Hi-tech promotes high-touch churches

You can visit many churches that show no signs of awareness that we live in a digital age, awash in multiple media venues and online opportunities for social networking. For some folks, I suspect, a simple sanctuary with nothing more high-tech than a piano may be just that -- a place of sanctuary and longing for a simpler day.

But I'll bet at least three-quarters of the worshipers in those bare pews will have cell phones in their pockets.

Trend-spotter George Barna published a survey on Churches and Technology this week. The study took a look at eight technologies and their application in Protestant churches. Surveyors found that 65 percent of churches now have a large screen projection system. Size, as one might expect, played an important role:

Among churches that average less than 100 adults each week, only half (53%) have such systems. The proportion balloons to 76% among churches that attract an average of 100 to 250 adults, and nearly nine out of ten churches (88%) that draw more than 250 adults each week.

Researches even noticed a somewhat surprising correlation of large screens and theology: just more "liberal" churches used large screens, while 68 percent of churches perceived to be more conservative used them.

Barna has a vested interest in knowing how many churches use screens for video clips and the like: his Barna Films division makes a host of clips available, indexed to scriptures or topics and with royalties appropriately paid. His group found that 80 percent of churches with large screens also used film or other video clips in some way. The number that use satellite dishes to offer remote training opportunities remains small, at eight percent.

But that's not all Barna's interested in: his researches found that 56 percent of Protestant churches use "e-mail blasts" to communicate with the congregation, and 62 percent have an Internet presence through a curch website. As expected, the larger the church, the more likely it is to have a website.

Churches have been slower to get on board with social networking sites like MySpace and FaceBook: only a quarter of Protestant churches sponsor a group on social networking sites, with large churches and charismatic churches being more likely to be plugged in.

While many churches embrace technology, they aren't as likely to provide interactive opportunities. Just one of eight churches host a blog where members can respond to blogs posted by church leaders. Watch for social networking and blogging, along with community-building opportunities like Twitter, to skyrocket in coming years -- or churches will be left in the digital dust.

One-way communication such as the commonly employed "tape ministry" for shut-ins has also benefited from technology: one out of six churches now offer podcasting, allowing tech-savvy members to download sermons or other programs and listen at their leisure.

Barna concluded:

The Internet has become one of the pivotal communications and community-building tools of our lifetime. Churches are well-advised to have an intelligent and foresighted Internet strategy in order to facilitate meaningful ministry.

That's the sort of news many churches don't want to hear, but it's a truth that they'll need to heed if they want others to hear their message. For younger believers who love being part of tight communities, high-tech and high-touch go hand in hand.

[Graphic from Cross Systems, Inc. ]

Samuel's plea for a dog.A personal note: some of you have heard about our son

The effectual fervent plea of a righteous son availeth much.

His name, Samuel says, is Banjo.

Met a "mystery worshiper" lately?

If you think the church visitor who came in and sat near you is taking more notes than the pastor's sermon deserves, there's a chance he or she might be a "mystery worshiper," especially if you live in Britain, where a group called Christian Research is getting ready to expand a pilot project designed to give churches a visitor's-eye view of their congregation.

Writing church reviews isn't new: for some time volunteers have posted online reviews of churches around the world on the Ship of Fools Web site. If you work for Christian Research, however, you can get paid to attend worship, pay attention, and complete a report on everything from the cleanliness of the bathrooms to the friendliness of the people and the relevance of the sermon.

A popular book making the rounds of many Christian leaders in America is based on a similar concept: in Jim & Casper Go To Church, minister-author Jim Henderson hired an atheist copywriter and musician named Casper to visit churches with him across the U.S., comparing notes on their experiences. Any number of pastors are finding the book quite helpful.

Christian Research also hopes its company's feedback will provide valuable information to churches in Britain, many of which have suffered severe decreases in attendance.

The concept of a mystery worshiper is intriguing, and it could indeed assist greatly in helping churches understand why they are -- or are not -- attracting and/or keeping new members.

It has often been said, but remains true -- you only get one chance to make a first impression.

No angel under this "halo"

If you read this post from BT's Oct. 7 list of links or in your local newspaper, perhaps you were as taken aback as I was that multiple youth groups are using the new video game "Halo 3" as a draw for getting kids to church.

The wildly popular sci-fi shooting game has sold a gazillion copies, but the violence it depicts is so vivid that the game is rated M-17, for "mature" players only. You can't buy the game unless you're 17 years old, and can't even look at the website without entering your birthday -- at two different times -- to prove that you're either old enough or a liar.

Yet, some churches are allowing children well under 17 to play the game. It's common for churches to start "youth group" in sixth grade these days, which means some 11-year-olds could be vicariously blowing the bad guys' guts out at church when they're still years away from being old enough to officially buy the game.

I know the argument that you have to be relevant and try new things to get/keep the teenybopper crowd in church, but there has to be a limit somewhere. Porn movies would probably attract a crowd. Or a night of beer tasting. Or an uncensored game of "truth or dare."

Most rational people would recognize that those are over the line. It's hard for me to understand why an excessively violent video game should not also be well beyond the border.

It's one thing to shoot at the iconic aliens on "Space Invaders" -- it's another thing entirely to pull the trigger when pointing your digital gun at realistically portrayed people. Some argue that "it's only pixels."

That's only rubbish.

Protracted exposure to violence, whether it's in movies or on a computer screen or in person, can desensitize people toward the humanity of others. Our "enemies" become just that -- not real people who have feelings and families, but just another obstacle who's blocking our path.

However noble their motives and however righteous the "hero" of Halo appears to be, I see no passable justification for endorsing the idea that blowing people to bloody bits is acceptable, even in a video game.

Jesus never said "blast your enemies , disembowel those who persecute you, and behead those who despitefully use you."

I'm pretty sure he used a different verb.

A verb like "love."

It's that kind of behavior that deserves a halo.