The Future of 'Exploring Ecumenism'

I have, during the last week, been reviewing my blogging and now I am at the stage where I can announce the changes I intend to make over the coming months.  Why am I making these changes?

I have found writing for Exploring Ecumenism very stimulating.  It has helped me sort out my ideas.  Writing is a voyage of discovery.  Time and again I've mapped out a sequence of ideas and then as I have developed them, have found a huge number of thoughts appear as if from nowhere.

However, for whatever reason the traffic on this blog has been low.  There are about 240 posts in this blog and most of them are lengthy.  Very few people comment which might be to do with the length of posts and/or their complexity and/or the topic.  Ecumenism does not seem to be a terribly popular subject!  Also my focus has been on seeking a theological underpinning for ecumenism and so I have not really addressed the current debates any in depth.

In addition, my circumstances are changing.  Although I will still be working in the field of ecumenism, I will be part-time.  This frees me to explore other things and these are not likely to be ecumenical in nature.

So, what are the changes to be?

This week I launched my new website, So What?  From now on this will be my main site.  It will be a more general blog where I can experiment with a range of topics and styles.  I hope to use it to explore new ideas and themes as I encounter them.  I will experiment with styles, including more frequent shorter blogs.  There will be more videos and photos. 

Themes I have planned for the near future include improvisation and spirituality; an exploration of the place where I live, which I hope will have universal interest; lots of radical theology and hopefully not too many sentimental videos about dogs.  This will largely be independent of Exploring Ecumenism but I will link across where a theme suggests it. 

I will still post frequently for Exploring Ecumenism but probably not as frequently as before.  I will from time to time post sequences where I explore an issue in depth, but I hope to move the emphasis to shorter posts relating current affairs to the existing archive of posts.

As an employee in the field of ecumenism, I need to be mindful of the agreed policies of my employers.  This means I need to clearly state that everything on both blogs is my own opinion.  So, the line I'll take in Exploring Ecumenism will be to clarify current ecumenical affairs.  If I can help the reader understand some of the complexities that will be worthwhile.  I suspect this might be more difficult than it sounds!

Over the coming months I hope to reorganise the Exploring Ecumenism site so that some of the main sequences are more accessible. 

As always I welcome suggestions, comments and criticisms. 

Comments

[Chris Pritchard]

Chris
One reason for your lack of comments could well be the length of you posts which while very interesting often contain a number of points for discussion.

With regard traffic there may be a practical issue. I read you blog in a RSS reader. Your whole article appears in the reader so there is no need for me to visit your blog and hence you get no hits on your site from me although I do read all that you post!

You may be able to alter this in your settings.
Chris

[Chris Sissons]

Hello Chris, I despair that everything I write comes out longer than anticipated. You should hear my sermons: 'A brilliant concatenation of quantum mechanics and eighteenth century evangelical theology'.

Thanks for the tip about the RSS Reader. I've sent a ticket to the Typepad staff as I haven't a clue what to look for and they should be able to point me in the right direction if there is a direction to be pointed in. Chris

[Graham]

Well I read from time to time since you provoked me to!

Ecumenism is not an interesting subject IMHO, but you write well. Some indexing would be good.

It is good to read an advocate when I despair! Thanks.

[Chris Sissons]

Thanks Graham, I try to keep it lively. Sadly my next posts on this blog will be looking at some more conventional ecumenical issues but I'll try to keep it interesting.

I do hope to do some indexing and put some sequences onto pages but it all requires time.

I have started a second blog, So What?, which is on more genral themes and I hope a different style - although it will take a while to evolve. I have been reading your blog and it has been an inspiration in several subtle ways. To find it go to http://chrississons.typepad.co.uk/so_what/ - but please don't abandon Exploring Ecumenism - you never know I might write something interestting one day!