In blog we trust?
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Date: September 5th, 2003
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| 'Christians
have now begun to blog in ever-increasing numbers. It's a healthy
trend – blogging provides every would-be preacher the opportunity
to have their say, but with the online pew-dwellers being free
to get up and walk out at any point.'
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Christian
Blogs: Ten quite good ones
By Dave Walker
Dave Walker is editor of the Wibsite, whose 'Wiblogs' form a mildly
eccentric UK-based blogging community. He also writes world-renowned
'The dullest blog in the World', and is therefore just the man to
tell us about blogs and God.
The word 'blog' is short for 'Weblog'. 'A blog is a web page made
up of usually short, frequently updated posts that are arranged chronologically
– like a what's new page or a journal', says 'Blogger' a pioneering
blogging site which led the way in enabling an ever increasing number
of writers to inform, entertain and bore us with the greatest of ease.
Blogs fall into two main categories. The first consists mainly of
links to sites, articles and other blogs of interest, where the blogger
wiles away endless hours searching for that elusive link that no other
bloggers have found. No one may ever click it, but that's beside the
point. The second genre of blog is more of an online diary, where
the details of the blogger's own life provide the material. Most blogs
fall somewhere between the two of course, rendering my categorisation
less than useful.
Christians have now begun to blog in ever-increasing numbers. It's
a healthy trend – blogging provides every would-be preacher the
opportunity to have their say, but with the online pew-dwellers being
free to get up and walk out at any point. Blogging itself can be seen
as a spiritual activity – a natural extension of the Christian
'journaling' tradition. But bloggers who engage in particularly open
times of sharing should beware, there's always the slim chance that
someone might actually read it.
In choosing 'ten quite good blogs', I've attempted to include a range
in terms of church tradition, age, sex and location. Most blogs tend
to have an extensive 'blogroll' (list of links to favourite blogs),
giving the reader the opportunity to explore the furthest reaches
of the blogosphere for themselves. So, in no particular order:
1.
Real Live Preacher – 'Real Life Preacher' is definitely
from the 'diary' school of blogging. Not many links here, but a compelling
and humourous collection of short essays describing the ups and downs
of a Pastor's world. The Preacher's approach to faith is, to quote
his own
story (a must-read entry by the way) 'A passionate
love for Christ and his teachings mingled with a fierce skepticism'.
2.
Jonny Baker – Jonny Baker's blog is the best place
to keep up with developments in the 'Alternative worship' scene. Ideas
for worship are interspersed with the latest from London-based Alt.
Worship group 'Grace' and an insiders view of what's happening elsewhere
with all the Emerging Church links you'll ever need.
3.
cre8d journal – 'I've always been told
I ask too many questions' says lecturer and web designer Rachel Cunliffe,
'blogging has been a helpful way to organise my thoughts and get feedback
on my experiences and reflections'. New Zealander Rachel's site, one
of the best-designed in Blogendom, also includes a photo
gallery of a selection of Christian bloggers so we
all know what they look like. Useful.
4.
Connexions – Richard Hall is a Methodist
minister from Swansea. True to his blog's name, Richard interacts
regularly with other members of the global blogging community, commenting,
quoting and being quoted. Perhaps this diologue is one of the best
adverts for blogging, Christians learning from each other and people
who will never meet in real life building friendships and coming to
understand each other's point of view. Well, it sounds good anyway.
5.
John Davies – 'Notes from a Small Curate'
is 'updated regularly from a parish in Liverpool, UK'. John is also
one of the Greenbelt bloggers and can be relied upon for a steady
supply of interesting links and down to earth opinion.
6.
One hand clapping – Don Sensing is an United
States Army artillery officer turned Minister. His blog is concerned
mainly with providing commentary on current events and was noted for
his insightful analysis during the war in Iraq. Along with a handful
of other Christian bloggers (Joshua
Claybourne and Natalie
Solent spring to mind) 'One hand clapping' is a mainstream
blog likely to be found on the blogrolls of the rich and famous of
the blogging world.
7.
Andrew Sullivan – Talking of mainstream, Catholic
writer Andrew Sullivan's blog is probably one of the two most popular
in the world. 'Within minutes, you can have a website and post to
the universe any stray, brilliant or sublimely stupid thought that
comes into your mind' he says in a piece
on blogging. In true church style he holds 'pledge
weeks' where readers are encouraged to update their direct debits
and (presumably) sign up for the cleaning rota.
8.
It's a mystery – It is, to put it bluntly,
an awful shade of green. But 'it's a mystery', another Catholic blog,
provides a remarkably diverse selection of links every day on topics
of interest. Follow the link to the 'St Blogs' webring to step into
the wider world of Catholic bloggers.
9.
Ralph's Log – Student 'Ralph' represents
the voice of youthful blogging in our list. She (yes... she) seems
to draw a significant amount of inspiration from the members of her
family as well as crazy goings-on at college, work and most especially
church. The 'laughs per post' factor is high – definitely one
to watch for the future.
10.
Blogs4God
– Blogs4God is the place to find more Christian blogs. A continuation
of a Christian blogs list originally composed by blog pundit Martin
Roth, the directory gives pointers to interesting updates
from Christian blogs worldwide, posted by a team of moderators. In
the form of a blog of course. Readers can vote to rate blogs from
1 – 10 and there's a top 10 list so that egotistical bloggers
can see how many times they've voted for themselves. The directory
is run by Dean Peters of healyourchurchwebsite.com,
a 'tech-blog' (term meaning that it's a very useful site but us mere
mortals won't understand a word of it) devoted to 'Teaching, rebuking,
correcting & training in righteous web design'.
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