About Me
I am Joe Tiedemann. A follower of the Way who currently resides in Central New Jersey and is the pastor of an old church and a new church. Trinity United Methodist Church in Spotswood has been around for over 135 years and is a small church in a small town with a really vibrant ministry. Monroe Community Church is a church that was planted in 2003 and (more or less) launched at Easter in 2006. You can read more about the ministries at their respective websites or come for a visit.
I went to seminary at Fuller Theological Seminary for three years part-time (I just had to live in LA as part of my spiritual quest) then came back to NJ and received a MDiv from New Brunswick Theological Seminary .
My church background is United Methodist and the church I grew up in was Manasquan United Methodist .
Some interests I have are environmentalism, triathlons, and open-source software.
Environmentalism is a passion of mine because it directly connects to stewardship of the planet and calls us to use our resources in a locally responsible way for the global good. It pushes me to think about the incredible connection we all have together and how something as mundane as water use or turning on a light connects us all together in many deep ways. I love the Book of Disciplines statements about the environment, although I don’t think it goes far enough.
When it comes to triathlons, I am training and racing. I am slow, but I am old and just started a few short years ago. I have given up on racing in half-ironman length races for now. Here are my excusses – I am nearly 40 years old and not in great shape to start, I have 3 kids under 10 years old, I enjoy my job which takes a lot of time and is directly related to my life commitment to be a follower of the Way, and I love spending time with my wife (who is not a triathlete), so I just can’t seem to find the desire to train the amount of time necessary to compete at that distance. I am looking forward to doing a few olympic and sprint distance races this summer.
My computer background is not all that comprehensive, but I do like to play. So, back in the day I played with hardware and built some machines. I’ve played with software and on the web. Recently, I have been concerned with the theological issues surrounding the stewardship of the church and the use of open-source software. I enjoy using Linux (Kubuntu and Ubuntu the most) and it functions at my job quite well – for free and based in a community with something of a biblical premise .
Open-source software has become a passion of mine due to the way most programs run on older machines efficiently and Linux is now a viable solution for incredible savings within the church. Why spend money and continue to support industries that perpetuate poverty and hinder educational advancement for corporate gain, when the church can be a leader in the open-source revolution.
Connect with me further at Facebook and Twitter where I tend to be most active.
