Where is everyone?

Hey Shaun,

we fully realize the rate of posts and reading this site have gone way down.. and even anticipated some of the ups and downs…

I have listened a ton to people who got turned off - and “gave up” on the website.
I’ve also talked to many who like to read the stuff .. but don’t dare post anything themselves.

I’m also aware that some people have a hard time reading / posting discussions that argue back and forth or express critical opinions about stuff.

The truth is .. this is NEW for most of us… and VERY new for churches to use in a meaningful way… I’m confident we will figure this out together.

By the way….Do you expect people who are NOT posting.. to POST why they are not posting?
:)

(logic from a full grown man who uses a STAR WARS figure as his image!)

my guess is they’re just standing around waiting for something to happen. Its Christmas, don’t stress; grab some eggnog and sing some carols!

The reason why I don’t like posting anymore is because nothing gets resolved when a question is asked. The question will always have two sides opposed to eachother, and the same people will go on and on talking about the issue, but will get no closer to an answer. Also, if there is no leadership willing to comment/take a stand on the some of the bigger issues, what’s the point.

I would have to side right now with Shaun….time is the biggest issue right now…too many Christmas parties, shopping, etc. Too tired and not enough brain cells left by the end of the night to write something worth reading (Why are you still reading? I’ve implied it might not be worth it.) :)

I don’t believe there has to be resolutions to all the questions asked. I try to read the majority of posts—-even the circular discussions. It gets me out of my own box of thinking and gets me listening to other people’s opinions and views. I may not agree with everyone but that’s okay. Not everyone agrees with me.

I have confidence that more posts will start after the holiday season.

Hey JC,
You are not alone in asking “what’s the point” or wanting resolutions to every discussion trail. You are not alone.. many people are figuring out how to respond to conflict on the web - or even the “short snippet” form of discussion. This is new to most of us.. .we’re in a learning curve.

I agree that some of the discussion on the site has not resulted in “Action” quite the way I had hoped; however, I see great value even when there is just healthy discussion about topics and issues. Frankly.. I have not wanted to step in as a “leader” and close the discussion with the “answer” - my biggest times to “step in” have mostly been when people are not respectful or honoring to the Matthew principal of handling conflicts (in all actuality - there has been very little of this).

The Unconference and follow up web discussion led to having the Doubt class at JGA and altered Frances’ class. The unconference and follow up discussion about having communion on Sundays led to us finding creative ways to have communion TWICE since being in Pioneer.
The Name Tag discussion had some people expressing dislike for nametags - but then others talked about why we use them.. and that they are optional - ultimate result was a good reminder about the goal of name tags is the value of greeting and welcoming people - not name tags.
Yes..the “bigger” theological / Biblical questions will not be “answered” in blog writing form.
Overall - I have been pleased to watch the discussion - 95% of it has been good discussion - even about stuff people will not reach ‘resolution’ on. I believe it is healthy and good for a community of people to talk more. Although not perfect as a communication form - I like to see discussion happening … (including the one between you and me right now).

Thanks to both Jeff Wenke and Jeff Mincey for proving my point. First Jeff W. stated that because of these things that happened more than two months ago from the unconference. Jeff M. shows that people are still coming to the site, but nobody is talking.

So back to my point is why and I do not believe it is just the holidays because people quit talking weeks ago. Also how can we get the discussion back?

Jeff W. some people want you to give an answer, so maybe there needs to be some statement made that website is for debate and discussion? If you want answers go talk to Jeff? Just some thoughts to maybe ease some frustrations of people out there.

I think more people are watching than we might think. There are some topics being discussed that are really important to people and my guess is that most of us are just used to in person dialogue where you can better interpret the tone and meaning behind the words. I don’t typically communicate important or emotion-stirring things in email for this same reason. So, getting used to reading and developing posts to sound the way you really mean them is taking time.

I read the posts and talk about them with Kirk or whomever but don’t often post back. And, when I do I sometimes read a response to my post and think “that wasn’t what I meant”. I see some of these types of conversations on our site where people are writing many posts trying to clarify what they are trying to say. For me and probably others, it is a process of trying to figure out how to really communicate my thoughts via a post.

Regarding getting answers, I have read a few times where someone has posted something that they needed clarity on and then went to talk to Jeff and came back to the site with clarity and share it with others on the site. The site was never set up for the leaders to answer the hard questions nor is it the primary way of communicating to the leaders. But, mant of the leaders are on the site and reading/processing what is happening here. During the connect meetings, we have pulled up the nametag posts a few times to discuss what is being put out there. We learned that people were thinking about the welcome table as just a place for nametags rather than a place to be welcomed/greeted. So, we now have walker/talkers near the tables who just say “Hi. We’re glad you’re here” without the threat of a nametag. We meet our connect goal of having people hear that we really are glad that they came today regardless of whether or not they want a nametag. Not necessarily what people were dialoging about (what type of nametag to do) but it really helped us see what we needed to do to better fulfill our goal yet the same.