{"id":1186,"date":"2017-09-18T12:24:07","date_gmt":"2017-09-18T17:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/2017.dfw.wordcamp.org\/?p=1186"},"modified":"2017-09-18T13:55:36","modified_gmt":"2017-09-18T18:55:36","slug":"my-wordpress-story-preaching-through-wordpress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/my-wordpress-story-preaching-through-wordpress\/","title":{"rendered":"My WordPress Story: Preaching Through WordPress"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Christopher Harris is the Speaker Wrangler for this year\u2019s WordCamp DFW.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>My journey with WordPress began in 2005 when I set up a blog for my mother. I found WordPress easy to use and install. It was perfect platform on which for my mother to learn to blog. I was a seminary student at that time studying to become a Pastor.<\/p>\n<p>I concluded my seminary studies in 2008 just after Facebook opened to users beyond those with a .edu email address. I&#8217;ve always been doing the tech thing along with ministry. When I came out of seminary, I was really was like, &#8220;I don&#8217;t really feel called to work with one congregation right now. I feel called to help the church learn how to use digital communication tools for ministry.&#8221; So I started a ministry organization called, <a href=\"https:\/\/faithgrowth.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Faith Growth<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>At Faith Growth we are digital ministry consultants. Our goal is to make digital easy for church leaders. We have been at this just over five years and just now feel like I know what I am doing. I would not be here today if it where not for the WordPress community. I have learned the ins and outs of WordPress from the community via user groups, online tutorials, and from kind strangers answering my questions on forums. I also have learned how to run my business from project management to writing proposals from other WordPRess consultants that shared with me their experienced.<\/p>\n<p>WordPress is great CMS and is perfect for most projects, but WordPress is also strengthened by the community. I am thankful everyday for this great community!<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/2017.dfw.wordcamp.org\/tickets\/\">Tickets are now on sale<\/a>\u00a0for this year\u2019s WordCamp DFW held on Nov. 11-12. There are also plenty of opportunities to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/2017.dfw.wordcamp.org\/call-for-sponsors\/\">sponsor the event<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/2017.dfw.wordcamp.org\/call-for-speakers\/\">speak at the event<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/2017.dfw.wordcamp.org\/call-for-volunteers\/\">help run it<\/a>. We hope to see you there!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Christopher Harris is the Speaker Wrangler for this year\u2019s WordCamp DFW. My journey with WordPress began in 2005 when I set up a blog for my mother. I found WordPress easy to use and install. It was perfect platform on which for my mother to learn to blog. I was a seminary student at that &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/my-wordpress-story-preaching-through-wordpress\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;My WordPress Story: Preaching Through WordPress&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8005857,"featured_media":1190,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"My WordPress Story: Preaching Through WordPress","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1140999],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wordpress-stories"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/files\/2017\/09\/chris-harris-story.jpg?fit=2000%2C1200&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8K1gz-j8","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1003,"url":"https:\/\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/my-wordpress-story-journalist-turned-wordpress-developer\/","url_meta":{"origin":1186,"position":0},"title":"My WordPress Story: Journalist Turned WordPress Developer","author":"Jacob Martella","date":"September 4, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Jacob Martella is the PR and Social Media Wrangler for this year\u2019s WordCamp DFW. I never thought I would be a WordPress developer. For the vast majority of my life, I wanted to be a journalist. A sports journalist to be more specific. I grew up loving to play sports\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;WordPress Stories&quot;","block_context":{"text":"WordPress Stories","link":"https:\/\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/category\/wordpress-stories\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/files\/2017\/09\/jacob-martella-story.jpg?fit=1200%2C720&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/files\/2017\/09\/jacob-martella-story.jpg?fit=1200%2C720&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/files\/2017\/09\/jacob-martella-story.jpg?fit=1200%2C720&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/files\/2017\/09\/jacob-martella-story.jpg?fit=1200%2C720&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/files\/2017\/09\/jacob-martella-story.jpg?fit=1200%2C720&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1396,"url":"https:\/\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/sponsor-shoutout-pixelcutlabs\/","url_meta":{"origin":1186,"position":1},"title":"Sponsor Shoutout: PixelCutLabs","author":"Jacob Martella","date":"October 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 We're happy to have PixelCutLabs as one of our Bonfire sponsors for this year's WordCamp DFW. You can learn more about what PixelCutLabs does here. What is PixelCutLabs about? PixelCutLabs is a full-service digital marketing agency driven by the relationships we develop with our clients. We believe that the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;WordCamp DFW Sponsors&quot;","block_context":{"text":"WordCamp DFW Sponsors","link":"https:\/\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/category\/wordcamp-dfw-sponsors\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"thanksgiving square written in mosaic tiles","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/files\/2017\/05\/thanksgiving-square.jpg?fit=1200%2C859&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/files\/2017\/05\/thanksgiving-square.jpg?fit=1200%2C859&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/files\/2017\/05\/thanksgiving-square.jpg?fit=1200%2C859&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/files\/2017\/05\/thanksgiving-square.jpg?fit=1200%2C859&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/files\/2017\/05\/thanksgiving-square.jpg?fit=1200%2C859&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1812,"url":"https:\/\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wcdfw-keynote-speaker-spotlight-sheryle-gillihan\/","url_meta":{"origin":1186,"position":2},"title":"WCDFW Keynote Speaker Spotlight: Sheryle Gillihan","author":"Jacob Martella","date":"October 24, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"When Sheryle Gillihan re-entered the business world, she wanted a job that gave her a purpose. Gillihan joined the U.S. Army while she was in college. After boot camp, she trained for over a year as an Arabic translator for the military. But with her first child on the way\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;WordCamp DFW Speakers&quot;","block_context":{"text":"WordCamp DFW Speakers","link":"https:\/\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/category\/wordcamp-dfw-speakers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/files\/2017\/09\/sheryle-gillihan-story.jpg?fit=1200%2C720&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/files\/2017\/09\/sheryle-gillihan-story.jpg?fit=1200%2C720&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/files\/2017\/09\/sheryle-gillihan-story.jpg?fit=1200%2C720&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/files\/2017\/09\/sheryle-gillihan-story.jpg?fit=1200%2C720&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/files\/2017\/09\/sheryle-gillihan-story.jpg?fit=1200%2C720&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1210,"url":"https:\/\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/carrie-dils-sheryle-gillihan-announced-as-wordcamp-dfw-keynote-speakers\/","url_meta":{"origin":1186,"position":3},"title":"Carrie Dils, Sheryle Gillihan Announced as WordCamp DFW Keynote Speakers","author":"Jacob Martella","date":"September 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"WordCamp DFW is excited to announce the two keynote speakers for this year\u2019s event: Sheryle Gillihan and Carrie Dils. Sheryle will speak on Saturday and Carrie will speak on Sunday. After spending time in the military, as a stay-at-home mother and in corporate America, Sheryle has learned to seek purpose\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;WordCamp DFW Announcements&quot;","block_context":{"text":"WordCamp DFW Announcements","link":"https:\/\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/category\/wordcamp-dfw-announcements\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Interior of symphony hall","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/files\/2017\/09\/symphony-hall.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/files\/2017\/09\/symphony-hall.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/files\/2017\/09\/symphony-hall.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/files\/2017\/09\/symphony-hall.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/files\/2017\/09\/symphony-hall.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1518,"url":"https:\/\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/sponsor-shoutout-jilt\/","url_meta":{"origin":1186,"position":4},"title":"Sponsor Shoutout: Jilt","author":"Jacob Martella","date":"October 17, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"We're happy to have Jilt as one of our Bonfire sponsors for this year's WordCamp DFW. You can learn more about what Jilt does here. What is Jilt about? Jilt\u2019s main goal is to help eCommerce merchants drive more sales. Converting existing users into orders is hard as it is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;WordCamp DFW Sponsors&quot;","block_context":{"text":"WordCamp DFW Sponsors","link":"https:\/\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/category\/wordcamp-dfw-sponsors\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"thanksgiving square written in mosaic tiles","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/files\/2017\/05\/thanksgiving-square.jpg?fit=1200%2C859&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/files\/2017\/05\/thanksgiving-square.jpg?fit=1200%2C859&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/files\/2017\/05\/thanksgiving-square.jpg?fit=1200%2C859&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/files\/2017\/05\/thanksgiving-square.jpg?fit=1200%2C859&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/files\/2017\/05\/thanksgiving-square.jpg?fit=1200%2C859&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1722,"url":"https:\/\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wcdfw-speaker-spotlight-tanner-moushey\/","url_meta":{"origin":1186,"position":5},"title":"WCDFW Speaker Spotlight: Tanner Moushey","author":"Jacob Martella","date":"October 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Topic:\u00a0Javascript - Beyond jQuery Tanner is a web developer and entrepreneur located in the small town of Granite Falls, Wa. 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When he\u2019s not tracking down new leads or coding, he loves playing music and spending time with his wife and 5 kids.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;WordCamp DFW Speakers&quot;","block_context":{"text":"WordCamp DFW Speakers","link":"https:\/\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/category\/wordcamp-dfw-speakers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/files\/2017\/10\/tanner-moushey.jpg?fit=1200%2C720&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/files\/2017\/10\/tanner-moushey.jpg?fit=1200%2C720&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/files\/2017\/10\/tanner-moushey.jpg?fit=1200%2C720&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/files\/2017\/10\/tanner-moushey.jpg?fit=1200%2C720&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/files\/2017\/10\/tanner-moushey.jpg?fit=1200%2C720&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8005857"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1186"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1186\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1194,"href":"https:\/\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1186\/revisions\/1194"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dfw.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}