Making a Faith-Based Community:
The Connected Community

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You've heard of Facebook and Twitter. Now, get ready for Connected Community. Connected Community is a new communication tool under development exclusively for ministers, members and guests of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the Southwest. Connected Community allows members to communicate with one another over a private computer network, using the latest tools the Internet offers. Connected Community is easy to learn and simple to use—literally taking only a few minutes' time to master.

Connected Community allows churches—previously unconnected—to exchange effective ideas and projects for worship, outreach, evangelism, fundraising and other ministries. Connected Community allows ministers—previously unconnected—to exchange ideas, concerns and prayers, and to seek support from one another in a confidential venue that only members may access. For the first time, Christian Churches in areas and regions will be connected to each other the way Facebook connects "friends" and Twitter connects "followers."

Connected Community is not intended to replace the fellowship found only at church, or the hard work of committees or, most especially, the one-on-one personal conversations we all cherish. Rather, Connected Community supports the mission of church members and clergy by offering—for the first time—a computer network foundation for the whole region to make ministry more effective, organized, efficient and when needed, confidential.

Facebook, Twitter and other social networks are useful primarily to connect friends or to relay short messages. But these social entertainment platforms lack what Connected Community offers: security and privacy; careful governance and reliable predictability; easy-to-use tools and features that allow users the ability to easily collaborate with others to complete projects, to search robust archives, to seek expert advice and to reach out to younger adult church members who almost exclusively communicate over the Internet.

Connected Community is a vast new resource for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). For the first time, previously unconnected communities—whether they be a Christian Women's Fellowship group, church Education Committee chairs or a Property Committee chair in need of volunteers—will have the ability to join together for collaborative projects. Churches won't have to re-invent the wheel when they have an idea to explore or execute because a Connected Community member will likely have answers and resources for them. Ministers who need the ability to exchange information, to seek advice and support or simply to talk among one another in collaboration will be able to do so on Connected Community. Young people who seek a meaningful and relevant church experiences and relationships will know they have a place in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) because Connected Community—like Facebook—is a part of their daily lives.

Connected Community has been designed and is being built by TeleWorship Corporation of Dallas, Texas. Online at www.teleworship.com, TeleWorship specializes in connecting God's church to God's people through innovative technology services for homebound shut-ins, content-rich Web sites for churches and denominational agencies and offices (including the Southwest Region site at www.ccsw.org) and through Connected Community, a vast communication network under development that allows church clergy, members and their guests a collaborative social network for accomplishing ministry. Bill Anderton, past president of the board of directors of Central Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) on Dallas (www.cccdt.org), is TeleWorship's CEO and Chief Scientst.

Become a Member of the
Connected Community

The Connected Community is available to any member (clergy or laity) of a church in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the Southwest.

Click here to start the process for becoming a member.

The membership process: When you click on the link above, you will first be required to complete a quick Guest Registration that will prepare your access account. Upon establishing your Guest Account, you will be shown a Guest Account Confirmation page. Click the "Continue" button on the confirmation page and you will be shown the Member ID Request form. When you complete and submit the Member ID Request form, we will process your request for membership. All people submitting qualifying requests will have a Member ID assigned to their Guest Account and will be automatically upgraded to full Member Account status. You will then be able to access the Connected Community. Requests for memberships will typically be processed during normal business hours.