What is in Kelvin's Head?

Dinner at the Trades House

09/10/2014

Out last night to a lovely dinner with the Trades House of Glasgow.

Glasgow is one of those cities where the Medieval Guilds of the city still exist. The various trades in the city formed themselves in to Incorportated Crafts which were ways of regulating (and monopolising) trade as the city grew.

Nowadays they give away a lot of money (over £600 000 a year) and maintain various traditions centred around the Trades House in Glassford Street.

Last night’s dinner was the choosing dinner for the Deacon Convener of the House. This is the highest honour for those involved and the person takes on a civic role in Glasgow for their year of office.

This year’s Deacon Convener is the Rt Rev Idris Jones, formerly the Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway and so it was good to be there to cheer him on as he took up his new role.

It was a great night out and fascinating to see an institution which dates back to the middle ages still functioning and still doing its bit to offer relief to those in need and training to the young.

The dress code was “Official, Evening (White Tie) or Highland Dress. Insignia and Decorations” so we were all very spruced up.

The best I could manage for Insignia and Decorations was the cufflinks pictured above.

I made them on Monday.

7 responses to “10 Discussion Points about the Church and Virtual Reality”

Tim

30/03/2012

Hear here. (Especially the evolutionary point.)

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chris

30/03/2012

…or even “hear hear”! Very pertinent in my neck of the woods, where the cyber-poor and the cyber-dinosaurs have their abode (and the second category is not necessarily related to the first other than in outcome).

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Pam Smith

30/03/2012

Excellent points.

I’ve been working in online Christian communities quite a while, and I’ve observed a couple of things that I think replicate mistakes in offline evangelism:

1) ‘Success’ is equated with numbers of followers not the quality of the interactions. So a lot of energy can be put into building up a following regardless of who the followers are. This often means attracting Christians who aren’t normally very interested in being online to your online project, rather than trying to make your online Christian project appealing to people who spend a lot of time online.

2) Events that are geared towards using the online media for evangelism and outreach almost always end up being evangelistic about online media not about Christianity

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Steve Murray

30/03/2012

I canâ€™t access the blog to post comments â€“ does this mean cyberpoverty may also stem from corporate repression? [These comments posted by Kelvin by request via email]

My â€˜cyberpovertyâ€™ is a deliberate choice â€“ I sit in front of a computer all day so have deliberately chosen not to be online at home. Is this really a societal evil … ?

The web is already beset by megaphones and proverbial empty vessels can make the most noise â€“ how do we distinguish between volume and quality â€“ I can follow thousands of religious twitterings but who filters out the distortion? â€“ c.f. The Guardian which is in the process of shedding journalists and filling its pages with â€˜comment is freeâ€™ â€“ aye, and you get what you pay for . . .

You do already provide ministries for the cyberpoor â€“ theyâ€™re called churches â€“ they have gravitas, space for quiet reflection, sanctuary from information overload, and a community â€“ long may they continue.

Will there be a paywall to fund the virtual church â€“ or will it be forced to rely on commercial sponsorship? A reading from the book of Numbers, brought to you in association with Lehman Brothers.

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Kimberly

30/03/2012

[…] Kelvin is asking good questions again about the theology and praxis of The Church and Virtual Reality.Â He sets out questions enough for several doctoral thesis, but it was this that caught my eye.Â […]

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Eric Stoddart

30/03/2012

Two important aspects that I suggest need to be added to your list, Kelvin.
(a) the monetarisation of cyberspace, especially of social networking (making money out of ‘friendship’ is a big business), and
(b) the effects of social networking as a means of surveillance (that’s lateral, between friends, as well as by mega-corporations); how is our behaviour being modified by the collection of, and categorisation by, our personal data?

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kelvin

30/03/2012

Thanks, Eric, yes.

And important to recognise that the church is in the business of calling on people in relationship with it to cough up money too. It isn’t just big business.

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