John La Grou and Len Hjalmarson created the idea of a participatory book, and I confess that I’m not all that sure what happens but I confess that you probably do. Anyway, they asked me to write a piece and I chose to write on the impact of blogs and media on book reviewing and sent it on to them. It will appear in this book that collects together a bundle of fine pieces. Here’s the press release.
The Wikiklesia Project
Voices of the Virtual World:
Participative Technology and the Ecclesial Revolution

PRESS RELEASE
Publication Date: 23 July 2007
Distributed by: Lulu.com
Voices of the Virtual World: Participative Technology and the Ecclesial Revolution
Wikiklesia Press, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-9796856-0-6
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 9 July 2007
Website
Voices of the Virtual World explores the growing influence of technology on the global Christian church. In this premier volume, we hear from more than forty voices, including technologists and theologians, entrepreneurs and pastors… from a progressive Episcopalian techno-monk to a leading Mennonite professor… from a tech-savvy mobile missionary to a corporate anthropologist whom Worth Magazine calls “one of Wall Street’s 25 Smartest Players.” Voices is a far reaching exploration of spiritual journey contextualized within a culture of increasingly immersive technology.
ABOUT WIKIKLESIA: Conceived and established in May 2007, the Wikiklesia Project is an experiment in on-line collaborative publishing. The format is virtual, self-organizing, participatory – from purpose to publication in just a few weeks. All proceeds from the Wikiklesia Project will be contributed to the Not For Sale campaign.
Wikiklesia values sustainability with minimal structure. We long to see a church saturated with decentralized cooperation. The improbable notion of books that effectively publish themselves is one of many ways that can help move us closer to this global-ecclesial connectedness. Can a publishing organization thrive without centralized leadership? Is perpetual, self-organizing book publishing possible? Can literary quality be maintained in a distributed publishing paradigm? We’ve created Wikiklesia to answer these kinds of questions.
Wikiklesia may be the world’s first self-perpetuating nomadic business model – raising money for charities – giving voice to emerging writers and artists – generating a continuous stream of new books covering all manner of relevant topics. Nobody remains in control. There is no board of directors. The franchise changes hands as quickly as new projects are created.
Media Enquiries:
Len Hjalmarson, lenhjal@telus.net
John La Grou, jl@jps.net (530) 647-0750