Tim Postuma
I work for the CRC as 'web guy'. But that doesn't mean I'm a coder (others are way better at that than me). I'm first and foremost a communicator, so what I love to do is look for ways we can better communicate as a denomination using technology. I get to listen for ideas that are out there, come up with a few of my own, and help them become reality. Examples include the Network website and the Digital Library. I also connect with the web/communications people for each of the CRC ministries. So if you have ideas for how we can better communicate using technology you can feel free to route suggestions through me. We WANT those ideas. I grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba - go, Jets - but now live in Grand Rapids, MI (much to my surprise!). My wonderful wife is a CRC chaplain and we have three kids that keep us plenty busy.
Posted in: A New Way to Marry
Great food for thought. Even if you get married on a different day, it seems the principles here are worth considering in planning the ceremony.
Has anyone been to a Sunday service wedding? I haven't, but would be curious to hear from those who have.
Posted in: The System
To Scott and others commenting on this post....Thanks! You started a great discussion that has continued into this followup post by Norm Visser, and some comments posted there. Just wanted to make you saw that followup conversation as well.
Posted in: #Social Media
No problem, Aaron. Feel free to share a link or two. Either here in the comments or as a separate post (just click 'start a new post' button in the upper right corner). Welcome to The Network!
Posted in: You Write the Caption!
When the church switched to a 3-person 'preaching team', they forgot to specify that the pastors should alternate weeks.
Posted in: You Write the Caption!
Stan (and everyone else) - Staci justed posted an announcement of the contest winners. Thanks for participating!
Posted in: Interest Free Loans From the Benevolence Fund?
I like that direction, Bill. And if the family feels called to 'pay it forward' to help other families in a similar situation down the road, they could always voluntarily contribute to the benevolence fund over time. Not to pay back a loan, but out of gratitude to God.
Posted in: Right Here and to the Ends of the Earth
Thanks for your good work. And for your enthusiasm about The Network site in general.
Posted in: New Annual CRCNA Budget Process
I can't speak to how/when the changes get reflected in financial statements, but I can speak to why your church received a catalog. I believe the plan all along has been to continue making resources available to churches under the name/imprint of Faith Alive Christian Resources. See the first sentence of this Banner article (published a year ago, before Synod 2013's decision).
Posted in: Your Feedback = Chance to Win
Actually, Peter, that's something we've wondered about as well - giving each church their own "private" discussion area on The Network for their members. We just weren't sure how many churches would want that. It's very do-able, although it would require validation by the church office of who is/isn't a member of the church (currently, users self-report what church they belong to - but if it's private it needs to be stronger than self-reporting).
Or...to make it easier and almost (?) as good, we could set up a public discussion area for each church. That eliminates all the security/validation workflow and still gives each church their 'own' area, but would require people to use good judgment about what and how they post. I suppose large churches already have this need, since any 'private' discussion area is really 'semi-public' when the church is so large. Giving each church a separate, public area would be pretty easy to do.
Anyway, you've got the wheels turning here. And I'd be very curious to see if any other churches would like this. To assess interest, you might want to post this idea as a separate discussion topic (e.g. in the Church and Web area) to give the idea more visibility and get more people to weigh in on it.
Thanks for your interest in The Network, for spreading the word, and helping make it better!
Posted in: Your Feedback = Chance to Win
Thanks, Michelle. Great food for thought here...we'll be discussing it as a team.
Posted in: A New Network Site
Yes, at least on a per-section basis. When on one of the main sections, look for the 'comments' link at the top of the list.
Posted in: A New Network Site
Thanks, John. Latest posts are found on the home page and each section page. Latest comments are found on each section page (see 'Comments' link above the listing). We may look at adding more of those types of listings when the launch has settled down. Regarding comment formatting, we have scaled that back in an effort to keep things looking as clean and uncluttered as possible (too much formatting can get distracting). But we'll see how it goes, and may consider adding some very simple formatting back.