Like retailers, universities and hospitals, churches will be having conversations around this question: Are buildings a necessity for delivering our services and ministries? In our new normal, physical location may be only one of many expressions of church.
Zoom church is helpful for now. But we cannot become satisfied with technology’s quasi-ability to facilitate communion
Thrust into the wilderness of this global pandemic, we must not succumb to the temptation to turn stones into bread. We should not allow virtual church to become more desirable – more permanent – than the miracle of a physically gathered community.
Are your streamed worship services or sermons technologically unsophisticated? GOOD | #intimeslikethese
Not only is it okay for your church to be terrible at video production; in my view, it may be preferable. Don’t assume you have to embrace digital media in order to be “relevant.”
Systemic sin, the fracturing of God’s creation, is encoded in our connected technologies
The way we have built our digital world has encoded this fracturing principle (sin) within the emerging technological system itself. Our connected technologies threaten our primal, sacred bonds. We are hyper-connected and still so lonely.
Selfies from hell: Don’t give up one second to the lesser gods of this digital age
The social media space is a dangerous world leveraged by hidden agendas and powerful systems. Your spiritual health is pretty far down on the list of their priorities.
You CAN go home again
When we use our imaginations, our grief and loss have the potential to become the silent, fertile seedbed for redemptive, life-giving deeds.
Many young people shun cellphone use in church — even to read Scripture
By Jeff Brumley Young adults, known for using cellphones in just about every public setting imaginable, frown on the practice during worship services, a recent survey has found. The Aug. 25 Pew Research Center study found that only 9 percent…
Can we still look at one another and talk?
Most Sundays, I make my way to a local shop and pick up the Sunday edition of The New York Times. Admittedly, the Sunday Times is a paperweight in comparison to most newspapers. This past Sunday’s edition was no different,…
Survey seeks to educate parents, youth ministers on teen texting
By Jeff Brumley Trying to figure out what teens are saying to each other in acronym-heavy text messages can drive parents and youth ministers batty. The lexicon has gone far beyond LOL and ROFL to what often looks like more…
The dark intersection of technology and sexuality
By John Chandler This fall, the Pew Research Center projected that we will see robotic prostitutes by 2025. In the words of University of Tennessee law professor and author Glenn Harlan Reynolds, “Terminator robots won’t stalk the earth massacring humans;…
Do you solemnly swear — on this Kindle?
By Jeff Brumley It’s hardly news anymore to see someone in church using a smartphone or tablet, instead of a printed Bible, to follow along in Scripture. Many pastors have embraced the paper-for-digital swap themselves, often using iPads or tablets…
Is the church too busy attending meetings and talking with itself?
All my life I have loved attending denominational celebration events and conventions. I love least the formal meetings. I love most the networking. I love seeing my friends in ministry and meeting new friends in ministry. It is part of…