Breakout session at #CNMAC11, October 15 2011: "Discipleship encompasses our whole life, but how can we continue to be whole life disciples in the online space?" Ideas & Conversation... what better way to spend 40 minutes!! See http://digital-fingerprint.co.uk/2011/10/talking-about-digidisciple-at-cnmac11/ for associated Creative Commons licence.

1. #DigidisciplesDr Bex Lewis, @bigbible Discipleship encompasses our whole life, but how can we continue to be whole life disciples in the online space? #CNMAC11

2. What is a Disciple? A 'disciple' is one who, by following Jesus, grows in their faith in Christ and in so doing models and teaches Christians the precepts of the Bible, prayer, doctrine, relationship, Christian living, service, and worship… http://www.wordnik.com/words/disciple

3. http://youtu.be/pCYRc4u79yM

4. Matthew 5:13-16, The Message "Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavours of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage. "Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colours in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

5. What is a #Digidisciple? A 'digital disciple', or, as The Big Bible Project calls it, a #digidisciple, is someone who seeks to live out their Christian faith in the digital space, whether they are a 'digital infant‘*, or are fully immersed in the digital worlds. These are people seeking to be 'generous with their lives’, opening themselves up, engaging with others online. * thanks to Rev Kate Bruce for that concept

6. DISCUSS: The online as a Space? This concept of the online as space, culture, environment or world is key when we consider what our #digidisciple(s) have to say. As Christians we live 24/7 for God, in whatever spaces we live in or engage with. There is no such thing as 'virtual' and 'real' worlds: only online and offline/physical space/cultures - the connection between the two is different for each individual. We need to take seriously our Christian presence both online and offline. Are we the same person, living by the same values in both 'spaces', what should those values be, and what particular challenges does the online environment offer to Christians? We also need to think about the particulars of specific digital spaces, whether that be Twitter, Facebook, Google +, blogs, forums, or Second Life, although all are affected by the increasingly mobile and interactive nature of the digital space.

7. Twitter, for instance, is a bit like a public coffee hour. When you’re at your best, you spend a little time with everyone, and take care especially to welcome newcomers. And, as at coffee hour, it’s generally considered rude when a group of more established friends hang out in a clique, telling inside jokes that highlight how much everyone else is not part of their set. Facebook, by contrast, is more like going to coffee with a select group of friends who might bring some of their own friends along. The conversation is still relatively public, and you might run into folks at the coffee shop who join in the conversation. A blog, however, is a poetry reading. Sure, it’s public in a way. But it’s pretty likely that only those people who already know you will come to hear what you have to say. If they like it, they might invite friends to the next one, or they might hang out afterwards to comment on your work. (p.86)

8. The thing is, it’s not likely that you would introduce yourself to someone and then immediately invite them to your upcoming poetry reading. You might mention that you write poetry in the context of a coffee hour getting-to-know-you or just-checking-in conversation. If there’s a mutual interest, you might even go for coffee with other poetry-loving friends. All of this would happen before you started inviting people to your readings by way of creating a context for that invitation that comes off as something more relational than narcissistic. (p.86)

9. NOW… What kind of issues have appeared under the #digidisciple theme over the past couple of months… All discussions = starters … we may end up discussing one in depth… and enjoy the rest online later!! Let’s see where the conversations go!

10. DISCUSS: would Jesus be on Social Media? Where? http://bigbible.org.uk/2011/06/does-social-media-count/

11. Interactivity? “Prior to the printing press, reading was a deeply social practice that drew on traditions of oral storytelling, which braided the recitation of a tale with its interpretation by the teller and the real-time response of the audience.” “…premodern bookish encounters were not centred on didactic performances for passive listeners, but were fully interactive engagements that enlarged any given book into a much wider social “text”.” P.62

12. p77

14. What would Jesus Tweet?

15. DISCUSS: The Smartphone? Master Not Slave? How frequently do you check your phone? Do you feel ‘naked’ without your phone? How do you ensure that it becomes master not slave? Do you ever have a ‘digital sabbath’? What does that look like?

16. Digifree? What does that mean?

17. DISCUSS: What is community? http://asbojesus.wordpress.com/2011/02/08/986/

18. How do we engage?

19. http://audioboo.fm/boos/367199-a-few-pearls-of-wisdom-from-jas-tdc11-re-community

20. Love your neighbour? What does it mean to ‘love your neighbour’ in a world in which a ‘friend’ might as easily be the kid from down the street you grew up with as a woman in Botswana whom you’ve never seen in person and only know in the context of Facebook status updates, photos, and notes? What is the nature of community at prayer in a compline service tweeted each evening by the cybermonks of a Virtual Abbey? What is the ecclesiological and liturgical significant of worship in various churches across the theological spectrum on the quasi-3D, virtual reality site ‘Second Life’? How can we negotiate spiritual interaction in these contexts without losing sight of basic elements of Christian faith expressed in traditional embodied and geographically located practices of prayer, worship, and compassion towards others? (p.xiv)

21. Who is a “Friend”?

22. Friendship “…Out of a commitment to an ideal of Christian relatedness that sees us all as God’s children, each worthy of attention and care.” (p.145) Where is the balance between conserving our sanity/deeper relationships, and ensuring that all feel valued? What about friendship ‘clearouts’?

23. DISCUSS: Authenticity & Anonymity Singularity of Personality (express differently on different platforms, online/offline spaces, but they are all rooted back to “me”)http://bigbible.org.uk/2011/06/7-principles-of-engaging-in-the-digital-space-by-andrewgraystone-medialit11/ As a theatre director I’m used to being hidden behind the art that I produce. My work has been hidden behind the personality of several actors who then incarnate my contributions http://bigbible.org.uk/2011/09/anonymity-constructive-or-obstructive-digidisciple/

24. Function “… when we resist the go-tell-it-on-the-mountain broadcast urge in an abundantly fertile medium, we have the opportunity to facilitate the sharing not of a narrow Christian message, but an expansive Christian practice with a whole host of people, known and unknown to us.” (p.146)

25. What would your commandments of social media be?

26. Some good Advice: Care for others - genuinely Know that the world doesn’t revolve around you Be ‘remarkable’, be different Earn the right to have others take notice of you Be grateful if ONE person cares what you’re doing Have something to say that matters Do stuff that matters – make an impact Strive to bring value to everyone you connect with Be fantastically generous with our time, money, and kindness Be outrageously committed to making the world better It’s all about relationships – build & nurture them Thanks @ianaspin (http://bigbible.org.uk/2010/10/the-eleven-commandments/)

27. So much more… http://bigbible.org.uk/2011/10/a-month-of-digidisciple-posts-%E2%80%93-september-2011-round-up/ http://bigbible.org.uk/2011/08/a-month-of-digidisciple-posts-august-2011-round-up/

28. Join us as a #Digidisciple? http://bigbible.org.uk/digidisciple/ Post on a ‘regular’ basis Posts that encourage thoughtful engagement and discussion Comment upon others posts

29. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME… been lovely being ‘In Conversation’ with you… Find me, Bex, on @drbexl, @digitalfprint, @bigbible