With the GodBlogCon only a few weeks away, I thought it was time to dust off and tweak The Church Directory, a blogroll designed to serve as a networking resource for evangelical bloggers. Since its inception in January, the blogroll has grown to include over 200 members and helped establish connections between bloggers who might not have ever found one another.
But while this modest tool has been useful for a small group of evangelicals, I think its time we opened it up to include all “mere Christians.” For us to truly break out of the “evangelical ghetto” we must strengthen the connections outside of our “holy huddles” and establish our presence within the larger circle of Christian bloggers. Instead of being limited to evangelicals, the CD blogroll will now be available to all those who adhere to the basic tenets of the faith.
I’ve also made several more changes in order to make this project more functional. The Church Directory now has its own page with an automated entry form that makes signing up as simple as filling in a blog name and URL. There are also four different scripts available so that bloggers will have more options on how many links to display (10, 20, 40, or all).
The most effective use of this blogroll, however, remains the way it can serve as a reminder to meet new Christians or bloggers with whom we’ve lost contact. With the blogroll randomly listing the members, it provides an excellent opportunity to explore unfamiliar sites or to reestablish connections. Using the Church Directory won’t change the world but it might help remind us that the "church" isn’t the buildings we meet in but the people sitting beside us in the pew.
1
The 'greater than' symbols do not copy and paste correctly. Also there needs to be a '/script' tag at the end.
posted on 09.30.2005 5:17 AM2
Now that you're opening CD a bit, how will it differ from Blogdom of God?
posted on 09.30.2005 6:39 AM4
Now that you're opening CD a bit, how will it differ from Blogdom of God?
That’s a great question. I see the Church Directory blogroll as being really like an actual church directory, whereas the BoG list is like a massive phone book. When Adrian put the BoG together he tried to be as comprehensive as possible and so he was able to create a very useful resource. But that roll includes many people who have no interest in building bridges with other “communities” (some don’t even want to be listed).
The CD list, however, is self-selecting. The people who join are – at least in theory -- willing to reach out to others and make new connections. If there are Catholics who can’t stand Calvinists or Lutherans who don’t like Baptists, then they probably won’t have an interest in joining the CD.
5
Good stuff, Joe.
When I dumped the code in, I picked the option to display the first 10 addresses.
Will it move down the list or randomly generate a new list? Otherwise only the blogs starting with "A" (or those smart enough to use a number or symbol to get listed first) are displayed.
posted on 09.30.2005 7:39 PM8
Hello Joe,
I have been trying to get someone's attention regarding my blog's entry to the CD. I had tried in the past to change its URL but no one I contacted could tell me how to. Leaving comments in the old post did nothing as well. I am hoping that this catches your attention. Could you kindly change the url to my entry to: http://intheouter.net/? Thanks!
9
I think that's a great idea. I'm glad to be on the directory.
posted on 10.04.2005 12:28 PM