Steve Taylor on Postmodern Monasteries

Steve Taylor, who will be publishing his paper on his DownUnderBlog really soon, makes some recommendations for "postmodern monasteries".

• A physical space. I think it needs to be earthed somewhere. It becomes far more meaningful if relationships are physically shared.

• Develop a rhythm of prayer, a shared daily spirituality that ensures geeks do more than see the neon glow of my screen. They work within a rhythm of appreciating people, creation and God.

• Build a community of “monks”, a group of people with “knowledge” not of copying books but of web design and video skills and graphic design. Some part-time, some spare-time, perhaps some full-time.

• Develop a few commercial projects to fund the lifestyle of the “monks”.

• Nurture, one at a time, authentic, low-budget group creative projects – “video” downloads for the world.

• Tap into “artists dole” and mentor developing Christian “monks”.

• Invite Christian teenagers to use the high-tech gear, to build relationships and share skills and develop their spirituality and take websites back to their church.

• Tap into Trusts for the high-tech gear and take computers to schools after-school. Teach kids in GI to log on and design their own webpage. Invite their parents to a viewing and tell them of the Kingdom of God in which the aroha of God crosses the digital divide.

A postmodern monastery - Combining authentic, low-budget group creativity with the task of preserving technical knowledge within the rhythms of prayer in order to cross the digital divide and catalyse open source spirituality.