed performs at S.1225 divestment rally in front of the Massachusetts State House on September 10, 2013.  Filmed and shared with permission, Tem Blessed.

http://temblessed.com

350Mass writes: The Massachusetts state pension fund has $1.3 billion invested in fossil fuel companies, including Exxon and TransCanada (builder of the Keystone XL pipeline). Even President Obama and Forbes magazine have come out in favor of divestment. Massachusetts’ fossil fuel investments are immoral and fiscally irresponsible, because we can’t burn most of those reserves while maintaining a livable climate, and the carbon bubble is predicted to burst. Since September 2012, the Massachusetts fossil fuel divestment campaign has grown by leaps and bounds. Now we have the chance for the biggest win so far. And we’ve seen what happens when MA leads: the rest of the country often follows close behind.

Verdict Part 2 – Is social media driving new expectations for congregations?

I wrote this weekend about the strong reaction many in my UU social media network had to Sunday services that did not create space to process the Trayvon Martin – George Zimmerman verdict from the night before. Many were let down, disappointed, upset.

In the day since I’ve been reflecting on how that reaction was shaped by social media, a culture I believe is changing expectations many have of congregations.

On Saturday, because I’m networked to hundreds of Unitarian Universalists and thousands of others online via Facebook and Twitter, I could clearly see the swell of emotion building up to and in response to the verdict. It was clear, if you were tuning in, that this was a special moment, a moment that would drive people to church with many seeking a pastoral message. But not all worship leaders new this.

7 years ago the verdict would have been announced and we would have waited to discuss it in person over the coming week. But now, there were immediate online conversations, people were able to cry via global twitter streams, vent rage, demand justice and release emotions that only amplify the need for ministry.

What a different world…

Back to the verdict and reaction. I’m feeling like this is more of a social media lesson than anything else. Those who are active via social media have the tools to better gauge in real time when national / word events require an immediate pastoral response. If you tune in, that’s a powerful advantage for your ministry team. If you don’t??? Then there are moments like Sunday when people show up assuming you know… You know their pain, their sorrow and they judge based on those assumptions.

Does that social media driven shift in expectations make sense? I’m still trying to process it myself. What do you think?