In this volume, we hear from a wide range of voices, including bloggers and students, technologists and theologians, entrepreneurs and pastors? from a progressive Episcopalian tecnho-monk to a leading Mennonite professor? from a tech-savvy mobile missionary to a corporate anthropologist whom Worth Magazine called “one of Wall Street’s 25 Smartest Players.” Voices promises to be a far reaching exploration of spiritual journey contextualized within a culture of increasingly immersive technology.

My essay is called A Networked E(-)cclesia - “Connecting the Church to Itself: Theory, Thoughts, and Tools.” In it, I draw together network theory, a little theology, and a few emerging technologies to sketch out a deep e(-)cclesiology that recognizes the fundamental unity of the church across temporal, cultural, ideological, and mediated boundaries. Toward the end, I let the web developer in me dream about the implications of a networked ecclesiology and how its virtual aspects might shape physical expressions of church, especially in the context of an open source project I’m co-developing with Imago Dei called “Sunago” (more on this shortly).

I would publish the essay here, but submissions are exclusive to the project for one year. Profits go to support the Not For Sale campaign to end human trafficking. More info when the e-book + audio is available at Amazon - from what I hear, other authors are cooking up some great ideas! I highly recommend checking it out.

Thanks to Ryan Imel for prodding me to contribute to the project.