• Expands on author’s popular work in Click 2 Save • 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 premodern 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.
Documents the innovations of a group of eccentric geniuses who developed computer code in the mid-20th century as part of mathematician Alan Turin's theoretical universal machine idea, exploring how their ideas led to such developments as digital television, modern genetics and the hydrogen bomb.
We are now witnessing the build-out of society’s first foundationally new infrastructure in nearly a century: the Cloud. It is an ecosystem of information-digital hardware, at the heart of which resides massive warehouse-scale datacenters unlike anything ever built. Given the resources committed to them and the reverence afforded to the companies that build and own them, datacenters might be called the digital cathedrals of the twenty-first century. The emerging Cloud is as different from the communications infrastructure that preceded it, as air travel was different from automobiles. And, using energy as a metric for scale—since there are only two kinds of infrastructures, energy-producing and energy-using—today’s global Cloud already consumes more energy than all aviation. Yet, as disruptive as the Cloud has already become, we are in fact just at the end of the beginning of what the digital masons are building for the twenty-first century.
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.
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.
The Digital Church is a truly unique, apocalyptic sci-fi fantasy tale set in the near future, as the earth races towards an undiscovered black hole in the heavens. The story's central character is Martin Henzel, a dark and cynical Hollywood underground artist in his late-twenties, who doesn't know who he is, where he's going, or why he's here. His nightclub world of alcohol and one night stands will come crashing in around him, when he goes on a date with his co-worker, Megan Jamison, whose rich and powerful father, Nathan, is involved in a plan to commit terrorism on a genocidal scale. Martin suddenly finds himself being contacted by a bizarre spiritual entity that exists within the purple fire of nightmare visions, some of which are all-too-real, as the truth of impending genocide sees city after city around the globe methodically being destroyed. Ultimately, Martin will be forced to answer a deeply troubling question within himself: "Can you love?" The future of the entire world rests in the balance of Martin Henzel's damnation or redemption as a violent roller-coaster ride of terror and emotion lands him center-stage within the towering walls of the last hope for humanity-The Digital Church.
Hell, is a place that is depicted as eternal conscious torment for all people, other than those who have done specific requirements to escape this eternal, blazing inferno. Yet, God is unconditional love, and Christ came to set us free, so logically and realistically, how can we be set free if we are plagued mentally with the idea of eternal conscious torment in a place called Hell? God tells us through the Scripture's that He has no conditions on His love for all humanity, yet at the same time, the church tells us that we need to 'do' certain things or else pay the Hellfire price. Fear can not reside in love, so how can such a fear dominated place called Hell ever exist in God as the church over the years has portrayed? In this book, Don Keathley, who is a leading grace teacher with over 40 years of pastoral experience and a PhD degree, will expose the lies about Hell, which has been taught to us by the church. He has investigated all the words that Jesus spoke where He used the word Hell and present's to you all the correct original Greek meanings, context, and references for each time the word Hell is mentioned in the Old Testament and the New Testament. Once you understand what the correct meaning is, then the understanding about Hell that you hold will disappear into the illusion that it really is, and as God's truth can only do, it will set you free. God is love and in Him resides no fear and no evil. You and your loved ones only have one eternal destination.
Online churches are internet-based Christian communities, pursuing worship, discussion, friendship, support, proselytization, and other key religious goals through computer-mediated communication. Hundreds of thousands of people are now involved with online congregations, generating new kinds of ritual, leadership, and community and new networks of global influence. Creating Church Online constructs a rich ethnographic account of the diverse cultures of online churches, from virtual worlds to video streams. This book also outlines the history of online churchgoing, from its origins in the 1980s to the present day, and traces the major themes of academic and Christian debate around this topic. Applying some of the leading current theories in the study of religion, media and culture to this data, Tim Hutchings proposes a new model of religious design in contexts of mediatization, and draws attention to digital networks, transformative third spaces and terrains of existential vulnerability. Creating Church Online advances our understanding of the significance and impact of digital media in the religious and social lives of its users, in search of new theoretical frameworks for digital religion.
What are the ecclesiological challenges and opportunities raised by technology? How have developments related to the COVID-19 global health crisis impacted churches, forcing a swift move to mediated and online worship? And how will this change the shape churches of theological and programmatic choices for years to come? Drawing together a diverse group of theologians and media scholars, this volume considers the key theological question churches and religious leaders need to engage with as they look towards long term strategies involving church life and technology.
This is the story of the kids who built a world-class church — Heart of God Church started as a divine experiment to build a prototype Youth Church. Now it has developed into a proof of concept that Youths can build a STRONG CHURCH. GenerationS is a mindset-shifting, heart-changing book that shows you how to raise up generations of young people in your church to build His kingdom. After over 20 years, this youth church, operated by youths, for youths to reach youths, still has an average age of 22. “I see a great struggle in the global churches in keeping the young people… At Heart of God Church, things are different. After ministering in the biggest churches and conferences all over the world, what I’ve witnessed at Heart of God Church is unlike anything I have experienced before. What Heart of God Church has wonderfully modelled for us all should not only be applauded and admired; it should also be reproduced everywhere.” – JOHN BEVERE, International bestselling author The Bait of Satan, Co-Founder, Messenger International “On my most recent visit, one of my band was so wowed by the environment of the visual/video tech room – where he saw not just one operator at each station, but three... (This) was so impressive – there was one operator, one trainer and one trainee. These were people in their mid to high teens, some as young as 12 or 13... Considering the amount of responsibility a video/visual team carries in a large service, and how much specialised technical skill there is to learn... he was amazed. There was a beautiful trust being placed in these young people... and ultimately it’s the Jesus model of discipleship.” – MATT REDMAN, Two-time Grammy Award winner, singer-songwriter and worship leader Bonus #1: Contributors and ‘Inside Stories’ Read 1,000+ word contributions from 13 other contributing writers that provide an ‘inside look’ and 360º view of HOGC.
Director of Global Relations, a Westerner’s perspective on an Asian church
Board member in his 60s, on what older people do in a youth church
Chief of Staff, on what goes on inside the Senior Pastors’ Office
Head of Global Partnerships, on what co-senior pastoring looks like
Bonus #2: Comes with Digital Companion Go beyond the chapters! Access 100+ bonus content and interactive materials when you scan QR codes from within the book.
