Brethren, We Have Met to Worship

I've been experimenting with mastering technique with Logic 8, and this is the first audio I've attempted it on. I'm assuming I have just WAY too much going on. And it's live. But I still think it sounds better than it did before.

This was from worship this past Sunday at Uptown Church. Had a great crew, and this piece was particularly fun.

Church and Marketing

I hope Escher is at the top of these stairs or we will fall

As is my habit, I am in the middle of a big overhaul project. This time it is our church website, uptownchurch.org. The current site actually looks decent, it just isn't functional. The backend is Adobe InContext Editor, which no longer exists. So of course updates and support have ceased. I used to be able to get in still, but now, using three different browsers, I can no longer edit the site without going into the code. Which is not among my talents or skills.

So we're converting our site to a Wordpress based site, using StudioPress's Genesis framework as the skeleton. We've got most of the wireframe data in place, just working through style. And in the process, I have been digesting more than the daily recommended allowance of church websites looking for ideas and inspiration.

I don't know anything about marketing. Or web design for that matter. I am, however, concerned with the relationship between form and function, particularly as they relate to ultimate things such as the praise of the Father, Son and Spirit. And maybe this is just another reference to that classic triad truth, goodness and beauty. When we redesigned our worship guides, those three perspectives were of utmost importance. Perhaps form is beauty and function is goodness, while truth is, well, truth. The goal was to be as helpful as possible in assisting God's people toward the end of more and better worship. Scripture references, citations, liturgical headers and definitions, all are intended serve that ultimate end.

I want this website to be the same. But traversing the web on the sites of some of the more notable churches in America can be disillusioning. My struggle is that there seems to be a very fine line between the language used to sell a product, and the language used to invite people to live. Our goal is not ultimately more web traffic, more stuff, more notoriety or visibility, or any of that. But to the extent that we see information and technology as an avenue of fulfilling the great commission, those things may ore may not accompany.

I think the beauty of these multiperspectival triads is that, being rooted in the Trinity, or the offices of Christ, they are parts of a fixed pie. Christ is not 1/3 Prophet, 1/3 Priest, and 1/3 King, he is infinitely and perfectly all three. Nothing we do could possibly be infinitely or perfectly anything, but the realization that you don't necessarily have to rob one to fund the other is encouraging. So, as a goal, we want our web site to be as fully true, good, and beautiful as possible.