It has happened to all of us at one time or another. We visit a website and find an article we absolutely must eventually read, but later the page seems to be gone. Or, we want to cite a page from an online article in a column or school assignment, but a few weeks later the article has been edited. Or, you find an article that features someone in your congregation that you'd like to share with that person, but when you print the article it looks nothing like you think it should.

In situations like these, screenshot software can be just what you need. A screenshot is just an image of a web page or portion thereof. If you've ever looked at a software tutorial online, you've undoubtedly seen screenshots. Recently, a new online tool, Aviary, has made the process of taking screenshots of entire web pages (and not just the visible portion, as many other tools do) a...um...snap! The videos on the Aviary page do a great job of explaining what their tools can do (which is a LOT more than just screenshots! Aviary can take and edit images, edit colors, edit vector images, markup images, and even edit audio.) And, amazingly, you can do it all for free! Aviary was even named the #1 underhyped web application of 2009 by Lifehacker.com.

Sunday School is now underway. The flurry of activity to find enough teachers, rooms, curriculum and supplies has calmed down at least a little bit. As Christian educators, it may be tempting to settle back and let the Sunday School teachers take it from here. Of course, you will continue to be available if they come to you with a question, but unless you hear from them, your work here is done…

Yes, it’s tempting, and in the short-term it may be a viable approach. Long-term, however, your job will be much easier if you continue to check in on Sunday School teachers.

God as Father,
caring, influential,
forgiving always.

God as Mother,
nurturing, challenging,
loving unconditionally.

A confession: History has always been my least favorite subject. In college, for example, I took, "Religion in the U.S." and "History of Psychology" -- two classes connected with my majors -- so that I wouldn't have to take general world history survey courses. When I think back on my seminary courses on Christian history, I'm embarrassed to say that I mostly just remember snoozing through lectures about popes, power struggles, and profoundly uninteresting (to me, at least) theological disputes.

Update: We've now transferred everything to the new server. It's kinda like moving to a new house, if house movers set up everything pretty much exactly the way you had it before. Yea!!

DifferentVoice.com is moving to a new server this week, and we'll be doing some testing and upgrades during the week of 9/27. New blog posts will not be added this week, and if you add comments, they will most likely not be visible once the move is completed. If you find the site to be unavailable temporarily, we appreciate your patience as we undergo some upgrades!  ~ Tim and Sally 

We understand. You're pretty busy. There were a lot of things on your plate way back on April 29th when we told you about 350 Day, the International Day of Climate Action, on October 24th. But now, the day is not far away, global warming hasn't gone away as an important topic for the faith community, and it's time to act! Here's your "Procrastinator's Guide" to taking part in just 4 1/2 weeks. You really can do it!

Week 1 (half week, thru Sept. 25):

• Read through as much of the 350 website as you can. it will inspire you, give you lots of great information and help, and connect you with others in your area who are already committed to taking action. At the very least, watch this90-second video, take a look at the 9-step organizing plan, and check out the page for people of faith.
• Find at least one group in your congregation with whom you can do your planning: a youth group, Sunday school class, small group, staff members, or just 3 or 4 friends in the congregation. Set a time to meet this weekend. We have a few ideas to get you started with your brainstorming.

If you still use color inkjet or laser printers in your office, computer lab, home, or elsewhere, you undoubtedly know well that ink and toner costs eat up a huge chunk of your tech budget. There are, of course, simple and free solutions to reducing your ink/toner usage, such as printing in draft mode, previewing pages to print only those you really need, and setting your default to greyscale.

However, these solutions are not always perfect, and they are hard to enforce in a public setting like a church computer lab. That's when print software can be helpful. Here are several tools worth exploring...

One look at the statistics is likely all you'll need to realize we have a significant problem in the church today: there are a lot of absent and disengaged men. According to a study of churchgoers by Gallup, 28% of women are fully engaged in church life, vs. 21% of men. 24% of men are actively disengaged, while just 16% of women are. Andanother study found that 65% of the people in church on Catholic churches are women; 64% in mainline protestant churches; 61% in conservative protestant churches. As one author has noted, men are more often absent from Christian churches than is the case in all of the other major world religions.

In coming weeks, I'll be sharing some other research and a few resources available for engaging men in Christian education, and some ideas that have worked in other congregations. However, this is a topic where there are not a great deal of good resources for spiritually progressive congregations. So, I'd like to invite you to be part of the dialogue and give your feedback on the reasons men are absent or disengaged from churches today, and your experience of what has or has not worked in your own congregation.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Matthew 5:9

Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.” Mark 9:36-37

“Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” Luke 18:17

“While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.” John 12:36

For all who are led by the spirit of God are children of God. Romans 8:14

We were all children at one time. I invite you to reconnect with your inner child.

Every so often I come across a gem of a series or book I wish I had discovered sooner. My latest find is the "Conversations with Scripture" series, published by Morehouse Publishing (an Episcopal church imprint.) The most recent (sixth) book in the series, which came out in July, is Conversations with Scripture: The Gospel of Mark, by Marcus Borg. 

Each book in the series contains an in-depth but accessible study of a biblical text, with an emphasis on the historical and critical background. Borg's 140-page book (each book in the series has a slightly different length) contains 5 chapters plus a series introduction, an autobiographical note, and an introduction to the book -- all of which are worth reading. The biblical text itself is not included, so the presumption is that the reader will first read that text, and then read and discuss the chapter's text. Extensive study questions are found at the back of the book for each chapter, along with various notes and recommendations for further reading.