UACLutheran.Info

Brothers of John the Steadfast (http://laymenetc.org)

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 10:11:00 -0400

Brothers of John the Steadfast has formed both an advisory board as well as a steering committee to help bring Issues, Etc. with Todd and Jeff back! From http://laymenetc.org (the official website for Brothers of John the Steadfast) (4/23/08): "It is looking less and less likely that Issues, Etc. will ever be back on KFUO, and while no one knows for sure if it will be back at all, we at Laymen with Issues, Etc. are preparing to roll out an organization with the aim of providing financial support so that lack of money will not be a factor in keeping Issues, Etc. off the air."

WIKI - A tool for collaboration

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 22:32:00 -0400

EMAIL IS NOT A COLLABORATION TOOL! It's a communication tool.

A wiki IS a collaboration tool.

Communication tools are either "interactive" or "broadcast". Interactive tools work when there is a small number of people involved and work best when there are only two. As more people get added, the number of messages necessary to keep everyone in the loop and up-to-date grows unmanageable for groups greater than 3 persons (and even with only three people, there are significant manageability issues).

In email, for each pair of individuals in the group, there are two communication paths (one in each direction) that must be maintained. The following table shows how many communication paths exist for a group of up to ten members.

Group Size	# communication paths
2	2
3	6
4	12
5	20
6	30
7	42
8	56
9	72
10	90

If you're trying to collaborate on a document or project and everyone had to email each change to all the participants, it's easy to see how difficult it would be to keep things straight. Let's take a practical example.

Using the camping scenario in the video: with four people, there are 12 communication paths. How would the scenario play out if the campers were to use email?

Mary begins two lists, items they have and items they need and sends them in an email to her three friends. John sees the email, makes changes, and emails it to the other three in the group. Then, Henry makes changes and emails everyone. Then, Frank makes changes and emails everyone.

At the end of this first round, each of the four people have sent three email messages for a total of twelve email messages.

BUT WAIT! What if Henry doesn't see John's email with the updates, but instead uses Mary's original list. Now both John and Henry have made changes without knowing what the other person has done. Now there are two different versions of the list. Which one is authoritative? What happens if Mary responds to Henry's and Frank responds to John's? How will the lists be coordinated?

Now, imagine that Frank and Mary were in charge of planning the menu. They communicate back and forth with each other by email, and plan on having peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch every day. The day of the trip arrives. They meet and hike all morning. At about 11:30, they are hungry and have found a nice area for a picnic. The scenery is beautiful. It's quiet and peaceful... 20 miles from civilization. They all begin eating their sandwiches.

Ten minutes later, John is dead. He had no way of knowing the PB&J sandwich plan, and he's allergic to peanuts. He dies an excruciating death from anaphalactic shock as his friends helplessly watch. OOPS!

A better way to collaborate is to have a single location where the information is stored and each person makes modifications to that single location. First, this means that your inbox will not be filled with old and irrelevant information. Second, it becomes impossible to have multiple versions of the list, because there is only one list. Third, EVERYONE can see the up-to-date information and make changes or give input as necessary.

That's the beauty of a wiki in group collaboration! You have a single place where the current and up-to-date information is kept and is easily updated by others in the group.

One of the tools available in UACLutheran.Info - GROUPS! is wiki pages. In fact, the entire site is a Wiki based site with some special extensions to allow users to easily create new pages from templates. Other tools include discussion groups and a group file repository for static documents, pictures, or other files.

Can you think of other tools that would be helpful? Visit our Support Group and let us know!

Theology 2.0 ?

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 20:32:00 -0400

No... not a "new theology," but a new way for theologians to interact and work together. The internet can actually break down geographical and temporal barriers. But, what does productive collaboration look like in the carrying out of a discipline like theology? The scientific community is making strides to share information and collaborate on various projects. You can find out more about how science is using the Internet to be more productive at MIT's OpenWetWare site at: http://blog.openwetware.org/scienceintheopen/ Posts of recent interest: * "The Science Exchange" - http://blog.openwetware.org/scienceintheopen/2008/04/16/the-science-exchange/ - * "Bursty Science Depends On Openness" - http://blog.openwetware.org/scienceintheopen/2008/04/13/bursty-science-depends-on-openness/ * "We still have a way to go folks" - http://blog.openwetware.org/scienceintheopen/2008/04/13/we-still-have-a-way-to-go-folks/ What would it take to get professional theologians to do the same thing? What tools do we need? How does it need to be organized? UACLutheran.Info is looking for your input in order to develop the tools necessary for productive use of the Internet for theological concerns. Get involved! Leave your comments and suggestions and help us help you help each other!

A Call for Concord - discussion on Wittenberg Trail

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 16:33:00 -0400

A good discussion seems to have begun on Wittenberg Trail about actually how to begin dealing with the divisive issues within the Lutheran Church -- Missouri Synod. Hopefully this is just the beginning of some actual work in that direction!

Custom Searches Added

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 08:59:00 -0400

UACLutheran.Info has put together some custom searches to help you find Lutheran Resources.

The first is The LC--MS Synod and District Website Search that searches lcms.org, other official websites that we know about (Reporter, etc.) as well as all the district web sites we could find links to..

The second is a search is the BBOV Search (What's the BBOV? - it's the Big Blogroll Of 'Vark!) to help you find confessional Lutheran Blog postings on subjects that interest you!

You can currently find both searches on the UACLutheran.Info portal site in the upper right-hand corner of the page. Or, you can use these bookmarks:

Searches:

We will be developing more custom searches in the future - so let us know your ideas!

4/10/08 - ISSUES Roundup

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 20:38:00 -0400

Three pastor's conferences have adopted resolutions regarding the Issues, Etc. debacle.

We're collecting copies of the resolutions we know about being adopted on a single page for future reference.

Look at our Calendar of Events

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:50:00 -0400

We now have an events calendar! Click on the Calendar link in the upper right-hand corner of our pages to take a look.

Have an upcomming event you want to share? Click on the "Add Master Event" button in the left-hand menu bar (near the bottom). Fill out the form, and if it has something to do with Lutheranism, we'll get it added!

4/4/08 - ISSUES Roundup

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:32:00 -0500

Here's today's roundup of Issues, Etc. posts:

UACLutheran.Info is still looking for desk editors. Email and let us know you'd like to help keep people informed about Lutheranism!

Rev. Cwirla provides a summary of the "two essential threads to the Issues, Etc. scandal." He also points out that the Issues, Etc. archives still have not been restored - and that at LCMS.org the interviews that Issues, Etc. has done with Rev. Matthew Harrison of World Relief and Human Care have been posted.
Pastor Weeden suggests that any gathering at the IC be a vigil and not a demonstration.
The Wall Street Journal has published more letters about the Issues, Etc. issue including a portion of Dr. Kieschnick's reply as well as four other letters to the editor about Issues, Etc..
Laymen, Etc. has posted a survey to guage "the viability of a new laymen's organization that would be devoted to supporting the proclamation of the pure Gospel in a world that is increasingly postmodern and unbiblical" in their exploration of "a longer-term vision for supporting the future of Issues, Etc. and other such worthwhile media endeavors.."
Bring Back Issues explores a provocative quote from a speech president Kieschnick made at a 2006 district convention in Cleveland, OH.
Save the LCMS provides samples of the afternoon show that replaced Issues, Etc.. They also point out that Ministry Watch gives KFUO an "F" for their transparency.

Did you see something we missed? Leave a comment and let us know!

4/3/08 - ISSUES Roundup (updated)

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 19:43:00 -0500

Here's a roundup of ISSUES, Etc. related news from the last day or so...

UACLutheran.Info is looking for a Desk Editor to follow the ISSUES, Etc. story! We are also looking for Desk Editors for other topics - YOU PICK THE TOPIC! If you peruse blogs or other sites about a specific topic somehow related to Lutheranism, email us and let us know what topic interests you! Some ideas include: Sermons, Lutheranism in the News, Lutherans in politics, Lutheran missions, Theological discussions, or just the Lutheran Blogosphere in general... use your imagination -- and help others know "what's out there" worth reading!

Update: Email link updated. Corrected link is: http://uaclutheran.info/profiles.php?uid=2. If you previously clicked and were unable to email, please try again.

At augsburg1530 Mollie Z. Hemmingway answers questions she's received about the response of President Kieschnick to her Wall Street Journal piece. She also posts a letter she sent to President Kieschnick regarding his response.
At esgetology: a reminder that the original response and the updated response both mention "programmatic and [business/]stewardship reasons" and also documents the attempt to get more answers to the many questions that remain about the show's cancellation.
Save the LCMS continues to try andmake sense of the numbers promulgated through the various official communications regarding the "ISSUES" issue.
Pastor Weedon, gives his initial reaction to the new show which has replaced Issues, Etc., on KFUO.
Rev. Cwirla shares some comments from a lawyer friend of his regarding Dr. Kieschnick's WSJ comments.
Wittenberg Media continues to post edited shows of Issues, Etc. for download to your IPod/MP3 player.

Note: Comment on this article and let us know if there are other sites we should be monitoring for discussion/news regarding the cancellation of Issues, Etc.

Rev. Cwirla: Please Don't Torch Ablaze

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 20:50:00 -0500

Rev. Cwirla attempts to keep Issues, Etc. supporters focused to the real issue saying: