If you live in Australia you might be surprised to discover the number of conferences that explore how the internet and technology can be used for ministry. Until last month, I didn’t realise there were any! Before you get your hopes up however, I should point out that each of these takes place in the United States:

"¢ Ministry 2.0
"¢ BibleTech:2009
"¢ Dynamic Church
"¢ Echo Conference
"¢ Innovation3 Gathering (took place in January)
"¢ MinistryTECH
"¢ MinistryCOM

To our readers in the US - make the most of it! If you go along to any of these conferences, I’d love to hear of your experiences and what you learnt. To the rest of us in Sydney, I have some suggestions for some more accessible events for learning about technology, the internet and how it can be applied to ministry. Each of these events takes place in Sydney.

"¢ Create Conference will take place on 14 November (2009 info available on the website soon). I need to put my cards on the table - I spoke at this event last year. However, check out the details on the sessions and if 2008 is anything to go by, more great content and inspiration is on its way.
"¢ Hillsong Church conference includes a leadership stream which covers marketing, communications, event planning and behind the scenes. I’ve only been to an evening session of the Hillsong conference, but I’ll check out this leadership stream this year.
"¢ CeBIT runs from 12-14 May. It’s not a ministry conference, but an industry exhibition showcasing some of the latest technology for business. The exhibition is free and when I’ve gone in the past, I’ve enjoyed an afternoon of exploring the exhibitor booths to see the latest technology and ideas, which was a great springboard for brainstorming how these might be applied to the jobs (now ministries) I’m involved in.
"¢ Adtech takes place from 10-11 March. You can visit the Expo Hall, Seminar Theatre and attend the keynotes - for free, but you need to register beforehand. Again, great for seeing what's new, and considering how this might be used in ministry.

I’ll be heading along to each of the above events and I’m hoping to share what I learn with you on this blog. Why don’t you join me at one, some or all of these events? Not only will we learn, but we’ll also have the chance to meet people from industry who are equally passionate about communication and technology, but who may not know the same life-saving message we do.

Let me know if you intend to come, and I’ll organise for a group of us to meet up afterwards for a debrief and to share some post-event ministry inspiration.