Barna Research recently completed two studies ( here and here) related to Protestant churches and the use of technology. For example, "two-thirds of Protestant churches (65%) now have a large screen projection system in their church that they use for services and other events." From the use of video clips during worship to websites and podcasts our churches continue to explore the relevance and usefulness of technology.
Of note in Barna's research is that a church's size and theology seems to be related to its use of technology. Simply put, smaller churches tend to use less tech than larger churches, and theologically liberal churches tend to use less tech than the more theologically conservative. Interesting.
Every church accomplishes its mission with the aid of technology. Even if a church is completely off the grid and avoids all forms of electricity it is technology that gives that church its printed Bibles. Churches are not fighting over the use of tech in general, but as new forms of technology are developed many churches are too quick to adopt or reject such cultural artifacts without much thought. There is no virtue in being the cool, high-tech church, or in being the low-tech, minimalistic church. It would do us well to ask ourselves a series of questions when it comes to the use of technology in our churches. For example:
- Does the tech help to magnify the gospel, or does it become the focus?
- Does the tech help develop real community (shared lives) or help create an artificial one?
- Does the tech help overcome natural, or cultural barriers that can interfere with worship and church life?
- Does the tech serve a real purpose, or is it just for show?
David Kinnaman, lead researcher on the technology study of social networking said,
Church leaders have to strike the delicate balance between the spiritual and cultural potential of tech tools without surrendering to the false promise of these tools. Having the means of reaching the masses - for instance, through podcasting - is a good thing. Yet, nothing matches the potency of life-on-life discipleship. In this respect, social networking and blogs can be effective tools to intimately connect with a small, natural network of relationships. The key is using the technology in a way that is consistent with your calling and purpose, not just an addictive self-indulgence.
Look, I love technology. If you've been to a conference with me you've probably seen me thumbing away at my Blackberry. Technology is (mostly) a good thing. But we must be thoughtful about it. It is unwise to blindly dismiss or accept the implementation of technology in our ministries. We must determine if and how these new innovations will assist us in fulfilling the mission of God. Again, Kinnaman said,
...technology can empower and engage people, across generations, socio-economic segments, and physical boundaries. Young people, for instance, think of themselves as creators of content, not merely consumers of it. Technology, in essence, gives them a voice and fuels their search for calling. Whether or not you welcome it, technology creates an entirely new calculus of influence and independence. The stewardship of technology as a force for good in culture is an important role for technologists, entrepreneurs, educators, and Christian leaders.
[image courtesy of Nancy Wombat.]
Posted on May 27, 2008 at 4:16 PM ~ 9 Comments
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9 Comments
05/27/08 @ 5:42 PM
Technology definitely adds to the creativity to interest younger generations. Ministers can use technology to enhance creativity in video and audio sources to appeal to younger generations.
05/27/08 @ 6:05 PM
Great post, Ed.
05/27/08 @ 6:49 PM
Ed,
I'm doing some work in my class on organizational leadership. A part of our case study is 'Missional Evangelism'. Do you have any resources to point me to on this subject? I searched your blog but didn't get anything direct. Thanks my friend.
Jason
05/28/08 @ 5:42 AM
Very concise. The medium and the method should never be confused with the message. Our goal is simply to communicate the gospel by appropriate and effective means. Thanks!
05/28/08 @ 6:54 AM
Ed, an observation and then a question. Great post! Always appreciate reading your research and the research of others.
Now, question. You said that more theologically liberal congregations use less technology than more conversative congregations. Any thoughts on why that is true? I understand the concept of larger churches using more than smaller congregations (probably financial considerations there), but I'm trying to understand why liberal congregations don't keep pace with conservatives.
05/28/08 @ 3:40 PM
Does the tech help to magnify the gospel, or does it become the focus?
In our previous church I was the "tech guy". I work with presentation technology in my profession, so when our church decided to move toward using it in worship I offered my knowledge and experience to get the system up and running. It was a ministry for me to be involved in, and I enjoyed it.
The problem became how much it distracted me from worship. If I was in the pew and something went buggy with the system I lost focus and felt the need to go back and see what I could do to get it back on track. When I was in the booth my mind was more concerned with not missing the next cue than what the pastor was saying. My wife understood my desire to be a part of the service, but asking her to either sit by herself or with me in the booth interfered with our worshiping together.
At our church now (we moved to another state) I offer advice, but don't want to be involved with the "production". Fortunately the use of technology is minimal, so it isn't so distracting.
Overall I agree with Mike. The medium should never take the focus from the message.
05/29/08 @ 10:41 AM
I think this is a problem for a lot of people either involved in or knowledgable about various parts of a service. I have a friend who is an outstanding musician who dislikes the music time at his church because he finds it hard to participate as a worshipper without critiquing as a musician. I don't know what the proper balance is on that.
As far as technology, the two biggest hurdles I see are i) getting people to push the technology to do what it can do as a tool for the worship service and then ii) getting people to stop playing with all the cool features, just because they're cool and they are there, without having any idea how that is adding to or distracting from worship.
Of course, neither of those are unique to technology, they are the struggle we face with all the elements and tools of worship.
05/30/08 @ 2:19 PM
I like David Kinnaman's remark that "nothing matches the potency of life-on-life discipleship." How true! And yet our technologies long ago moved past the "human scale"; they allow us to encounter more people and more information than we can ever actually care about or understand as embodied, finite people.
I think it's key, as you mentioned, that we neither uncritically embrace nor flatly reject new technologies. But I think it's also important that we not take a purely utilitarian approach, in which anything that seems to help us accomplish our ministry goals more "efficiently" is immediately deemed a good thing. The technologies we use have built-in biases that influence how we use them, and I think we'd do well to be aware of these and guard ourselves accordingly.
10/16/08 @ 10:03 AM
Thanks for your comment, Brenna. However, we are not called anywhere in scripture to appeal to anyone through creativity. Nothing wrong with being creative. But if that is what is drawing people to Christ, we've certainly failed. Scripture is clear that gospel is "foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." (1 Cor. 1:18). You can dress it up all you want with technology, but unless God does a miraculous work in regenerating one's soul through the preaching of the Gospel, it will still be offensive and foolish to “those who are perishing." The mistake we always make in the modern evangelical church is to believe that if we make the gospel message "hip" enough, we can "convince" people to come to Christ. That is completely false, and very dangerous.
1 Cor. 1:23-25, "But we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men."
God will accomplish his work through the most "foolish" preaching of the gospel. The "wisdom" we try to offer with all out "hip" methods and "cool" marketing means absolutely nothing. It's the GOSPEL that is all powerful, not our man-made creativity in how it is presented.