Christarchy hits 200! (now what)?

[Mark Van Steenwyk]

Hey folks. Christarchy now has 200 members. I had originally launched this site as a way of fostering small groups to gather to discuss the radical implications of the way of Jesus. But I'm finding that, for the most part, that isn't happening.

What is happening is folks connecting with one another, though with some energy and focus, this site could do that better.

To be honest with you, after I built the site, my focus has been elsewhere...and I believe there is a lot of potential here. A site like Jesus Radicals (jesusradicals.com) serves a lot of people, but its way of being interactive is through forums--it doesn't allow for groups to sign up or for profiles. And, I'm not sure that someone needs to be a Christian Anarchist to be a Christarchist. Those two phrases aren't simply interchangeable.

So, here's what I'd like to know:

1) Can you think of some things to do with this site that aren't currently being done?
2) Are a few of you willing to take on some administrative duties--putting some time and energy into the site--to foster a more dynamic site? I don't feel like I have the time or attention to give this site what it deserves.

[Mark Van Steenwyk]

Clarification: I'm not dissing on Christian Anarchism. I generally call myself a Christian Anarchist, but I don’t believe that someone needs to be one to feel at home at Christarchy.com…that’s the only point I’m trying to make. Breaking the words down, a Christian Anarchist is a Christian who aligns himself or herself with Anarchist ideas. A Christarchist as I use the word would simply need to affirm the political rule of Christ…though that doesn’t necessarily mean that they have to be an Anarchist.

Mark

[Jordan Lane Peacock]

I've been working with a few people over at Jesus Manifesto (.com) to look at site updates, administration, and potential foundation changes and redesign. Part of that was looking at a way to tie the Christarchy forums to Jesus Manifesto comments, and merge the multiplicity of profile stuffs, amongst other integration bits.

I've talked with Ning at length about it and it definitely can be done. It's really a question of a) time and b) expertise.

As a tech at a software company, I've been able to put some time into research/test implementation. Would love to hear other's thoughts/ideas.

[Jordan Lane Peacock]

PS - I've got some VMs to play around with if anyone knows how I can host them. My company moves offices this week and I move house two weeks after that, so my technical setup is in a bit of disarray at present.

[Micael]

Now we've hit 300!!

[Jason Barr]

Honestly, I'm still really interested in the original idea, though I think it may be best implemented as kind of a sub-set of the overall movement of connection that seems to be happening here. What I'm trying to figure out, though, is how much different from a practical standpoint what happens here is different from Common Root, other than that Common Root is explicitly related to Anabaptist ideas. That may be the difference. As such, I'm still trying to figure out how much of what limited energy I have (between running Absolution Revolution, being a husband, trying to do local ministry, and starting classes this fall at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary) I can afford to invest at either site, how much to pour into which, and so on. But I think what's happening here could still have a manifestation in connecting people locally as well as across localities. There's no reason to call it an either-or thing, though I think you're definitely right that the translocal connections are happening more here.

Shalom,
Jason