The document explores the role of technology in enhancing and potentially disrupting family dynamics and church ministry in the digital age. It emphasizes the importance of understanding technology as both a tool for communication and community formation, while also addressing the ethical considerations of its use in ministry. The text encourages the church to engage with modern technologies to promote evangelization, community building, and social advocacy, while maintaining healthy boundaries and clear strategies.

1. T E C H N O L O G Y , M E D I A , &
M I N I S T R Y
C H U R C H L E A D E R S H I P I N T H E D I G I T A L W O R L D
R E V . G R E G K L I M O V I T Z | | @ G K L I M O V I T Z | | @ P R E S B Y _ P H L

4. Connection Lost, Season 6 Episode 16

5. • Name the various technologies used in this episode.
• In what ways do these technologies enhance the
family dynamics?
• In what ways do the technologies perpetuate possible
dysfunction of the family?
• Where are there potential breaches of boundaries?

6. • How have you utilized technology in your ministry?
• How has technology enhanced your ministry and/or
community life?
• How has technology been a perpetuate of possible
dysfunction in your ministry and/or community life?

8. W H A T A R E W E T A L K I N G A B O U T ?
T E C H N O L O G Y :
technology |tekˈnäləjē
noun (pl. technologies);
• the application of scientific knowledge for practical
purposes, especially in industry: advances in computer
technology | recycling technologies;
• machinery and equipment developed from the
application of scientific knowledge;
• the branch of knowledge dealing with engineering or
applied sciences.
New Oxford American Dictionary

9. W H A T A R E W E T A L K I N G A B O U T ?
T E C H N O L O G Y :
technology |tekˈnäləjē
noun (pl. technologies);
• the application of scientific knowledge for practical
purposes, especially in industry: advances in computer
technology | recycling technologies;
• machinery and equipment developed from the
application of scientific knowledge;
• the branch of knowledge dealing with engineering or
applied sciences.
New Oxford American Dictionary

10. W H A T A R E W E T A L K I N G A B O U T ?
T E C H N O L O G Y :
technology as the mediums and/or tools used
to apply knowledge of something [or someone]
of significance for real and practical purposes.

12. T E C H N O L O G Y :
W H A T A R E W E T A L K I N G A B O U T ?
Science Technology

13. T E C H N O L O G Y :
W H A T A R E W E T A L K I N G A B O U T ?
Science Technology

14. T E C H N O L O G Y :
W H A T A R E W E T A L K I N G A B O U T ?
Science & Technology

15. S O C I A L M E D I A : O R G A N I C T E C H N O L O G Y
Form Function
immediacy, information,
One-Way Communication
two-Way Communication,
Open-Source, Idea &
Concept Sharing
Community Formation,
Self-Promotion, Marketing,
Networking, News Broadcasting

16. T E C H N O L O G I C A L T O O L S : C O M M U N I C A T I O N & E F F I C I E N C Y
Form Function
Capturing, Celebrating,
Illustrating, Broadcasting,
Narrating Stories
Connecting, Communicating,
Globalizing
Resource Sharing,
Data Storing,
Infinite Accessibility

17. D I G I T A L W O R L D A S C U L T U R A L W A T E R S
F A C E B O O K I S N O T G O I N G A W A Y
Life was better without the internet.
Let’s Google how to get rid of it.

18. D I G I T A L W O R L D A S C U L T U R A L W A T E R S
F A C E B O O K I S N O T G O I N G A W A Y

19. D I G I T A L W O R L D A S C U L T U R A L W A T E R S
F A C E B O O K I S N O T G O I N G A W A Y
We are more connected than ever before.
Where and how will the church connect with members
and neighbors alike?

20. D I G I T A L W O R L D A S C U L T U R A L W A T E R S
F A C E B O O K I S N O T G O I N G A W A Y
“…the rapid advance in internet technologies,
most especially digital social networks and
wireless mobile devices…have fundamentally
changed the way we live our lives and conceive
of communication, relationships, community,
leadership, and authority, and therefore have
profound implications for ministry in a digital
age.”
Keith Anderson, The Digital Cathedral, p. 5

21. M I N I S T R Y I N A G E O F I N N O V A T I O N
T H E O L O G Y O F T E C H N O L O G Y :
When you consider the digital world, what does
it communicate about our cultural realities?
Try to list as a group at least 5 observations.

22. M I N I S T R Y I N A G E O F I N N O V A T I O N
T H E O L O G Y O F T E C H N O L O G Y :
technology as the mediums and/or tools used
to apply knowledge of something [or someone]
of significance for real and practical purposes.

23. S A C R A M E N T S A S T E C H N O L O G I C A L
W I T N E S S ?
T H E O L O G Y O F T E C H N O L O G Y :

25. M I N I S T R Y I N A G E O F I N N O V A T I O N
T H E O L O G Y O F T E C H N O L O G Y :
Now the whole earth had one language and the
same words. 2 And as they migrated from the
east,[a] they came upon a plain in the land of
Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said to one
another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them
thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and
bitumen for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us
build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in
the heavens, and let us make a name for
ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad
upon the face of the whole earth.”
Genesis 11:1-4
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the
first heaven and the first earth had passed away,
and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy
city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of
heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for
her husband…I saw no temple in the city, for its
temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.
23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine
on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is
the Lamb.
Revelation 21:1-2, 22-3

27. M I N I S T R Y I N A G E O F I N N O V A T I O N
T H E O L O G Y O F T E C H N O L O G Y :
“The church can’t change her response to Gutenberg’s printing press, the
radio, or the television; they are forever fixed in history. But at the onset
of this digital revolution, her response to New Media is wide open. The
world is waiting and listening in the virtual sphere. Will the church remain
silent, or will her voice be proclaimed from the roof tops (and the
laptops)? Will she plunge the message of Christ into Facebook feeds,
blogposts, podcasts, and text messages, or will she be digitally impotent?
If the Church’s promotion of evangelization, formation, community, and
the common good is to continue throughout future generations, she must
harness these technologies and utilize them well."
---Brandon Vogt, The Church and New Media: Blogging Converts,
Online Activists, and Bishops Who Tweet

28. M I N I S T R Y I N A G E O F I N N O V A T I O N
T H E O L O G Y O F T E C H N O L O G Y :
We must regularly ponder which forms of new technology our congregations
and ministries will use and how we will use them as means of grace for
practical purposes of loving and serving our local and global neighbors. We
must be willing to view various forms of technological innovation not solely as
evolving distractions, although aware of such possibility, but as redemptive
opportunities for community formation, social advocacy, prophetic witness, and
proclamation of the Good News.
In so doing, the ordinary technologies we apply become sacramental platforms
versus trendy widgets void of broader meaning. They are able to take the
Gospel to the ends of the earth, pointing beyond themselves and towards
God’s dreams for a world made new and right again. That’s what our earliest
ancestors of the faith did with bread, cup, and water-
and they went viral with the Good News of Jesus Christ.

29. Where and when have you seen
technology serve as faithful
witness?

30. Information
Formation
Connection
3 Helpful Little Words

31. #WhatDoWeDoNow

32. • Maintain Healthy Boundaries and Ethics
• Develop Ministry Strategies & Social Media
Policies
#WhatDoWeDoNow

33. 1. Remember Your Witness
2. Pause and Pray Before Pressing Send or Post
3. Build Up Versus Tear Down
4. Complexity Cannot Be Resolved via Email
5. Consider Purpose and Desired End for
Postings
6. Consider Your Source Credibility
7. Remember Internet Permanency and Myth of
Anonymity
8. Proofread…Agin. Agan. Again.
9. Prioritize Permission and Value Confidentiality
10. Polarizing Posts Rarely (if ever) Lead to God’s
Peace
My Top Ten Reminders

34. • Maintain Healthy Boundaries and Ethics
• Develop Ministry Strategies & Social Media Policies
• Be Aware of Your Limitations: You Cannot &
Should Not Utilize All Forms of Technology
• Information. Formation. Connection.
• Know Your Context & Community
• Know Available Resources Internally &
Externally
• Create Space for Intergenerational Learning
• Ministry & Media Are Colleagues: Ministry Has
Corner Office
• Bear Witness: Tools Point Beyond Themselves
• Pray
#WhatDoWeDoNow