The history of Episcopal blogs

In the years following Johannes Guttenberg's invention of movable type, a conservative backlash against press printed books spread across Europe. The mass production of books made them less expensive and more available, and wealthier collectors considered them to be common and less desirable than hand-wrought texts.

In the years following the introduction of the Mosaic Web Browser (1993), computer users started learning and teaching one another basic Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML), and they began posting web pages about whatever interested them. Many types of web pages were created; common users began documenting their interests and sharing sources of information as web logs (weblogs :: blogs). Again, skeptical consumers of information sneered at this new form of communication as they struggled to discern truth in the growing number of postings.

In the year 2000, Rick Johnson, then Director of Grace Cathedral's GraceCom, asked me to join him at conferences around the Episcopal Church to present workshops on effective church websites. What I noticed as I started talking to people about the growth of blogs, was a growing distrust of blogs as sources of reliable information. "How do you know you can trust what you read in a blog?" These questions came just two years after Matt Drudge blogged that Newsweek had information about an affair between the President of the United States and a White House intern.

Seven years ago, blogs as news and sources of news created a firestorm among the mainstream media, and among consumers of information who were realizing that a trend toward speedier content delivery was developing in content distribution.

Now, seven short years later, all that is reported, related, shared, and cross-referenced in blogs has created a virtual galaxy of information some call "the blogosphere." Whatever your interest, or need, or area of research, you can find communities of people sharing and commenting on just about anything.

Trusting the information is still an issue. Dave Kim, blogger and Global Sales Intranet Manager of Symantec Corporation says that you trust blogs the way you would trust information in any community of discourse. "Blogs in and of themselves are rarely reliable. They must have other sources -- links to groups who are talking about the same issues," Kim told me in a recent IM chat. "Over time you grow to trust blogs for different reasons. Some group blogs you simply grow to rely on over time: i.e. reading Gizmodo for tech news."

Kim also told me "There is a community of what they call A-listers. They get the big hit counts. How they become A-listers is subjective, it's like celebrity."

Kim's blog is more about making connections with friends than breaking news. He blogs to share personal thoughts and photos with his community of friends. In eight years his blog has had two million hits. "I'm not an A-lister by any means," says Kim. "My friend Ernie gets five million hits a year. Do you know how many small companies would kill for that kind of traffic? :)"

According to Kim and others, you can grow to trust the credibility of a blogger by the number of other bloggers producing worthwhile information that link to them. If blogs or other websites that you trust frequently link to them, you are more likely to return to them for information. Blog trust is similar to brand loyalty.

Church in the Blogosphere

In the Episcopal Church, bloggers have become like the monk scribes of old, scribbling marginal notes on scripture, philosophy, prayer, meditation, church governance (polity), social justice, any thing of interest to them, and to the church.

One such virtual scribbler who has risen to the ranks of Episcopal A-lister is an East Coast priest who calls himself Fr. Jake (not his real name).  In his profile Jake says that he chose the name because, "since I first read the story as a child, I have identified with Jacob. He's a bit of a rascal, wrestles with the angels, yet still blessed in spite of himself." Fr. Jake's blog, "Father Jake Stops the World," has a large community of readers on all sides of issues who post comments on his blog. Fr. Jake tends to come down on the more progressive side of church politics, while his spirituality has depth and maturity. A number of comments argue with his positions, no one questions his faith.

Another A-list blog on the national level is "Titus 1:9." Managed by the Rev. Dr. Kendall Harmon, Canon Theologian for the Diocese of South Carolina, "Titus 1:9" is a news aggregation site. In other words, Harmon posts links to news stories from sources all over the internet. He is a champion of those who identify more closely with the Primates of the Global South than as members in TEC, and he has coined two labels that have made it into broader debate in the Church: "reappraisers" and "reasserters." "I have sought again and again to describe this debate," writes Harmon, "as one between reappraisers, those who believe the biblical and traditional witness in sexual ethics needs to reappraised [sic] in the light of new knowledge, and reasserters, those who are more than willing to dig again into the foundation sources and thereby to reassert the standard which is still ironically officially unchanged in the Episcopal Church today."

The sheer volume of content posted daily on "Titus 1:9" is a testimony to the vitality of the blogosphere. Many have questioned how he does it. Answer: "Web elves," or trusted helpers. The reference for Titus 1:9? "He must have a firm grasp of the word that is trustworthy in accordance with the teaching, so that he may be able both to preach with sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it." I would be remiss not to point out the satirical site "Titus 1:10" [titusoneten.blogspot.com], which cites the King James Version: "For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers..."

Another blog on the Episcopal A-list is "daily episcopalian." Jim Naughton, author and journalist (New York Times, Washington Post, Slate, ESPN) turned Communications Director of the Diocese of Washington, must start each day by reading a stack of blogs. Naughton regularly tells you what's going on at a whole host of different Episcopalian and Anglican bloggers' websites. "daily episcopalian" (an official blog of the Diocese of Washington) actually started as "The Blog of Daniel," a blog that tracked the short-lived NBC comedy/drama called "The Book of Daniel," about a pill-popping Episcopal priest. The show built a strong audience of Episcopalian fans and critics early on, many of whom were looking for a place to talk with others about "Book of Daniel" episodes. When the show was cancelled, readers and Naughton did not want to give up on this new community, so he kept blogging and changed the name to "daily episcopalian." Rumor has it that Naughton is working on a group blog (a blog with more than one contributor) with colleagues from throughout the Episcopal Church and that it will be live before Easter. Stay tuned to "daily episcopalian" for more news about that.

There is a brand new blog that deserves mention because it is a semi-official blog of the Episcopal Church (TEC). The brain-child of the Rev. Jan Nunley, Deputy for Communication at TEC, and designer Wade Hampton, "EpiScope" is primarily a news aggregation site, with some original content as well. One of "EpiScope's" greatest assets to date is its blog-roll (links to blogs covering similar topics) of Episcopal/Anglican bloggers from left, right and center, and broken down in that way. "EpiScope" provides a great list of Episcopal A-listers. The content is A-list as well.

Episcopal California's A-list

In the Diocese of California, there are many priests, deacons, and lay people who blog, and they blog about all sorts of things. The Rev. Stacey Grossman is Rector of Church of the Nativity, San Rafael, and a competitive rower in the Marin Rowing Association. Her blog, "RevRows!," is mostly about her competitive rowing life. Most of her entries are brief, and -- like most churchy blogs -- use inside language. (Grossman mentions that she "erged," and a few other words I've never heard of.) Watch for the occasional theological reflection in Grossman's blog. One entry provides interesting reading about how as a rower she identifies with Jesus' disciples in the act of rowing.

A complement to Grossman is Tracy Longacre, a deacon from Menlo Park whose blog "RevRuns!" is about -- you guessed it -- running. Longacre is actually one of the most wired clergy in our diocese. Currently serving at the Presbyterian Rural Training Centre (PRTC), Fonta in the North West Province, Cameroon, Longacre blogs about her experience in Cameroon. She posts photos from her daily life on Flickr, more of her best photos on her photo site, and she also maintains a more personal blog. (She is even experimenting with a lot of Web 2.0 applications, but that's a whole other article.) Longacre is definitely a member of our diocesan A-list.

Brkarekin

But perhaps the geekiest of all our A-listers is the "Punk Monk." Br. Karekin Yarian is a member of the Brotherhood of St. Gregory and is the Minister Provincial in Province 8. You might be most familiar with his work if you use any of the Rite Series® software. Yarian is a chief developer for The Rite Stuff, and the other software in the series.

I first became aware of him in 2002 when I was at a party hosted by Harper San Francisco. I was introduced to Jay Bakker, and we were talking, and he kept saying, "I have to meet the Punk Monk. Is he here? Have you seen him?" And pretty soon, there was this monk who looked... well... like a punk. Bakker was a fan of Yarian's blog back then (and if you've been blogging since '02, you've been around for a long time). Currently Yarian is working as the church administrator at Trinity, SF, and will probably dial-Trinity-in as one of the most wired churches in the Diocese. You'll find lot's of great Web 2.0 tinkering in his "punkmonk sf menu."

Another of our A-listers is the Rev. John Kirkley, Rector of St. John the Evangelist, San Francisco, and President of Oasis California. Kirkley blogs about everything from family life to Anglican/Episcopal politics on his blog "Meditatio." "Meditatio" frequently gets linked to by TEC A-listers, and Kirkley is a respected voice for the full inclusion of all baptized persons in the church throughout the world. He also is a regular contributor -- with a little help from CDSP student Tom Jackson -- to the Oasis news blog.

Another superb clergy blog is "Caught By the Light," maintained by the Rev. Richard Helmer, Rector of Church of Our Saviour, Mill Valley. Helmer is a prolific writer who pours a lot of heart and soul into each post. He is also a frequent commenter on a large number of other blogs. And, what I really love about Helmer is that he's a great preacher; I know this because I've listened to his sermon podcasts. They are linked to from his blog, and you can also find them on the website of Church of Our Saviour, which is a model for church websites everywhere.

Both the Rev. Gail Greenwell, Rector, and the Rev. Amber Evans, Associate for Youth and Children's Ministry, at Church of the Epiphany, San Carlos, keep a blog at "Irreverent Epiphanies." If you were ever looking for one place to find all of the NPR stories of interest to passionate people of faith, Evans posts many of them -- and other great stuff -- on "Irreverent Epiphanies."

And for fear that he might blog about me if I don't mention him, the Rev. Robert Warren Cromey, retired Rector of Trinity, San Francisco, and diocesan gadfly, writes about justice, preaching, and church growth at "Cromey Online." Cromey has a discipline of writing 500 words every morning whether he feels like it or not -- a habit that all preachers and church communicators should emulate.

Finally, our diocesan A-list has a new player. This new blogger jumps into the A-list after a short time blogging because as soon as he started blogging, a large number of TEC's A-listers started paying attention to him. Bishop Marc's blog is BishopMarc.com, and features new posts weekly from the bishop and invited contributors. When asked why a blog, Bishop Marc responds simply, "So that we might become the beloved community." While Bishop Marc blogs primarily about Wisdom Christianity, what he has called "the marriage of contemplation and a commitment to social justice," he also posts observations about news in the Episcopal Church, the Anglican Communion, and the world. You can find audio of his sermons in his blog, and links to interviews with Bishop Marc in the mainstream media.

This list is by no means exhaustive, and I would love to find out more about who is blogging in the Diocese, so please send links to PCN@diocal.org, and we might just add your favorite blog to our A-list.

Sidebar:

Of course some of you are probably wondering why I've failed to mention video blogs (or v-logs). Well the reason is that I haven't seen anything that qualifies as a v-log produced within our diocese … yet. Of course, the Very Rev. Alan Jones, Dean of Grace Cathedral has been posting video messages at www.GraceCathedral.org for years, but I'm not sure I'm ready to call those posts v-logs. So, here's a challenge: Who among you will be the first to post a regular v-log? The finest example of an Episcopal v-log is "Father Matthew Presents," he sets the bar high.