Wired Parish Blog

YouVersion.com: I'm Sold

I posted yesterday about YouVersion.com. Had lunch today w/ Bobby Gruenewald who blogged about it yesterday on the Life Church blog. I was really interested to get more detail on the project.

(I was also interested in trying the fried green beans he ordered, but he didn't offer, and I didn't want to risk a fork in my hand by reaching across the table to grab one.)

Short version: What I thought it was going to be and what it's actually going to be were miles apart. I thought it would be really cool. Um, it's not. It's aaaamazing. Incredibly ambitious. Freakish.

Bobby will say much more about it in the coming weeks, and I won't attempt to steal any thunder. My take? It's the most creative and broadly useful Scripture-based web tool I've ever seen.

Consider this: The iPod wasn't new technology. But the iPod reshaped existing technology and pushed the envelope of the MP3 market in a profound way. The iPhone appears to do the same thing with cell phones.

Looks like YouVersion is doing the same thing. No new technology per se, but it is using existing technologies in a way that will dramatically re-form how Scripture-centric projects utilize the web.

He answered the questions I raised in my blog post very clearly, and I was thrilled to hear the level of thought that's going into the process. In particular, I was curious how it compared to eBible.com, and as we'll see in the coming months, it's just not the same sort of thing.

But our conversation raised a more serious concern--that I'll spend an inordinate amount of time on the site.

As I re-read this, I realize I sound like a total fanboy. Hey, the LifeChurch.tv name still drives me nuts. :) But I gotta tell ya . . . They're hitting the ball out of the stadium on this one.

Bottom line: I'm completely sold.

In The Ears

Olive  - 'Extra Virgin' (unbelievably good electronica/trance; has a Zero 7 vibe)

Pink Floyd - 'Momentary Lapse of Reason' (apparently I nearly ran my insurance agent off the road this week while listening to 'Dogs of War.' it happens.)

Harry Connick, Jr. - Lots of Stuff

DJ Tiesto - Panma (I wish I knew how to quit him. Wow, he's good.)

Hero Worship: Why Jay Is a Complete Child

Reached an in-principle agreement with a new podcast host yesterday. Won't name names since we don't have all the legal stuff squared away, but I looooove this gentleman.

To say that he's been instrumental in shaping my views on leadership would be a dramatic understatement. So I'm thrilled that we get to work with him if for no other reason than because we get to work with one of my idols.

Quick side note: A couple of months ago, our newest awesome team member Gabe called to say, 'Hey, we have a call set up with 'Bob.' Are you familiar with him?'

My response: 'Tell ya what, bud. I'm hanging up now because I don't like being lied to. You call me back when you can start telling the truth.' Click.

So yesterday 'Bob' said, 'I think we should start by working through my book 'X.''

'X' was the first book I read by him, and it's horribly dog-eared and highlighted.

My response was (and this is the part where I demonstrate that I can be a complete child), 'If you had told me 10 or 12 years ago when I first read that book that I would get a chance to dialogue with the author, I probably would have peed my pants right then and there.'

Thankfully, 'Bob' laughed, but I looked over at Gabe to see him shaking his head in shame.

I love being a child. :)

YouVersion.com: A New eBible?

Life Church announced the upcoming launch of YouVersion.com today. From visiting the site and reading the blog post, it appears that it will be similar to eBible.com with more substantial community features (the ability to upload digital files, for instance).

I'm interested in this for several reasons:

1. Virtually everything Life Church does is done really, really well. I expect this to be no different. I'm sure it will be a blowout service.

2. Launching any kind of social network is intensely difficult from the standpoint of generating a sufficient user base to get real traction. Life Church has a significant built-in potential user base simply because of the size of their church. I'm sure that will go a long way to getting traction--not to mention other ministry leaders who pay close attention to what Life Church does.

I have no doubt of their capacity to make it happen, but I'm sure they recognize the enormity of the task.

3. Given the parallels with eBible and the fact that eBible has an open API, I'm curious as to why they didn't simply piggyback on what eBible has already built. I'm sure there are good reasons. I'm just curious as to what they are.

4. This sort of project raises some incredibly interesting questions about the intersection of church and business.

Consider this: Suppose YouVersion has 100,000 users within a year or so. That's not just a cool service. That's a pretty valuable asset.

Of course, churches have owned assets for years in the way of real estate. But if a church owns real estate, it doesn't necessarily have to do anything for that asset to appreciate. Not so with a web property. Software upgrades, maintenance, etc. are all labor intensive--they require expenditure of financial and human resources.

But this is a service--a real ministry. Nothing wrong with devoting time and money to development and upkeep. A huge percentage of the user base will likely not give anything back to Life Church.

Unless it sells.

Of course, I have no idea whether or not Life Church would ever have any desire to sell YouVersion if it exploded and had massive traffic. Knowing their strong disposition toward giving stuff away, I would be surprised if they did.

But suppose it did sell (or suppose it was monetized through ads or sponsorships). Shareholders wouldn't benefit because there are none. But stakeholders would. Additional staff could be added. New facilities could be built. New web properties could be developed. Heck, it could fund Life Church Labs--a division of the church staff devoted to building new web properties. (I like the sound of Life Church Labs, by the way. That's catchy.)

Here's my takewaway: This feels like a business embedded in a church. Even if that's a million miles from the intentions of Life Church, it's a VERY short putt for other churches to get there.

The implications range from 'that just feels weird' to 'will the IRS be okay with that?'

Am I being overly sensitive? Am I out to lunch? I have mixed feelings--great idea; scary idea. Can anybody help me see this more clearly?

Terrible Customer Service: A Tale of Woe from Vacation Bible School

Took my 5 year old Matthew to Vacation Bible School this morning at a church here in Oklahoma City.

This was his second VBS at the church. Last year we had a little hiccup since his pre-registration had somehow been lost. No biggie. Just re-registered him, and all was well.

When we walked in, I searched the classes for his name and found zero matches. Hmm . . . Maybe the babysitter had not pre-registered him . . . Ran into her in the hall a minute later. Nope. She pre-registered him along with her two kids, but somehow the pre-registration had been lost again.

Hey, no big deal. I'll wade through all the people, fill out another card, and the world will be right.

However . . .

When I turned in Matthew's card, the lady at the registration desk told me there was no room for him. His age group was full and there was nothing she could do.

End of story.

Go home.

See you next year.

Really?? Just . . . sorry? Can't do anything for you? Next please? Really????

Now, the good news is that Matthew was fine. No big deal to him. He had been to two VBSs the last two weeks; so he was probably already at his limit.

But this experience REALLY got me thinking about 'customer service' in the church.

A few observations:

The Good News . . .

1. The lady that 'helped' me was really friendly. Like genuinely friendly. Not fake friendly. I'm sure she's a wonderful person. She was a good pick to be at the registration table at least from an attitude standpoint.

2. Can't think of anything else, but (1) really was very true.

The Bad News . . .

1. The church was unprepared for walk-up registrations. This is going to happen from time to time. You can't bat 1.000. Not even close. Getting overwhelmed will (hopefully!) happen at times. That's excusable and should probably be celebrated even.

But not having a backup plan? That's a bad thing.

2. She offered no alternative other than an apology. No room at the inn? No possible way to accommodate us? Then keep the registration card and mail Matthew a gift certificate to Toys'R'Us or Chic-Fil-A as a concrete way of saying 'We goofed!'

3. She viewed the situation through her eyes, not mine. She explained that there was no room 'because of the construction.' 'THE construction.' What construction? I don't know anything about any construction. I'm a visitor. I've been in your church once before today.

If I can be a bit picky . . . She said this in a way that said, 'The construction thing gets me off the hook. It's not my fault.'

But here's the thing . . . I don't care about construction. I care that my 5 year old was looking forward to going to your VBS, and now he's not being allowed to. I'm sure this an inconvenience to you to have to tell people this bad news, but I can assure you it's more of an inconvenience to us.

What I wish she had said is something like, 'I know this is probably a disappointment and it's definitely an inconvenience. We simply didn't plan well. This is totally our fault. But here's the deal: We're going to make Matthew glad this happened.'

I don't really care what that solution looks like. Doesn't even have to cost the church money. But help us understand that YOU understand that problems arose that you care about fixing.

To her defense, it's a very special person who can disregard the pain that's being experienced personally over a snafu and pay attention to the person on the other side of the table, but that's precisely the kind of person the church should have sitting in that chair.

4. VBS tends to be a high visitor, high unchurched participation event. Turns out I was in fact a visitor. Given that I was wearing a U2 concert tshirt, jeans, and flip flops, I probably didn't look like the most churched human being in the world. So the likelihood that you're potentially hacking off a visitor and/or an unchurched person is really, really high.

Word of advice: Handle with care. Lots of it. She didn't. She wasn't rude. She was very friendly. She just wasn't interested in making my problem her problem. But that's precisely what good customer service does.

So what might they have done differently?

Couple of thoughts:

1. Have a staff person at the registration table--or at least have someone who can and will fix problems when problems arise. It would have thrilled my soul if someone had stepped in to say, 'I'm Winston Wolfe. I solve problems.'

2. Remind EVERYONE that VBS is a high-visitor, high-unchurched kind of event. Then assume that everyone you don't recognize is both.

3. Make sure there is a reporting system for problems so that if Winston Wolfe isn't within 30 minutes away (he'll be there in 10), there's a way to fix the problem later.

I'm not upset by the situation. Believe me, I've been personally and solely responsible for much, much worse. But a little bit of planning and foresight would have made this a complete non-issue. I wish that had been the case! :)

Fire Destroys The Simple Way Community Center

From The Simple Way

This morning, a 7-alarm fire consumed an abandoned warehouse in our Kensington neighborhood in Philadelphia. The Simple Way Community Center at 3200 Potter Street was destroyed as well as at least eight of our neighbors’ homes. Over 100 people were evacuated from their homes, and 400 families are currently without power. Despite this developing tragedy, we are incredibly thankful to share that all of our community members and every one of our neighbors is safely out of harm’s way.

       

This fire will forever change the fabric of our community. Eight families are currently homeless, and in many cases have lost their vehicles as well as their homes. One of our neighbors, the Mahaias Family, lost their three cars as well as the equipment one family member uses for her massage therapy business. Teenager Brian Mahaias is devastated not because he has lost his belongings, but because he fears that this fire will force him to move away from this neighborhood that is his family as well as his home.

       

The Simple Way has lost a community center that was home to our Yes! And… afterschool program, community arts center, and Cottage Printworks t-shirt micro-business as well as to two of our community members. Community members Shane Claiborne and Jesce Walz have lost all of their belongings, Yes! And…’s after school studio and library were ruined, and community member Justin Donner’s Cottage Printworks equipment and t-shirts were destroyed.

       

We are thankful that we are able to help each other during this time of need, and we will continue to keep your informed about today’s events.

       

We have established funds to support the families who have lost their homes, the Yes! And… afterschool program, and the Simple Way community.

       

A fund to support the families has been established through a partner organization, EAPE. Tax-deductible donations can be made at https://www.tonycampolo.org/online_donation.php. Please make sure to put “Kensington Families Fund” in the memo section.

       

Donations to the Rebuilding Fund can be made via PayPal to [email protected].

       

-The Simple Way Community

Productivity: HiTask is Out. 30 Boxes Is In.

I mentioned HiTask.com as a productivity tool a few days ago. Great tool. Really. Calendar, to do lists, etc. Very easy to use. Graphically cool. Sharp program.

Two problems:
1) No text/email reminders that I could find.

2) Logging into the site was nearly impossible. I take it I have some sort of conflict on my computer somewhere, but 95% of the time logging in resulted in . . . nothing. Just a refresh of the login page.

I sent 3 different emails over 4 or 5 days requesting help, but received no response. Ouch! I would have been fine with a 'we have no idea. We'll look into it.' But I got zippo. Granted it's only $15/year, but I was ready to subscribe!

However, this morning I was pointed to 30boxes.com. Not as pretty as HiTask, but I can actually login and it has text reminders. Sweet!

It has sharing features so that I can see multiple calendars and tasks--a must in our world.

Check it out. So far I'm impressed.

Subscribe to WiredParish.com. Your board members told me they wanted you to.

In the Ears

Natalie Merchant - 'Tigerlilly'

Colin Hay - 'Going Somewhere' (former lead singer of Men at Work; lots of his stuff floating around on 'Scrubs')

Zero 7 - Pretty much all of it. What a great band!

Aqualung - 'Strange and Beautiful'

Anthony Hamilton - 'Comin' From Where I'm From' (Smooth, smooth, smoooooth)

Maroon 5 - 'It Won't Be Soon Before Long'

Paul Potts Is Back

Wade Burleson points to Paul Pott's semifinal performance on 'Britain's Got Talent.'

If you haven't seen his audition video, scroll down the page til you find the 'Amazing Video' post. Watch that first, dry your eyes, and then move on to this.

Here it is in all its glory . . . (Have you ever seen Simon Cowell like this???)

Digg for Sermon Illustrations

I mentioned CoRank.com yesterday. Thought of a new use you might find helpful . . .

A hub for sermon illustrations for you and your pastor/teacher compadres.

Find an interesting story or article? Post it to your CoRank site so a) you'll have it filed away and b) your fellow teachers will have access to it.

Again, the voting mechanism comes in extremely handy here.