The Ministry Technology Institute just had its first class yesterday afternoon! I’m on their Advisory Board and I’m also taking advantage of the opportunity to go through their classes as a good way to both provide feedback and of course, learn something new, which I manage to do just about always and everywhere. They are still taking applications for the charter class of their certification program (become a Certified Ministry Technologist!) for another few weeks. Nick and Steve are both top notch and have been around the block a few times, in addition to the classmates from around the world that are already a part of the Institute. It’s an online-only program, and they have plenty of info at their website if you’re interested. The charter class is also available at a reduced cost, so now’s the time to get it on it!

Tomorrow afternoon at 2 pm Eastern is the next episode of the Church IT Podcast, hosted on TalkShoe by Jason Powell, the King of Church IT (if you were at the Fall Church IT Roundtable last year where I accidentally coined that nickname, that joke might be funny :-) Don’t miss it if you can make it (I’m not sure if I’ll be there or not, unfortunately I may not have the opportunity this time). There is still the option to download a “Classic” Java client for TalkShoe chat, but they just introduced a new Web version that does not require a download ahead of time and looks more like an IRC chat window. It’s in alpha but looks nice; you can use either one you want.

Speaking of chat, if every two weeks is just too long to wait for the Podcast, you can jump in to the IRC chatroom “24/7 CITRT Roundtable” set up on the Freenode server (IRC, or Internet Relay Chat, has been around forever, or just about, in internet terms, but is not quite as common as it used to be). Justin Moore posted a couple of excellent posts talking about the #citrt chat room and about how to use IRC. He also links to Jeffrey Thompson’s screencast demonstrating graphically how to install the ChatZilla Firefox extension and join in the chat. If you’re a Church IT person, you need to be in there at least from time to time and build your network of geek friends while sharing technology tips!

So, there’s three ways you can get involved in the Church IT community without giving the seat of your chair the opportunity to rebound from your butt imprint. Go!