Technology and Media in the Church
November 16th, 2008 Posted in Christianity, Church, TechnologyRecently I took some steps to set up a “Technology and Media Forum” at church in order to try to improve and build upon what we already have going on. First of all - yes the name is lame and doesn’t really have any edgy or ambiguous words to create an image but I do feel that it is fit for purpose. This is a “forum” whereby people within the church who have giftings within the spheres of technology and media can come together and make stuff happen.
The concept of a forum is quite interesting if you take it back to its original context - It comes from Latin and originally means “marketplace”. Not the fruit ‘n’ veg type with the dodgy DVDs round the back but a place where people came together to exchange many kinds of goods, interact and share stories from all over the empire. It was a melting pot of conversations, deals and ideas.
Another definition, perhaps more useful in this context, would be a “public meeting place for open discussion”. The forum is in its very early stages but I have four key goals for this group -
- Enable Christians with creative and technical gifts
- Resource and edify the church through these gifts
- Redeem technology for the Kingdom of God
- Encourage creativity, foster ideas and implement projects
Whilst use of technology and media can never be the main priority in the church I do feel that it has a growing significance for the church to enable and assist other ministries in our world today.
What is your opinion of Technology and Media within the church?
Do we need more or less? What place does it have? What ideas do you have? Is there anything your church is doing that you want to share?
9 Responses to “Technology and Media in the Church”
By connormcc on Nov 16, 2008
I think in today’s society definitely need to use technology to further the message of Christ. We are surrounded by technology everywhere else in the world, so why not use it in the church. The flip side is that we shouldn’t become so focused on how to use technology that we lose sight of the reason we have it… I don’t think we should become so reliant on the tech that we can’t function without it.
By Lincoln Rozelle on Nov 16, 2008
Check out Ning.com for a place to host an online forum. It’s a bit like Fbook but you control it.
By Chris Montgomery on Nov 16, 2008
Religious figures have shown themselves to be very pragmatic when it comes to technology. The numerous religious channels on satellite TV is one example, although the sanctimonious tone does them no favours. If the point is to get a religious message out there, then what better way is there than embracing technology. Although, mass media has had its effect on people for decades, and I believe we are already at that stage where we have “become so reliant on the tech that we can’t function without it”. What does the church need to extend its message? When preaching to the unbelievers, which is surely the primary concern of any religion, where does technology come into into the argument? If I can make myself familiar with the teachings of Christ by READING A BOOK, then what could a church which is up-to-date with technology offer besides that? Surely God’s message can transcend technology; its done alright in the last two thousand years.
By Brunettekoala on Nov 16, 2008
My opinion - we need things to work? But let’s not get too caught up in stuff we think looks cool but makes things complicated and isn’t needed?
But hello forum, can you please help me learn to use powerpoint this week before I make a total fool of myself in front of an audience of health professionals?
By connormcc on Nov 16, 2008
“If I can make myself familiar with the teachings of Christ by READING A BOOK, then what could a church which is up-to-date with technology offer besides that? Surely God’s message can transcend technology; its done alright in the last two thousand years.”
Chris, I totally agree with you on this, God’s message, can and does transcend technology, and we don’t NEED technology to put across the message, but should we not use technology to get the message out there? I know some churches who do, and some who don’t, church often gets described as boring, stale, old fashioned, not moving with the times etc… so should we not be making the church more ‘relevant’ to the technological society that we live in, by using things like podcasts, websites. Or providing powerpoint within the services…
By Harrison on Nov 19, 2008
There are a few interesting stats regarding how much contact people have with Church these days. I haven’t got them to hand but I may dredge them up at some point.
In years gone by the Church was very much at the centre of a community and could easily disseminate its message to those around it. In a village, town or even a district of a city you were almost guaranteed to see the same crowd of people week in, week out. Today people are much more mobile, more decentralised and as such a traditional model of church doesn’t reach a community like it used to be able to.
That in itself is an interesting topic as, let’s be honest, does community really exist anymore? Even if it does it certainly doesn’t exist in traditional forms. I would also argue that it isn’t the job of the church building to be a central point for community but that the people of the church, the biblical view of church, should be IN the surrounding communities.
I’m getting a little off topic here.
What I’m trying to say is that people are placing more emphasis and giving more authority to emerging mediums and technologies. We as a society now use some of these mediums as a primary means of communication – some of which didn’t even exist 15 years ago. That alone says to me that the church has to stand up and take technology seriously when communicating its message.
By Amanda on Nov 20, 2008
Bit of a blast from the past here (this is one of the advantages of Facebook), and greetings from the brethren who are at Texas–anyhow, this is something I’ve been thinking a lot about, too, since my master’s program has me working with a lot of digital media.
One of your key phrases there is “redeem technology for the kingdom of God”. Obviously, we as the church ought to be responsible for using technology (which is a morally neutral medium) as a tool to communicate the gospel, but also to wield it well and make it better as part of the work of ordering creation, which God commissioned us to do. So technology isn’t just a tool to make our church services look cool, or to form community, but also a way of serving others, whatever form that may take.
By Christopher on May 21, 2009
First off we need to realize that in the US we are increasingly dealing with an iconic society. Meaning that people, especially young people learn, gain knowledge, form opinions and are moved my images. Whether they are motion picture, sound or graphical images, generation is affected by icons more then our parents generation was primarily readers or literary in their acquisition of knowledge, and opinions.
With this in mind the church must embrace this new culture we have found ourselves in and exploit it for the Gospel’s sake. All the while not losing sight that the Gospel is primarily a human endeavor and can never entirely be replace by media alone. We grow and mature as Christians when we interact with flesh and blood rather then technology.
By Harrison on May 25, 2009
Thanks for the comment Christopher.