I guess rather than waiting for the market to become transparent on its own (like that would ever happen), what I understand the Freedom Software movement to be doing is to push the market in the right direction. I get the mental image of a tug boat trying to turn a supertanker.

In order to more quickly and efficiently turn the church into a radically transparent community, I would like to have a suite of applications available that would accomplish that.

As a pastor who has been and will be (for the next few years) serving small and rural congregations, it would be helpful to have something that is highly user friendly and intuitive. My experience is that people involved with the day to day operation of congregations generally do not have wide experience or significant skills in the area of computer technology (unless it is a larger congregation in a larger city who can afford to hire someone with that training and background).

Also, using the image of turning the supertanker, change in the church is a complicated beast and the easier you can make it the more likely you are to succeed. Because, unlike a corporation where the CEO or VP in charge of communication can simply mandate change, in the church you have to convince the membership of the need, wisdom, and practicality of the change you propose. And too often a few strong (or strategically placed) voices can sink your tug boat.

Scot

The lack of easy solutions for this kind of openness is being solved by companies, big and small, who are creating their own systems for doing this kind of communication. Unfortunately, most (all?) of them are “walled gardens” – they spread information effectively and easily, but they are not based on Freedom software and are not interoperable with other solutions. We do need more “how to” guides. One place I appreciate is Heal Your Church Website.

A secondary issue is this: In addition to the cultural shift that demands transparency is the amount of perceived additional work it would take to implement radical transparency. Whenever there is a major shift in congregational organization or administrative protocols people balk because they are comfortable with the status quo. The availability of technology to complete the tasks necessary for radical transparency are both an asset and a barrier. The asset is that when you write up your report, compile data, and have information to share it requires only a few clicks of the mouse to distribute them via email list serve or post them to a website or blog. The barrier is with those who have not yet adopted computer technology or are afraid of all of the negative info out there about the internet and identity left, etc.

One thing I would find helpful (even though I could do it myself) is to have a step by step “How To” with suggestions of optimal software and web resources to accomplish each of the steps.

Thanks for starting this conversation. In my work with conflict resolution transparency is one of the most effective ways to mitigate the effects of conflict or even avoid conflict all together.

Scot