Jason Byassee: Is digital the new normal?
“The simulcast sermons are no big deal,” he said. This would be a surprise to my editors at Christian Century, whom I’d sold on a story about an innovative megachurch called Lifechurch.tv. At this multi-site campus, one preacher preaches in Oklahoma, and 26,000 members in fourteen campuses in five states (plus many more online) watch via satellite. The pastor I was talking to, Ken Behr, pastors a church in Tennessee, with the preaching pumped in from some 700 miles away.
“People often fixate on the virtual thing, but churches are used to watching the screen. Been to an NFL game lately? You watch the jumbotron.” Then here’s the part that got me: “When I finish my master’s degree I’m sure it’ll be online. I’m not moving.”
Most theological institutions I respect have stayed away from online learning. This is for good reason: Christian faith is intrinsically an embodied thing. We can learn things in a limited way online, just as we could previously via radio, television, or even written correspondence. This is why Faith & Leadership features videos, and may offer online educational opportunities down the road. They can be useful in small doses—but to become a master (whence the “M” in M.Div: magister), and therefore a teacher, of theology is too much weight for the web to bear. It’s no accident more sacramental traditions have no Lifechurch.tv—and don’t hold your breath for the Catholics to jump on board. It’s awfully hard to consecrate the host in the webosphere. I heard an Anglican faculty member at another institution having this debate say wisely, “I refuse to teach embodied theology online.”
But what if our defense of this correct position means we sit out while the world goes by? Evangelicals tend to be ahead of the curve technologically. It’s no secret that we mainliners often lag behind. This has occasionally served us well. But what if we’re on the precipice of a world in which virtual “presence” is the order of the day? For example, what if the economy means people won’t up and move, leave jobs, sell houses (that won’t sell) to move for a master’s degree, but will pay as much tuition or more to learn online? Do we want to abdicate that potential student body pool entirely? Or could some combination of virtual and bodily learning substitute for a residential master’s degree? If others are doing virtual teaching poorly that may be all the more reason to do it with as much integrity as possible.
My answers to these questions have been a strong no. But what if the rest of the world changes around us, so we’re left defending our anti-virtual purity in a world with no qualms with doing things that matter online—like telegraph defenders holding out against the telephone?
Jason Byassee is an executive director of Leadership Education at Duke Divinity.
thanks
Jason,
Thanks for this reflection. I have often thought similar things, and I have a retort for the "what if" scenario - since I actually observed another "what if" in action when the worship leader was completely reliant on assisting technology.
It was a famous mega church pastor bringing the message, and his tech backstage (who travels with him) had difficulty getting the media going.
After joking about "technical difficulties" for 10 minutes (what seemed like an eternity), it became clear that if this stuff wasn't fixed, this guy was all dressed up with no place to go.
It felt a little like the one trick pony - if the power was off or the media wasn't there - this guy had nothing. He was unable to move forward without it. It was extremely awkward for the congregation and extremely revealing to me about the use of technology in worship.
So now - I like to put it this way with regard to worship: Technology has its uses in worship, and can sometimes enhance or assist in valuable ways -
...but the bottom line? - if the core of what happens in worship can't be done when the power grid is down - chances are, it shouldn't be done at all.
Or maybe better - if it can't be adapted in ways to be done in a poor village that worries about the accessibility of running water rather than the accessibility of broadband ... well, you get the picture.
Peace,
Kevin
Technology-Assisted
Jason, I appreciate your comments regarding on-line vs. in-residence. You quote me accurately but permit me to comment further regarding “technology-assisted” education.
Many if not most of the better theology programs require a week or so per semester in-residence. However, I've been teaching at the under and post-graduate level for years and have observed that most of the professors and institutions hesitate to fully embrace “technology-assisted” education (what commonly has been called "distance" and "on-line"). They have many reasons for their hesitancy but typically I find that they are just slow at embracing change…painfully slow.
While there may be some good arguments for their resistance, the bottom line for me is that many people learn very well via independent study. In addition, the quality of video and audio presentations available via technology-assisted programs is actually quite good. I can take notes while I watch, stop the DVD, back it up, play it again. All too often, I’ve known instructors and professors who talk to the chalk board and bore their students to death, but have tenure to ensure their continued employment. Someone please tell me why in 2009, so many professors are still adverse to using technology even in the traditional classroom. Recently, while teaching at a Christian college, I was one of the few that were using a website for my students featuring on-line quizzes and other study aids despite the fact that all of the text books included and recommended these tools for the students.
Finally, since you brought up some theological arguments, I’d like to comment that we have many Biblical and contemporary examples of how God has used His word to completely transform a person’s life. Just the Word…no instructor, pastor or priest.
The Word became Flesh
From a theological perspective I think we need to consider that the Word, which is the Son of the Father, became flesh to draw us into community with the triune God. This community making process was modeled through a 3 year discipleship training program. I don't personally see a downside to using blogs or online classes as a part of an educational process. But I think it is very important to consider what kind of community is created by an online/satellite church. How does that virtual church model the life giving relationship of the trinity?
The great on-line theological discussion
Jason,
Thanks for your good thoughts here. A related topic, which perhaps supports your openness to new technologies, is the breadth and depth of the great on-line discussion going on in the blogosphere, of which your blog is a part. But unlike yours, which is institutionally sanctioned and has the checks but also the restraints built into that, most are unregulated except by their peers' comments. Many bloggers are graduate students or young pastors. Not all is gold. Some of it is snarky and shallow. But a good deal of it is like those rich conversations one had with smart friends in seminary, except now not limited by space( or time for the most part). I'm a believer.
-Rick
Does it 'work'?
This post brought to mind a query from an elderly parishioner some years ago. I was visiting in her home when she mentioned a TV preacher she'd occasionally watched. It was one of those where the viewer was supposed to place her/his hand on the screen as the preacher prayed and "agree" on the promised blessing, etc.
Her question was this. Since the service she watched was taped and broadcast later, did the prayer still "work"?
Have to be able to go without
These are great comments all. Kevin you're absolutely right about needing to be able to ad lib without the tech. I was struck visiting Lifechurch, at one campus the video intro failed, and the pastor popped up unfazed, said "I guess that's my intro," and was off. Interviewing Ken Behr, who comments above, he joked that some Sundays he bribes his technies to kick the satellite out of commission. He's ready to preach if the AV fails. The trick is to have the tech serve us rather than the reverse.
twitter
I actually do not see the web or social networking as the enemy of substantive theological works. Most people have not traded reading, say Geoffrey Wainwright's Doxology, for twittering. I think twittering is actually something that is replacing the telephone or the quick note.
We are using both facebook and twitter (www.twitter.com/summerpsalms) in a project related to the Psalms this summer. Since our worship is fairly traditional, these are non-traditional means to communicate with people beyond our church. I have read and appreciate the Albert Borgmann critique, and yet think technology is an element in our everyday lives, and this is especially so in the lives of our two daughters. Does not all have to be destructive.
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