Note ·
What seminary changed about how I build
Seminary changed the questions I ask before I build anything. I went to Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary to learn to disciple others well, and I never planned to become a pastor. I finished a Master of Divinity in 2022, and now I build software for churches. The theology comes with me into every product decision.
What is a church?
A church is a people called together and bound to one another. The New Testament word for it is ecclesia, an assembly, and that word keeps me honest about what software can help with. A church management system can tell you who attended. What I build has to serve how the people in a church know each other.
I wrote more about that word in Ecclesia: Without Community, There Is No Church.
Who is the shepherd?
Christ is the shepherd, and pastors serve under Him. In 1 Peter 5, Peter charges the elders to care for the flock in their keeping, and he calls Christ the Chief Shepherd. So a pastor is an under-shepherd, and any software I build sits lower still. Collie, the assistant in FlockConnect, is a sheepdog at the pastor’s side.
That order matters to me. A sheepdog can see things the shepherd misses and bring them to the shepherd’s attention. It does not decide what happens next. When I design anything in FlockConnect or Ozzie, I ask whose place it is about to take, and if the answer is the pastor’s, it does not get built.
What is a person?
A person is made in the image of God, and I am convinced that part of that image is the call to create. That is why I will not build software that writes sermons for a pastor. A sermon needs a shepherd who knows the sheep, and a model has never met anyone in your church.
Where does discipleship fit?
Discipleship is the point, and connection comes before it. Robert Coleman’s The Master Plan of Evangelism, one of the most impactful books I have read, comes down to pouring your life into a few people so they can do the same for a few more. Software can help a church notice who has no one yet.
The discipling itself still happens over a meal or in a small group. My wife and I lead a small group at Exchange Church. No tool I build will ever do that part, and I would not want it to.
AI taught me to code. Seminary taught me what the code is for.