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).

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 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!

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:

• The LC--MS Synod and District Websites
• BBOV Blogroll Search

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

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

• Southern Illinois District
• South Wisconsin District
• South Dakota District

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

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!

We have just put the finishing touches on the initial roll-out of UACLutheran.Info - Groups! collaboration tools.

With UACLutheran.Info - Groups! your group can have a meeting place online. Work anytime, make sure everyone is "up-to-date" on what's going on. Start Your Group Today!!

You've visited a few times, but you're still wondering - WHAT IS THIS SITE ABOUT?

"This isn't your grandfather's blog..." In fact, this site isn't really about blogging at all. This site is about working together and getting things done. It's about tools and resources. It's about harnessing the creativity and ambition of individuals. It's about to actually doing something constructive online. It's about NOT duplicating effort. It's about learning from others, and sharing what we know and have accomplished.

Acts 2:44 sums up the purpose of this site nicely, "And all who believed were together and had all things in common." (ESV).

Need Help Organizing a group of people working on a common project?

UACLutheran.info is finishing initial development of tools to help geographically diverse groups work together more easily and productively. We will soon be looking for some groups to test out the software and give us feedback.

Possible uses of these tools include:

• Development of VBS/Sunday School/Bible Class Lessons and Curricula
• Pastors who want to jointly work on sermon preparation
• ANY project that has multiple people in multiple places that need to coordinate efforts!

WATCH THIS SPACE for more information. We expect to be able to begin hosting some initial groups by Sunday, March 30!

Know something of interest to the community? Submit an Article and let everyone know!

(Note: All article submissions are moderated)