The document discusses the challenges and opportunities that the digital age presents for Christian discipleship. It notes that the digital revolution is a massive global shift comparable to other major technological changes like the printing press. While technology should not dictate values, the digital environment now shapes communication and relationships, requiring churches to thoughtfully engage online. The document examines how Christians can live out their faith in digital spaces and discusses topics like declining church attendance, understanding digital culture, and mission opportunities online.

1. The Digital Age: A
Challenge for Christian
Discipleship?
Dr Bex Lewis, Research Fellow in Social Media and Online
Learning, CODEC, St John’s, Durham University
The European Conference on Social Media, Brighton, July
2014
@drbexl #ECSM2014

2. “There is a revolution sweeping across the globe, driven by the
massive growth of the internet and internet related
technologies. Known as the Digital Revolution it is on par
with other great global shifts such as the Agrarian Revolution
and the Industrial Revolution. And it is completely changing
the landscape of how we communicate, how we influence,
how we relate. This isn’t simply about coming to grips with a
new technology to assist us in our work, but requires of us a
fundamental shift in our processes, our structures and
approaches. If we don’t respond then as Eric Hoffer states,
we will find ourselves, ‘beautifully equipped to deal with a
world that no longer exists.’”
Event Publicity, 2010
The Digital Revolution?
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3. 15th C: The Printing
Press
Image Source: Wikipedia
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4. 1964: Marshall McLuhan
Image Source: Wikipedia
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5. “Technology should not dictate our
values or our methods. Rather, we
must use technology out of our
convictions and values.”
Dyer (2011: 5)
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6. Christians and
Churchgoing
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171776_290510.pdf@drbexl

7. Churchgoing in
Decline?
http://www.whychurch.org.uk/tearfund_church.pdf@drbexl

8. The Church Front Door?
For many churchgoing is no longer
the ‘cultural norm’. People don’t
actively ignore the church: they
don’t even think about it. … With
literally billions in the digital spaces,
the online social spaces presented
by churches need to be appealing,
welcoming, and not look like they
are just an afterthought: they are
now effectively the ‘front door’ to
your church for digital users, and
you ignore those spaces at your
peril. http://www.churchgrowthrd.org.uk/blog/churchgrowth/growing_churches_in_the_digital_age
Image Credit: freeimages.com@drbexl

9. Batts (2013)
http://phdinprogress.wordpress.com/@drbexl

10. Mission opportunities are very
different… when to step over the
church threshold is an unknown
experience compared with attitudes
when there is a known church to which
they can return.
Rev Lynda Barley, Head of Research and Statistics
for the Church of England
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11. The Growth of the Internet
http://oxis.oii.ox.ac.uk/sites/oxis.oii.ox.ac.uk/files/content/files/publications/OxIS_2013.pdf
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12. Understanding Digital
Culture
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13. The digital environment is not a parallel or purely
virtual world, but is part of the daily experience of
many people, especially the young. Social networks
are the result of human interaction, but for their part
they also reshape the dynamics of communication,
which builds relationships: a considered
understanding of this environment is therefore a
prerequisite for a significant presence there.
Pope Benedict XVI (2013)
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14. We are not selling something to the world that will
make more people like us, believe in our story, join
our churches. We are trying to be something in the
world that invites connection and compassion,
encourages comfort and healing for those in need,
and challenges those in power to use that power in
the service of justice and love.
Elizabeth Drescher, Tweet if You Heart Jesus (2011, 127)
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15. [If we are…] means by which God communicates
and reveals himself through his Spirit, then our blog
posts, status updates, tweets, artistic images, and
online comments should be products of a life
transformed by Christ and indwelled by his Spirit. As
restored image bearers, our online presence and
activity should image the Triune God.
Byers, A. Theomedia (2013, 196)
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16. It’s something about the informality and
distance; the ability to pause and think, which
can be difficult in a conversation; and the
way discussions can pick up where they left
off several hours, days or weeks later.
Emma Major, BIGBible Post, 2012
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17. #DIGIDisciple
those who seek to
live out their
Biblically-informed
Christian faith in the
digital space,
exploring both what it
means to be a
disciple in the digital
age, and also how
the digital age affects
or alters discipleship.
@drbexl

18. A moral panic may be
defined as an episode, often
triggered by alarming media
stories and reinforced by
reactive laws and public
policy, of exaggerated or
misdirected public concern,
anxiety, fear, or anger over a
perceived threat to social
order.
http://www.ashgate.com/pdf/SamplePages/Ashgate-Research-
Companion-to-Moral-Panics-Intro.pdf
Image Credit: Stockfresh
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19. Christian Bloggers
Image Source: RGBStock@drbexl

20. Photoshopped Selves?
Image Source: Stockfresh@drbexl

21. On the Emmaus Road, Jesus was
recognized in the breaking of bread rather
than in the exegesis of Scripture. That’s an
intriguing lesson to learn when so much of
the web and so much of digital
communication is about proclamation rather
than reception.
Phillips et al, 2013: 10
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22. “We should not overlook the fact that those
who for whatever reason lack access to
social media run the risk of being left
behind,” with a reminder that
communication is ultimately a human
rather than a technological achievement.
Pope Francis, World Communications Day, 2014
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23. The Digital Age?
Image Source: RGBStock@drbexl

24. References
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Batts, S. (2013) “Informing, inviting or ignoring? Understanding how English Christian churches use the internet”, [online], Unpublished PhD,
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v21i0.18598
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Major, E. (2012), “Seeking God Online”, [online] http://bigbible.org.uk/2012/02/seeking-god-online-digidisciple-emmauk74/
McGrory, R. (2014), “UK Social Media Statistics for 2014”, [online] , http://www.rosemcgrory.co.uk/2014/01/06/uk-social-media-statistics-for-2014/
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Phillips, P., Lewis, B., Bruce, K. (2013) “Digital Communication, the Church and Mission”, [online] Church Growth Resourcing Mission Bulletin,
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25. Image Source: iStockphoto
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