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Notes
Frank C. Senn, The People’s Work: A Social History of the Liturgy (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2006), 4.
These kinds of changes happen from both an institutional level, when church hierarchy make significant changes, like the Second Vatican Council, or when pastors make changes without input from their parishioners or church leaders.
Technology is a very broad term. It can mean bulletins printed for Sunday worship, the organ or piano, sound systems, or any number of things in society or liturgical spaces. For the purpose of this article, I am broadly talking about more modern approaches to technology in the worship context: screens, tablets, smart phones, and other technological devices that allow for digital media to be utilized in the space where a community of faith worships.
Social media is for many a double-edged sword. It provides a plethora of opportunities for reaching out and sharing passions, interests, political opinions, family photos, and so forth. But it can also be a way to hurl accusations at others from the safety of our easy chairs, facilitate child pornography, anonymously stalk people, and so forth. The media are highly scrutinized for good reason. I have overall had very positive experiences with social media interactions, but I want to acknowledge that not everyone experiences social media this way.
Elizabeth Drescher and Keith Anderson, Click 2 Save: The Digital Ministry Bible (Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse Publishing, 2012), 1.
Several websites, such as http://thomrainer.com/2014/05/05/eight-reasons-easier-attend-church-today/, http://www.churchleaders.com/pastors/pastor-articles/139575-7-startling-facts-an-up-close-look-at-church-attendance-in-america.html?p=1, and http://visionroom.com/8-charts-depicting-cultural-change-will-church-react/, help us to see just some of the research and data about the changing context in which we find ourselves.
Clearly, this is not the optimal way of being part of human connection and communal worship for many communities of faith. There are, however, instances in which some people are physically unable to be present in worship due to health issues, family situations, or intense travel schedules. Personally, I prefer to be in the room, but I am keenly aware of the many circumstances that prevent this. With the changing dynamics of online community building, for many millennials and others, community building is possible and advantageous for them. Therefore many younger folks are seeing this option as an extension of communal living. Others see this quite differently.
I believe there is also the need to push back some on Postmoderns’ continual use of social media and technology. There are times when simply being present in worship without connecting to anyone else via media can be good for them. Unplugging can also be liberating and can open up space to encounter God in ways they might not have experienced before.
Senn, 331.
Catherine Keller, From a Broken Web (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1986), 159.
Clearly, some people and places in the world do not have the same levels of access or affordability that we see in the U.S. context, but democratization has happened to a significant degree.
Kim Harris (lecture, Union Theological Seminary, New York, July 15, 2014).
http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2012/may/new-research-reveals-why-people-visit-church-websites.html?paging=off and http://sundayresources.net/neil/2012/11/12/why-people-visit-join-and-leave-a-church/ (accessed October 18, 2014).
Sources like www.polleverywhere.com and others can facilitate this type of interaction; or the preacher can receive live texts or tweets as he or she preaches. It takes conversational preaching to a new level but takes a deft hand and flexibility while preaching. Not every preacher will be interested nor every context appropriate. But on the occasions that I have utilized this method, millennials have loved the process. The preacher has to be open to messages coming in and able to interact with them on the fly. Many preachers with whom I have worked and discussed this type of interaction experience a level of interaction that honors the questions of Postmoderns, their intellect, and their preferred modes of communication. The preacher can have responses show up on a screen, view the responses to include ideas as they preach, or actually stop in the midst of the sermon to respond to some of the questions posed.
Lucy Atkinson Rose, Sharing the Word: Preaching in the Roundtable Church (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1997); John S. McClure, The Roundtable Pulpit: Where Leadership and Preaching Meet (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1985).
A QR code is a Quick Response Code that is a web-based link to a website or .pdf of any worship resources that persons can access through their smart phone or tablet. The QR code is a two-dimensional barcode that can be read by the device through a QR reader app.
While this is clearly not the intent or focus of this article, there are going to be issues related to the impact of increased electronic use opposed to hymnal or bulletin printing. There is a significant need to continue to address these questions related to sustainability and environmental impact, no matter which direction a community of faith moves.
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Karyn L. Wiseman
Karyn L. Wiseman is associate professor of homiletics at Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia.