Theology Technology
For almost all of my adult life, portable computing technology has been a part of my spiritual life. No matter how small a role, it's always been a benefit to me somehow. In everything from jotting notes, recording Bible studies, writing down scripture references to look up later, taking down ideas for topics to study on, and even just devotions and Bible reading. It's always been something that I've used more and more over the years to help myself grow spiritually.
I started out the way everyone normally does, taking notes with a pen and pad every Sunday, but found that my notes would always get lost, or become difficult to organize. (And even lost a ton of them along with my main Bible when my car was "unexpectedly towed" *blush*). Ultimately, I'd get too frustrated with either looking for the darned things or trying to figure out which hand drawn outline went with what note and what order they went in according to the topical series being taught on. PDA's saved my note taking life!
So years later, I've evolved from taking notes on a monochrome Palm Vx to a miniature laptop like Redfly paired to my AT&T Tilt. The thing I have started to notice lately, however, is how much notice I've been getting. As my function and mobile computing ability has developed, the devices I use have gotten a little bigger, and so it goes.
While reading a discussion on another message board about my review of the Redfly, one of the participants in the discussion mentioned that he didn't think that laptops or PDAs had a place in God's house on the Sabbath. This got me thinking.
Obviously I don't see anything as a problem with using technology in church, but I can see an argument for those that do. There are definitely pros and cons to using devices like the Redfly. Easy access and storage, the ability to backup notes to more than one device, and sharing with family and friends, are great benefits, but there are also drawbacks. I experienced one such drawback not too long ago.
As the sermon was starting up, so was I, then discovered that a recent change I made to the OS had broken the software I normally use to take notes. So for the first 5 to 10 minutes of the sermon I was troubleshooting to correct the issue. I learned my lesson since then and haven't had any problems since. I've also noticed that another guy I fellowship with started bringing in his 17-inch laptop to take notes as well, which is much more noticeable than my 9 inch Redfly.
With all the resources available to us online, technology is a natural progression to how things can be done in the church. Think about it, we've gone from displaying lyrics to music on overhead projectors to laptops and projectors, announcements are now done with accompanying Powerpoint presentations, entire church services are broadcast on TV and the internet and even the Bible is available freely in just about every translation known to man with a few clicks of the mouse.
This started me to thinking about how churches are currently using technology. Recently John MacArthur released his entire sermon library on-line, the ESV study Bible comes with a key that unlocks an online version that comes complete with with commentary, my church offers the sermon outline and the mp3 of the weeks sermon free of charge weekly.
The change is undeniable and even expected, the Church is already using technology to make the gospel more widely available. With more powerful portable devices becoming more and more available and the prices becoming more accessible, isn't it about time for Congregation 2.0?
Labels: Church Tech Today, information technology
posted by Brian Tate @ 11/11/2008 11:17:00 PM
10 comments
10 Comments:
and what exactly is "congregation 2.0"?
lj.
If this post doesn't sound like something that I wrote when MMM got started ;) Love it when the brethren agree :)
Glad to hear that others see the point of tech being more usable in various settings. We need more of that paradigm challenging, because for what its worth, most folks don't even take good notes. You are at least demonstrating that you are taking better notes in order to better study.
That admin time during service really sucks. You might want to find some ways to minimize that if possible. Its less of a distraction to others. Also, consider sitting in the back, where the glare of the computer is not a distraction to those who are offended by such tech.
Eventually, folks will get it. Until then, we need to make sure that our use of tech reflects rightly on God's design and use of it - whether people can see that without being taught is another thing - hence that office of pastor-teacher (hint, hint).
I think we've already been introduced to CHURCH 2.0... As mentioned in the article, we have the powerpoint slides during worship, announcements, and at my church and plenty of others, during the preaching. So arguments that computers and technology have NO PLACE in church to me is a big step backwards. We can already see how tech has GREATLY benefited the Church LEADERSHIP, the only thing left is for the congregation to catch up... IF they want to that is. I'm not championing computer chips that read each church members attendance and personalize their electronic church programs so their name shows up on the cover. LOL. but I think things like rooms with tables and wifi for those with laptops (wifi would be arguable... so not so much with the wifi)can be seated comfortably. As you can imagine, my friend with the 17-inch HP is tethered to the same spot because.. well.. lets face it.. battery life isn't stellar on larger devices (the Redfly however.. i've never had a problem with.. see the review if you haven't already). PDA's are great for longer battery life as well.. so obviously more power outlets would be nice.
wouldn't it be nice to bring your device to church and have the sermon outline available from the network? or even the announcements and church events emailed or transmitted to your outlook calendar... these are all nice little benefits... the MAIN thing I think the congregation could benefit from are the electronic copies of the notes.
Am I saying that technology should be the answer and norm for EVERY church goer? far from it.. that's just downright unrealistic... but what i AM saying is that churches COULD be a little more tech friendly in the congregation in the areas mentioned for the handful of us that DO want to use our devices during service (for servie related tasks).
Antione
great points! we make it a point to sit in the balcony in any of the last 3 rows where it's least populated. So that HELPS.. but when in new members class... i still sit in back but the room is a lot smaller so it's hard not to notice the guy in the back with the pretty "burgundy laptop". The first time I brought it.. i did end up sitting in the front and my wife later told me how many people she noticed staring over my shoulder as I typed.... lesson learned. LOL!
As for the admin time.. i prep the night before.. the GREAT thing about the Redfly is the instant on... normally what I'll do is pair it right after worship when the break starts (right before I walk my daughter down to the "childrens church" area). So when I return to my seat.. i'm already set! I still have to play catchup by typing out the sermon outline... which, thankfully, is pretty short.
You should read the first years of MMM posts, you sound so much like me then its scary :D
LOL! I'll do that.
Hi Guys! Love the running discussion that's going on today :-) For me, I think bringing a small laptop would be distracting to take notes on during a church service - even though I too prefer to type out notes over any other way. For a while, years back, I took notes anywhere and everywhere, and even did some creative writing on my ancient Handspring PDA (before they were bought out by Palm). I loved the freedom of being able to have a digital copy of my notes.
But during church, I think if someone next to me was typing away on a small laptop, I would be able to hear the clicking of the keystrokes, and it would drive me nuts if I was sitting next to you. I get annoyed when ladies riffle through their purses looking for a mint or whatever, and you hear them jingling around for what seems like 5 minutes. Granted, I'm prone to annoyances - guess I need to pray about that!
My solution - which is completely untechnical - was to designate one journal for all my church notes, Bible study notes, poetry and creative writing. Although I have to flip through pages to find what I'm looking for, I see the progress of my thought and spiritual development in all areas of my life when I sit down and re-read what I've written over the past months & years.
I would say that if taking notes on your computer or PDA really works for you, just respect the people around you - maybe sit in the last row, or ask the people sitting next to you if they mind--just so that you are not a stumbling block to others in your congregation. Also, with internet pornography becoming such a problem in the church for many men, and some women too, I would be sensitive to using a computer with wifi at church.
That's all, folks!
Lauren Hunter
http://ChurchTechToday.com
Lauren seems to bring up the keypoint: even though tech enables us to stay better organized in this application, we still have to respect the space of others to be organized with the more established way of doing things.
That being said, writing notes on a laptop in church should just be the beginning. I'd love to see the sermon outline blogged to the church website and then everyone's "notes" were comments to that posting as the sermon was going on and after it was done :) That would be taking things to other levels.
I think there are two options that have been overlooked that may not be nearly as distracting as opening a laptop and typing on the keyboard. I personally think that would be a little over the top. I am as into tech as anyone and consider myself to be totally paperless in my work and personal life but I dont want to hear a keyboard in a meeting or in church. How did I get around that? 2 ways. 1 I bought a tablet pc. Mine is a p1620 from Fujitsu. I have the bible loaded into Microsoft Onenote, I have the PC in sleep mode so all I have to do is open the lid, swing it around to tablet mode, take out my electronic pen and my pc looks like an electronic notepad. I do get glances but there is no big screen for people to be distracted by and no keyboard I am typing on. I am simply writing my notes in onenote. It works well and I have never gotten a dirty look. The other option I use is an ipod touch. I use olive tree software and have downloaded the bible to it and that it what I take many times to service. I can view multiple versions, look things up very quickly and it is small and not distracting at all. I too would be concerned about wifi access in church. i could just see the high school kids in the back, web surfing, texting and everything else in church. :)
You make a good point Anon; that keyboard clicking could be a distraction and so the use of a tabletPC might be a better option.
As for youth on the web while in service, instead of restricting it because they might do something out of sheer boredom, why not embrace it and give them something to do within the service that will take advantage of the short attention spans and much better grasp of the technology ;) Its always easier to shut things down for a group than it is to figure out a solution that allows the deviant activity to flourish in a way that speaks to those not concerned with status quo.
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