The Church and New Media

In the past decade, communication has changed drastically.  Email and cell phone usage has skyrocketed, while new means of connecting have emerged.  The Internet has given us blogs (like this one), social media (Facebook, Twitter), video chat (Skype), and countless other avenues.  Combine this with texting and smartphones, and there are more applications to be explored.

How should the church view this communications revolution?  Union Theological Seminary has created the New Media Project, headed by Verity Jones (former editor of DisciplesWorld magazine), to explore these issues theologically.  After a few months, Jones offers this article about what they've learned so far and what they are continuing to study.

Personally, I think that many of these forms of communication offer congregations and the broader church important opportunities to connect across time and distance in relatively inexpensive ways.  With practice, these communications can help to make communities stronger.  (Unlike some others, though, I have reservations about the prospect of religious communities that are exclusively online.  I think there is an important part of our faith that is lived out when we are physically together.)