With new media devices and new media technologies, the Church continues to consider how these tools may be put in service of the Church. But like the rest of culture, the Church is not immune to the way these tools go to work at reshaping it as they are embraced.
However, too often when this is considered, it is primarily considered from the concept of the Church as the corporate institution. Like how a print culture fostered a monologue sermon and churches sitting in rows looking forward. Or how the addition of data projectors has lead to the reduction of those bringing a printed Bible to church. These are legitimate things to discuss, but the way new media tools shape the Church is at an even deeper level than that.
Because ultimately, the Church is not an institution but an organism. An organism made up of people who gather together in the name of Jesus in different ways and at different times. And those people have adopted new media tools. This is not a new phenomenon. The culture outside the Church has always had an influencing role on those inside it. And the different devices that contribute to the culture that is created do the same.
Tweet: It's irrelevant to only consider the technologies embraced by what is the institution/organisation that is your local church. Instead, a deeper examination of the technologies embraced by the people that embody that church is required. Without this deeper examination both opportunities and the pitfalls are unlikely to be engaged.
Do you consider the impact of new technologies beyond those adopted by the Church as an organisation?
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