Let me begin by introducing myself. I am a senior at Gettysburg Seminary pursuing a Master of Divinity degree. Upon graduation I am hoping to be ordained as pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) serving a congregation some place in the country.
I am currently taking a January course titled Religion and Media that has us blogging for the course. Honestly blogging has always been something that has been intimidating. This class has me taking the leap to give blogging a try. The course began this afternoon as we started to dive in head first and begin our exploration how the media culture currently infiltrating our every day lives impacts how we understand ourselves, God, community, and our world. We will spend time reflecting on how religion and theology are intertwined with various forms of media.
One of the opening questions we were asked today to answer when introducing ourselves was "What do you think of when you hear religion and media?" On a whole the class answered this question in various ways from being agnostic to media to embracing a large variety of media platforms present in our culture. I cannot say that I am one who is all about media, but I most certainly do not oppose it either. I believe there is great power in media especially when it comes to religion. I am constantly intrigued as to how others are using media to enrich their daily lives but especially their faith lives.
I recently heard of a church who was using Google Drive with their confirmation program. Each week the leaders would post questions that related to what they had discussed in class and then the youth would respond at some point throughout the week. The Google Doc provided the space for the youth to internalize what was discussed in class but also to develop a relationship with each other as they continued to reflect theologically on the class content.
I would love to hear about the creative ways you or your congregation are using media. I am not always convinced as people of faith we use media in the most productive ways, so I am hoping to find ways to tap into the helpful power media possesses. I hope that as I post ideas, thoughts, and questions that you may help me as I journey to find new ways of engaging media especially when it comes to relationships with each other as people. Thanks for joining me!
Hey Nicole, I agree with you in that I do not think we always use social media in the best ways in the church my biggest fear is that the church will see them as an alternative to physical presence ie virtual or digital churches where do you not even have to leave the comfort of your home just log into youtube or put on your 3D glasses and get ready for the virtual sermon. One thing I do like is that I am friends with my youth group on Facebook it allows us to stay in touch and discuss Biblical topics, we all still prefer getting together in person for events but with me away at school that isnt always possible so we use it to set up events and plan fun activities I think this is a great way to use social media not as the primary form of interaction between us but as one mode of interaction.
ReplyDeleteLike you, and although I use many forms of social media, I worry about losing that relational piece. But then again, I remember how boring my confirmation classes were. Will today's youth better comprehend and soak in their confirmation material in this type of format more than I did, or be bored by it as I was, but for different reasons? You're right in that there is great power, but the dangers (many of which you will hear about in YMCS) are what scare the bejeezus out of me.
ReplyDeleteI hope you'll bring your fears to class, so that we can sort through them!
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