The Digital Age: A Challenge for Christian
Discipleship?
Dr Bex Lewis, Research Fellow in Social Media and Online Learning, CODEC, St John’s, Durham UniversityThe European Conference on Social Media, Brighton,
July 2014
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“There is a revolution sweeping across the globe, driven by the massive growth of the internet and internet related technologies. Known as the Digital Revolution it is on par with other great global shifts such as the Agrarian Revolution and the Industrial Revolution. And it is completely changing the landscape of how we communicate, how we influence, how we relate. This isn’t simply about coming to grips with a new technology to assist us in our work, but requires of us a fundamental shift in our processes, our structures and approaches. If we don’t respond then as Eric Hoffer states, we will find ourselves, ‘beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.’”
Event Publicity, 2010
The Digital Revolution?
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15th C: The Printing Press
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1964: Marshall McLuhan
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“Technology should not dictate our values or our methods.
Rather, we must use technology out of our
convictions and values.”Dyer (2011: 5)
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Christians and Churchgoing
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171776_290510.pdf
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Churchgoing in Decline?
http://www.whychurch.org.uk/tearfund_church.pdf
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The Church Front Door?For many churchgoing is no longer the ‘cultural norm’. People don’t actively ignore the church: they don’t even think about it. … With literally billions in the digital spaces, the online social spaces presented by churches need to be appealing, welcoming, and not look like they are just an afterthought: they are now effectively the ‘front door’ to your church for digital users, and you ignore those spaces at your peril.
http://www.churchgrowthrd.org.uk/blog/churchgrowth/growing_churches_in_the_digital_age Image Credit: freeimages.com@drbexl
Mission opportunities are very different… when to step over the church threshold is an unknown
experience compared with attitudes when there is a known church to which they can return.
Rev Lynda Barley, Head of Research and Statistics for the Church of England
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The Growth of the Internet
http://oxis.oii.ox.ac.uk/sites/oxis.oii.ox.ac.uk/files/content/files/publications/OxIS_2013.pdf
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Understanding Digital Culture
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The digital environment is not a parallel or purely virtual world, but is part of the daily experience of many people, especially the
young. Social networks are the result of human interaction, but for their part they also
reshape the dynamics of communication, which builds relationships: a considered understanding of this environment is
therefore a prerequisite for a significant presence there.
Pope Benedict XVI (2013)
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We are not selling something to the world that will make more people like us, believe in our story, join our churches. We are trying to be
something in the world that invites connection and compassion, encourages comfort and healing for those in need, and challenges those in power to use that power in the
service of justice and love.Elizabeth Drescher, Tweet if You Heart Jesus (2011,
127)
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[If we are…] means by which God communicates and reveals himself through his
Spirit, then our blog posts, status updates, tweets, artistic images, and online comments should be products of a life transformed by
Christ and indwelled by his Spirit. As restored image bearers, our online presence and
activity should image the Triune God.
Byers, A. Theomedia (2013, 196)
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It’s something about the informality and distance; the ability to pause and
think, which can be difficult in a conversation; and the way discussions can pick up where they left off several
hours, days or weeks later.Emma Major, BIGBible Post, 2012
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#DIGIDisciplethose who seek to live out their Biblically-informed Christian faith in the digital space, exploring both what it means to be a disciple in the digital age, and also how the digital age affects or alters discipleship.
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A moral panic may be defined as an episode, often triggered by alarming media stories and reinforced by reactive laws and public policy, of exaggerated or misdirected public concern, anxiety, fear, or anger over a perceived threat to social order. http://www.ashgate.com/pdf/SamplePages/Ashgate-Research-Companion-to-Moral-Panics-Intro.pdf
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Christian Bloggers
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Photoshopped Selves?
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On the Emmaus Road, Jesus was recognized in the breaking of bread
rather than in the exegesis of Scripture. That’s an intriguing lesson to learn
when so much of the web and so much of digital communication is about
proclamation rather than reception.Phillips et al, 2013: 10
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“We should not overlook the fact that those who for whatever reason lack
access to social media run the risk of being left behind,” with a reminder that
communication is ultimately a human rather than a technological
achievement. Pope Francis, World Communications Day, 2014
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The Digital Age?
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Thoughts on ethics and the Internet”, [online], The BIGBible Project, http://bigbible.org.uk/2013/12/ethics-and-the-internet-2/ Keen, D. (2013), “2-Faced Facebook”, [online], Opinionated Vicar, http://davidkeen.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/2-faced-facebook.html Lewis, B. (2014) Raising Children in a Digital Age: Enjoying the Best, Avoiding the Worst, Oxford: Lion HudsonLewis, B. and Rush, D. (2013) “Experience of developing Twitter-based communities of practice in higher education”, [online], Research in Learning Technology, http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v21i0.18598London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (LICC), (2003), “Imagine Church: The Big Picture”, [online], http://www.licc.org.uk/imagine-church/the-big-picture/ Major, E. (2012), “Seeking God Online”, [online] http://bigbible.org.uk/2012/02/seeking-god-online-digidisciple-emmauk74/ McGrory, R. (2014), “UK Social Media Statistics for 2014”, [online] , http://www.rosemcgrory.co.uk/2014/01/06/uk-social-media-statistics-for-2014/ McLuhan, M. (1964) Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, Whitby: McGraw-HillOffice for National Statistics (ONS), (2011) “Full story: What does the Census tell us about religion in 2011?”, [online], http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/detailed-characteristics-for-local-authorities-in-england-and-wales/rpt---religion.htmlPhillips, P., Lewis, B., Bruce, K. (2013) “Digital Communication, the Church and Mission”, [online] Church Growth Resourcing Mission Bulletin, http://www.churchgrowthrd.org.uk/UserFiles/File/Resourcing_Mission_Bulletin/June_2013/Digital_Communication_the_Church_and_Mission.pdfSkinner, S. (2012), “UK Christians turning to Facebook to share their faith”, [online], New Media Centre of Excellence, http://www.newmediacentreofexcellence.org.uk/resources/onlineevangelism#sthash.DAZBquIu.dpuf” Smith, P. (2014), “Lead like Hezekiah”, [online], The BIGBible Project, http://bigbible.org.uk/2014/02/lead-like-hezekiah-revpamsmith/ Sutherland, R. (2013), “What does it mean to be a digital disciple with @changingworship”, [online], Audioboo, https://audioboo.fm/boos/1577833-what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-digital-disciple-with-changingworship Taylor, B. (2014), “How are people sharing their faith online?”, [online], Infogr.am, https://infogr.am/how-are-people-sharing-their-faith-online Turkle, S. (2011), Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other, New York: Basic BooksVogt, B. (2011) The Church and New Media: Blogging Converts, Online Activists, and Bishops Who Tweet, Indiana: Our Sunday Visitor@drbexl
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