I don’t have an exact date, but SI started Jan/Feb ‘05. So according to my calculations (always suspect), that would mean Jan/Feb ‘10 would be the five year mark.
So… ideas on how we should celebrate? One that crossed my mind was some way of re-doing the young fundamentalists survey that kind of got everything going in the early days. Seems like something special is called for though, so, let’s hear your ideas.
1. A short video clip with Jason Janz
2. A compiling of all the SI answers to prayer in the last five years and writing a prayer of thanks to our gracious God.
3. Highlighting Christian missions for God's glory in the past five years.
4. Noting all the new church plants during this time.
5. Reflecting upon the biggest changes or events in the fundamentalist institutions.
6. Tracking with short summaries the national church conferences over the five year period.
7. Survey of the best SI article and SI thread, etc. for each year.
8. Let SI give a Christian overview of the American theological landscape for this first decade of the third millennium.
9. An Invitation to write articles on the benefits of "iron sharpening iron".
10. A National Conference on Christian Blogging - sponsored and hosted by SI.
11. SI hats, t-shirts, etc. for purchase
12. Survey of the best books written (various categories) from 2005 - 2010
13. An anniversary article from Aaron
Putting together a collage of SI humor from the five years
Going to bold the ones I like best...
1. A short video clip with Jason Janz
2. A compiling of all the SI answers to prayer in the last five years and writing a prayer of thanks to our gracious God.
3. Highlighting Christian missions for God's glory in the past five years.
4. Noting all the new church plants during this time.
5. Reflecting upon the biggest changes or events in the fundamentalist institutions.
6. Tracking with short summaries the national church conferences over the five year period.
7. Survey of the best SI article and SI thread, etc. for each year.
8. Let SI give a Christian overview of the American theological landscape for this first decade of the third millennium.
9. An Invitation to write articles on the benefits of "iron sharpening iron".
10. A National Conference on Christian Blogging - sponsored and hosted by SI.
11. SI hats, t-shirts, etc. for purchase
12. Survey of the best books written (various categories) from 2005 - 2010
13. An anniversary article from Aaron
I'd love to do #10, but I don' t think there's any way that we could afford it. On the other hand, everyone could donate to help pay the bills for the rest of 2009! The link's on the main page.
We should celebrate by ....
One massive mother of all threads/the thread to end all threads where we can debate music, Bible versions, alcohol, dress standards, etc., etc., etc. all at the same time.
One massive mother of all threads/the thread to end all threads where we can debate music, Bible versions, alcohol, dress standards, etc., etc., etc. all at the same time.
The mods and admin will take a vacation during this time so that this massive mother of all threads will be completely unmoderated.
I bet if we tried to have one massive crazy free-for-all thread, we wouldn't be able to get it going. One of life's little ironies. 
Well, I bet we could. Want to try it?
I liked some of the options on Bro. Woods' list... a SI retrospective, vote on best threads or comments, a blog contest, a bag of Skittles awarded to the most prolific posters...
It would be interesting and valuable, I think, to have someone (I think especially of Greg Linscott) write a reflection on the evotution of SI. People from the old days remember that folks like Kent Brandenburg used to be regular posters at SI, and SI has moved quite a bit from posters like that. So, having someone like Greg, who was heavily involved in the early SI, reflect on SI's development could give new members especially an interesting, perhaps deeper, historically informed view of SI.
Frankly, seeing my own developments and the way SI has changed around me has been interesting. I started at SI as a very brash kid about to enter college; I've now completed a degree at an evangelical school and am in an "elite" Northeast school, so watching the development has truly been interesting. Long after I cease being a member here (which may be soon, for all I know), I intend on checking back because I think SI is a significant site, in more ways than it realizes. It has affected people like me, movement outsiders, who run in very different circles than people here, and allows me to speak with much deeper knowledge and sympathy about Fundamentalism even though I'm no longer in the movement.
...should be pretty easy. The official "launch" with any kind of publicity was at the NLC at Lansdale in 2005.
You can mess around a little at archive.org, but the day we began posting the YF survey results was Feb 25- http://web.archive.org/web/20050225054542/http://sharperiron.org/
Things have indeed changed since the site was launched. If you want a full perspective, I would say that it would be just as valuable to get some older perspective, too- perhaps someone like Doran, Burggraff, Bauder, or even John Matzko from BJU (father of Austin, one of the early participants and "behind the scenes" guy). They could talk about how things changed after SI for both good and bad. Other perspectives that might prove interesting would be those of Holly Stratton, Bob Bixby, Ben Wright, Phil Johnson, and Chris Anderson. One that would be really interesting (if he would do it) would be Dave Jaspers, now on staff at Bethel Baptist in Schaumburg, IL.
As much as you would want to focus on the good things like Todd mentions, you would be overlooking history if you ignored things like the God-Focused Youth Conference that originally featured Les Ollila and Rick Holland, the End of the Spear matter, Dead Right (I & 2), Majesty Music's relationship with First Baptist Hammond, SI's role in the Jaspers presidential matter at Maranatha, the Bob Gray scandal, or even the Sweatt matter from earlier this year. People's awareness of such things has changed drastically with the internet and sites like SI, and not addressing how those things also shaped SI would be irresponsible, IMHO.
Very good.
It would all be very interesting.
Appreciate the input.
I think we need an "anniversary events coordinator" (or maybe Anniversary Czar?!)... to explore these ideas and get them organized. Or a committee of some kind (that way, it'll be ready by the sixth anniversary )
So, I'm taking applications if any of you are interested in the job.
One massive mother of all threads/the thread to end all threads where we can debate music, Bible versions, alcohol, dress standards, etc., etc., etc. all at the same time.
The mods and admin will take a vacation during this time so that this massive mother of all threads will be completely unmoderated.
I bet if we tried to have one massive crazy free-for-all thread, we wouldn't be able to get it going. One of life's little ironies.