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IBM and the University of Southern California recently held an event discussing what life might be like in 2050. Among the scientists voicing their opinions was physicist Don Eigler, who spoke on embedding nanoscale technologies into humans.

By 2050, he foresees a future with parallel human processing that allows an individual through training or symbiant embedded devices to consciously think about two problems at once.

He also predicts a laptop that is 100,000 more powerful than today’s cutting-edge technology.

If these predictions are true, you have 42 years to prepare. How will these advances reshape culture? How could they be leveraged for ministry? Even if technology falls short of these predictions, it is still certain that there will be significant change. Keep a pulse on technology. It is advancing rapidly with a growing momentum.

[via CNET]

A few years ago, I discussed The Barna Group’s 2005 Protestant church technology report. This week, they released the 2007 Protestant church technology report. Here are some highlights:

65% used a large-screen projection system in 2007.
>> 62% in 2005
>> 39% in 2000

62% had a website in 2007.
>> 57% in 2005
>> 34% in 2000

Other interesting church technology statistics:

• 56% are using email blasts
  >> 56% in 2005
  >> N/A in 2000
• 26% are using social networking
• 16% are podcasting
• 13% are blogging
• 8% are using a satellite dish to receive broadcasts and training
  >> 8% in 2005
  >> 7% in 2000

Smaller churches with attendance of less than 100 use technology significantly less than larger churches. This is not surprising, but it is interesting to see how churches that are twice as large are substantially more likely to use technology.

For Discussion:
- How large is your church?
- What technology do you find essential for ministering to that size?

Just a friendly reminder that this year’s Internet Evangelism Day is April 27th. So be sure to take the next several weeks to consider how your ministry can better use the Internet for outreach.

2 Big Lessons from Jesus’ Ministry Marketing

Overall, two big lessons stand out to me from Jesus’ ministry marketing.

1. Product is Priority.
   Great products market themselves. Always be striving to improve your ministry. Above all else, strive to be more Christlike.
2. Maximize Your Distribution
   Jesus was purposeful in reaching new people. I believe it is the church’s responsibility to utilize technology to maximize their reach.

For Discussion:
What do you think the role of marketing is in the church?

>> Read part 1 of the series.
>> Read part 2 of the series.
>> Read part 3 of the series.

PSDtuts offers a helpful list of 9 essential principles for web design. It is a good reference for any church web designer or communications team looking to develop or overhaul their church website. Here is a quick overview with highlights:

1. Precedence (Guiding the Eye)
   The user should be led around the screen by the designer.
2. Spacing
   Spacing makes things clearer.
3. Navigation
   Buttons to travel around a site should be easy to find - towards the top of the page, easy to identify - they should look like navigation buttons, and well described - the text of a button should be pretty clear as to where it’s taking you.
4. Design to Build
   It’s really good to know what can and can’t be done, which is why I believe all web designers should also build (code) sites, at least sometimes.
5. Typography
   Different types of fonts say different things about a design. Make sure your text sizes are consistent, large enough to be read, and proportioned so that headings and sub headings stand out appropriately.
6. Usability
   With so much information and interaction to be effected on a website, it’s important that you, the designer, provide for it all.
7. Alignment
   You should go through and try to keep things consistently placed on a page. Aligning makes your design more ordered and digestible, as well making it seem more polished.
8. Clarity (Sharpness)
   Keeping your design crisp and sharp is super important in web design.
9. Consistency
   Everything should be themed to make your design coherent between pages and on the same page.

This is just a quick glimpse of the article. Be sure to visit PSDtuts to read the full explanation for all 9 principles of good web design.

Earlier this year, I and the rest of the team at Bombay Creative had the privilege to work with Jason Wenell of Prodigal Son Magazine to develop the backend coding for OneMillionWitnesses.com. It is a website looking for one million witnesses (Christians) to share their testimony while helping fund non-profits like Living Water International.

For a minimum donation of $10, you can create a block featuring your testimony. The first 100,000 blocks go to helping Living Water International build about 100 wells. Non-profits to benefit from the remaining 900,000 blocks have not yet been determined.

It is a similar concept to The Million Dollar Homepage except it is for humanitarian efforts and ”witnessing” and has significantly more pixels. To buy your block, visit OneMillionWitnesses.com.

Over the past year, Ryan Heneise from Art of Mission has been conducting a survey with churches about their websites. The results are in from that survey, and Church Website Survey Version 2.0 is under way.

Help Ryan out by taking the survey, and you may even win a $15 iTunes gift card. More importantly, your answers will help ministers understand how churches are using their websites and what features are most effective. Hurry, the deadline for your submission is November 30, 2007.

Nemertes Research predicts that by 2010, the Internet will be unable to support its user demand unless service providers invest 70% more funds ($55 billion) than planned into their infrastructures.

Streaming video, file sharing, and music downloads are dramatically increasing bandwidth use. And wireless devices such as the iPhone and Blackberrys are giving users greater access. In other words, people are using more bandwidth more often.

As a result, users could increasingly encounter Internet “brownouts” or interruptions to the applications they’ve become accustomed to using on the internet.

If their prediction is true, things could dramatically slow down for Internet ministry in a few years. Personally, I have confidence that either advances in technology will solve the problem or the service providers will come up with the cash to keep the Internet running well. Time will tell. But for now, heads up!

[via USA Today]