The environmental costs of the electronic gadgetry in our lives is enormous. Here is but a sampling of our current reality...

1. Video games and other devices are well known for being "vampire devices," wasting a lot of power when they are not being actively used.
   
2. Computers require a tremendous amount of heavy metals and other substances which are highly toxic. Those who are involved in the mining process (frequently in developing countries) are often negatively affected, and coltan—a critical element in today's cell phones—is linked to tremendous violence in the Congo. 
   
3. Millions of pounds of trash are created each year because these devices have a limited life span. (Of course, many are upgraded long before they truly need to be, just because consumers want the latest and best stuff.)
   

There are many things you can do to educate your congregation about environmental stewardship and environmental ministry as it relates to technology. Here are a few of my personal favorites...

A blogging friend shared this video yesterday on his site. Although it was created for those interested in marketing their products, it is in many ways equally applicable to the marketing of ideas, beliefs, messages, and values.

Scholz & Friends: "Dramatic shift in marketing reality from Michael Reissinger on Vimeo.

Assuming you just watched it, my hunch is you feel a bit overwhelmed and even inadequate at the moment. Clearly, technology has complicated our lives to the nth degree and filled our environment with options, noise, and distraction from both the inner life and the outer world. It seems harder than ever to communicate our message.

There are a host of research tools a Christian educator should have at hand, and one I think is worth the investment is a great computer Bible. Bible software is available from a wide variety of sources, and most any will suffice if all you want to do is quickly look up a passage or two in a few translations.

The trouble is, many Bible programs are filled with a lot of junk you really don't need, especially if you want commentaries based on the latest contemporary scholarship. This is because they frequently include lots of books and translations that are now in the public domain. (Typically, the only way to know when the books were actually released is to look at the copyright date within each program. They don't make it easy information to locate!) Further, many of the topical and study books that are included in the variously-labeled "Platinum/Scholars/Gold/Venti" editions are books few progressive theologians or scholars would recommend.

Curriculum providers are increasingly beginning to offer downloadable video clips for use in classroom and worship settings. Consumers are demanding resources that are quickly accessible, and the fact that video cameras and editing software are relatively inexpensive and easy to use is also enabling many independent producers to produce video clips. Unfortunately, as an experience watching a particularly offensive youth ministry clip reminded me yesterday, it is frequently hard to find great clips appropriate for progressive congregations. (Then again, that clip isn't suitable for any congregation!)

Here are a few places to begin your search. In future emails, I'll share additional clip sources, tips for selecting better videos, ideas for creating your own clips, the best places to share your videos, and more.

Over the course of a year, the digital junk in your computer can build up to one massive mess. Files get scattered everywhere except where you want them to be, email piles up, photo files become unruly, and downloaded PDFs and programs you thought you couldn't live without (but actually never looked at) take up hard drive space. It's time for a bit of end-of-year cleanup. Here are a few suggested tasks to take on. The time required will depend on how organized you've been all year— about an hour if you're neater than Monk, and much of the day if you're like, well, me...

Scraps of paper...stickies...Daytimers...PDAs...multiple calendars...browser bookmarks... all these and more are the common ways we try to keep track of the vast amount of information that comes at us each day. Some systems work better than others at reducing clutter (e.g. PDAs or iPhone) but those have their downsides too (e.g. dead batteries, forgetting to sync with your computer).

Now, I am not an expert on information management by a long-shot, but I do have several digital tools that help me to stay organized and to file away information in such a way that I can usually find it again. Among my favorites is a little application called Evernote...

Although your church members may claim they receive too many emails, it's very likely that many of them would indeed read a daily email during two key periods of the year: Advent and Lent. This is the perfect time to begin planning such an email (Lent's not far away, and Advent is obviously fresh in your mind.) Here's what I've learned from doing this myself...

Iowa (the state where Sally and I live) is a wonderful place, with a strong commitment to education. Many churches here, though, are not large enough to have their own staff person in charge of education ministries. Further, networking in person is often difficult because of the distances people have to travel and because many education staff are part-time (or is that part-pay?) employees. For these and other reasons, I started a listserv that anyone interested in Christian education in Iowa can join. Over the nearly 8 years of its existence, we've grown to about 125 members who can share ideas and pose questions all via email. Our list is among the largest Christian education-specific listservs in the country. ...

In an article I've posted previously, I suggested a few suggestions of how to use digital music with youth. But a few lesser-known iTunes features are more appropriate for adults...and they don't cost a thing!

 Most of us have had the experience of receiving a sending a document that couldn't be opened. It can be a frustrating and time-consuming experience (and it's not just a Mac vs. PC issue, by any means.)

If you share files regularly with committee members, teachers, youth leaders, church staff, or others, there is another great alternative...