Ministry in the Digital Age


Book Description

David Bourgeois offers a step-by-step guide for discerning and implementing a digital strategy in your ministry. Presenting Christianity itself as a grand communication event, he helps Christians see that the advent of electronic media is truly good news for the world.




Analog Church


Book Description

As our culture begins to reckon with the limits of a digital world, it's time for the church to do the same. In our efforts to stay relevant in our digital age, have we begun to move away from transcendence? Pastor Jay Kim grapples with the ramifications of a digital church, from worship and Christian community to how we engage Scripture.




Missio Dei in a Digital Age


Book Description

We are witnessing an unprecedented technological revolution. Every sphere of life from communications, work, economy, leisure, our homes, and health care is being digitised. These far-reaching changes demand careful consideration and discernment by churches participating in God’s redemptive work around the world. Digitalization of society is radically changing both the methods and conditions of missions. For the first time, this book explores the implications of digitality for Missio Dei in thought and practice. Bringing together theologians, missiologists, computer scientists and practitioners, the book considers a diverse range of topics from evangelism to pastoral care, cyber pilgrimages to biases in algorithms, public theology to homiletics and inculturation to contextualization. Chapters include: Worship, Community and Missio Dei in a Digital Age - Maggie Dawn Finding Jesus Online: Digital Evangelism and the Future of Christian Mission - Steve Hollinghurst 'Digital Inculturation - Katherine G. Schmidt Mission: An adventure of the (digital) imagination - Jonny Baker Interactive technologies, Missio Dei and grassroots activism - Erkki Sutinen Strategic and Pastoral Reflections on Digital Media and Contemporary Spirituality - John Drane Public Faith, Shame, and China’s Social Credit System - Alexander Chow




The Digital Cathedral


Book Description

Provides both practical and theological perspectives on using media appropriately and pastorally. Rapid cultural and technological changes through the last two decades have changed the context for ministry. The development of digital social media and advances in affordable, mobile technologies have dramatically changed the way most people interact with others, communicate, organize, and participate in communities. The Digital Cathedral is a warm embrace of the rich traditions of Christianity, especially the recovery of the pre-modern sense of cathedral, which encompassed the depth and breadth of daily life within the physical and imaginative landscape of the church. It is for anyone who seeks to effectively minister in a digitally-integrated world, and who wishes to embody the networked, relational, and incarnational characteristics of that ministry.




Fresh Expressions in a Digital Age


Book Description

Fresh Expressions is a canary in the coal mine, alerting congregations to reevaluate what the Church is, where and when it can happen, and who can lead it. Church as we know it is inaccessible to most people. A fundamental premise of the movement is that Church can become accessible again by emerging in every nook and cranny where life already happens. Fresh Expressions is based in simplification, returning to basic scriptural principles, and a recovery of a "priesthood of all believers"--in the three places where people live and relate to others. First Place: The home or primary place of residence. Second Place: The workplace or school place. Third Place: The public places separate from the two usual social environments of home and workplace, which host regular, voluntary, informal, and neutral spaces of communion and play. Examples are environments such as cafes, pubs, theaters, parks, and so on. During a pandemic, our two primary mission spaces were closed off; the second and third places were shut down. We couldn't have Tattoo Parlor Church; the tattoo parlor was closed. We couldn't gather in Moe's Southwest Grill for Burritos and Bibles; they were doing take-out only. The dog park was empty; no Paws of Praise. This limited us to the only spaces we have left: the first place, or the home place. The digital place, or the "space of flows." This forces us into recognizing the digital space as its own kind of third place, a new missional frontier.




Following Jesus in a Digital Age


Book Description

We were told technology would make our lives easier and more convenient, but technology just seems to have made it more complicated and confusing. As Christians, what does our faith have to do with these pressing issues of life in a digital age? In Following Jesus in a Digital Age, you will not only be challenged on how technology is shaping your walk with Christ, but you will also be equipped with biblical wisdom to navigate the most difficult aspects of our digital culture—including the rise of misinformation, conspiracy theories, social media, digital privacy, and polarization. God calls his people to step into the challenges of the digital age from a place of hope and discernment, grounded in His Word. How will you follow Him in the digital age?




From Social Media to Social Ministry


Book Description

This book outlines digital discipleship principles for building an online community and provides practical instruction for how to do it no matter how big or small a local church may be. There are more than 2.3 billion professing Christians in the world and more and more new churches launching globally, yet statistics show that in-person church attendance is declining or plateauing in every nation. Although social technology has been around for more than two decades, church leaders have long bristled at the idea of church online, ranking it as the last concern on their minds in Barna's 2020 state of the church report published February 3, 2020. And then, three weeks later, COVID-19 closed the doors of every church on earth and suddenly forced them entirely online. Nona Jones, a globally acclaimed thought leader on leveraging technology for ministry, had been leading a movement and sounding the alarm for several years to make digital discipleship a central part of every church’s ministry approach. In From Social Media to Social Ministry, she outlines her digital discipleship principles and provides practical instruction for how to do it no matter how big or small a local church may be. There are plenty of books to help churches build a social media strategy, but this is the first book of its kind that goes beyond digital marketing to digital ministry. Readers will leave this book with: Clarity on what discipleship truly is The data that underscores the urgency for digital discipleship Understanding of the resources required to do it well A step-by-step guide on how to implement digital discipleship into ministry plans Knowledge of the differences among and purposes of the most popular social platforms, as well as the tools best positioned for digital ministry




Click 2 Save


Book Description

Social media provide an opportunity for congregations to open the doors and windows to their congregational life before people ever step inside. It’s no longer all about “getting your message out” as if people are passively waiting for the latest news from the parish, diocese, or national church. Rather, it’s about creating spaces where meaningful relationships can develop. Click 2 Save: The Digital Ministry Bible is a practical resource guide for religious leaders who want to enrich and extend their ministries using digital media like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and church or personal blogs. An ideal companion to Tweet If You ? Jesus: Practicing Church in the Digital Reformation (Morehouse, 2011), Click 2 Save draws on extensive research and practical experience in church and other ministry settings to provide functional, how-to guidance on effectively using social networking sites in the day-to-day context of ministry.




Team-building Activities for the Digital Age


Book Description

Team-Building Activities for the Digital Age will help you promote interpersonal communication and encourage young people to express their individuality and build face-to-face relationships. The activities use the technology that today's young adults thrive on (including cell phones, social networking sites, MP3 players, blogs, and digital cameras) as an opportunity for education and enlightenment.




Grace and Gigabytes: Being Church in a Tech-Shaped Culture


Book Description

Grace and Gigabytes: Being Church in a Tech-Shaped Culture explores change and ministry at the intersection of technology, culture, and church. In today's tech-shaped culture, we learn and we know through questions, connection, collaboration, and creativity--the networked values of the digital age. Drawing on experiences from a career as an instructional designer in the technology industry and a lifetime of leadership in the Lutheran church, Ryan M. Panzer argues that digital technology is not a set of tools, but a force for cultural transformation that has profound implications for ministry.Grace and Gigabytes explores shifts in culture that have heightened amid accelerated adoption and use of digital media. Just as previous revolutions in technology have disrupted culture, especially processes of cultural meaning-making related to faith and spirituality, so we are living through a powerful revolution of digital technology, culture, and spiritual thought. This revolution calls the church to change. This needed change requires not so much a shift in tactics: launching a website, building a podcast, or starting a social media page. The change is a philosophical pivot: prioritizing collaboration, making the flow of knowledge more dynamic, celebrating connection and creativity, and always affirming the question. Panzer discusses each of these philosophical pivots, describing their technological origins. He tells stories of ministries that have aligned to this cultural moment. And he provides concrete recommendations for the practice of ministry in a digital age.