Book REview God and the Machine: Navigating Faith in the Age of AI

 

God and the Machine:Navigating Faith in the Age of AI By Nathan Webb ©2026 Abingdon Press

From the bio on the Abingdon Press page for this book: “Nathan Webb is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church and the founding pastor of Checkpoint Church, a digital-first United Methodist community”. In this book he takes on questions around the use of AI in the church.

Webb encourages us to look at these questions through the lens of the Great Commandment, which makes sense given that some would insist that all parts of the Christian life need to be viewed through that lens. He also holds the view that the choice to not discuss the role of AI in our life as a church is not tenable. AI is now a part of the world, and increasingly so (the growth since 2020 is astounding) and while the church, or at least parts of the church, have traditionally been slow to adopt new technology we risk being left behind if we do not engage. At the same time we have to admit that every new technology has two edges so what are the two edges that AI brings? He continually reminds us that just because we CAN do something does not necessarily mean that we should.

Webb starts with defining technology in general and AI specifically. He posits that as a tool we need to ask things like: who created/builds this, who uses it, who controls it, who benefits from it, and who does it serve. These are good questions for a variety of tech tools as we work out the best/most ethical way forward. Among the notes I took I jotted down the idea that if we are not intentional about our discernment we might not keep the ability to control how AI becomes a part of our lives. He also notes that because AI chatbots seem so human-like people have had a tendency to anthropomorphize AI. We need to resist and speak against that temptation. This is a theme he carries forward throughout the book – AI is not human, does not have human feelings, can not replace human caring and love.

In Chapter 3 Webb takes on the question of “Does God Use Technology?”. Maybe God, through human creativity is giving us the tech tools for us to use as part of how we serve God. In this case we need to discern how best to use those tools. This leads into Chapter 4 which looks at ethics around the use of AI.

Later in the book Webb raises the question of ecclesiology. In that chapter he discusses how Checkpoint Church operates and what the ecclesiology of that congregation is. He makes the very valid point that most of our congregations need to be more intentional about our ecclesiological assumptions.

The final chapter talks about what Webb refers to as “human forward thinking”. Here he talks about embodiment. He starts with talking about whether online interactions can be thought of as being embodies. HE said this is one of the criticisms he has frequently met when people ask if an online church can truly be seen as a church. It reminded me of a time 20 years ago when people wondered if digital community could truly be called community, or the early resistance to online dating. Later in the chapter he returns to the idea that AI is not embodied.

This was a good book. There is also a study guide available so it might be a good discussion group resource. Webb pushes us to consider how to move forward into a world where AI is a reality. He reminds us that AI should be seen as providing augmentation rather than replacement. As Christians we need to use whatever tools we us to build love and justice, as leaders we have to model healthy and ethical practices what ever we do. This is true whatever choices we make about AI.

Book REview AI and the Church: A Clear Guide for the Curious and Courageous

 

AI and the Church: A Clear Guide for the Curious and Courageous By Jason Moore ©2024 Invite Press 298 Pages (1369 Screens on my Kobo)

One morning this winter/spring I found myself in a discussion about whether or not we would use AI at St. Paul’s. Later that day I was book shopping and this one popped up in my feed (not because my computer heard the conversation that morning, because I was looking for another book by the same author). So I clicked to put it into my cart.

More and more it becomes obvious that we need to have discussions about how/if we will use AI in our private lives, in our churches, in our businesses. It is all around us. In fact, as Moore points out in this volume, we are using it already. AI has become a part of life in so many ways and will likely grow. Late in the book Moore makes some predictions about where AI might go next and there is a chance it will become even more inescapable. For better or worse it is part of the world we live in and will grow.

Moore starts the book with a recap of some of the ways AI is already a part of our worlds. Then he gives a history of how we got to where we are, followed by some definition of what AI is and what it is currently capable of. From there we move to Part II which looks in more depth at the foundation of AI and how the church might deal with it.

This section of the book starts with some of the concerns raised about AI and looks at why some people would resist it. Moore is open from the beginning that he believes the church should (carefully and intentionally) use AI but is also open to the reasons people are resistant. One of the pieces he names repeatedly throughout the text is that AI is a tool to help us, not a crutch to do things for us. HE also names repeatedly the importance of humans making decisions, being “in the driver’s seat” and that within the life of the church this needs to include discernment, listening for God’s voice/wisdom and prayer. Next Moore leads us in an exploration of some possible Scriptural basis for using AI. A couple questions I noted here were: “if God can communicate in a variety of ways already what is to say God can’t communicate through AI?”, is AI possibly a gift for God, a gift developing from people’s God-given creativity?”, “does AI as a research tool allow us a new way to access the wisdom of the ages, the ‘great cloud of wisdom’?”, and “what is the role of innovation/novelty/new wine & wineskins in the life of the church?”. The final chapter in Part II is an extended look at some of the ethical considerations that go with using AI. This is a very important chapter as we discern our approach to the tool.

Part III of the book takes us through a look at the various tools and platforms available. These chapters were of some interest (particularly the first which discussed chatbots) but were not the main reason I got the book. The chapters on chatbots and on image generation were quite detailed with many hints about making the best use of the tools and a comparison of the various tools/platforms that are out there. The third chapter, on video and audio tools, was less detailed largely because this is a less developed part of the AI world. While much has changed since the text was written and details of what the platforms can accomplish have grown (such is the speed of technology these days) the basics are there.

The final part of the book looks specifically at AI and the church (in fact that is the title of Part IV). Moore takes chapter 10 to list 10 ways that the church could make use of the tools he has discussed to this point. Some of them are, I think, more valid and useful than others. AI as a research assistant has some merit. AI as a sounding board to help with brainstorming and designing programs has merit. AI as a tool to help with statistical and/or historical collection and analysis is intriguing. AI as a graphic design piece is something I am less sold on. Finally Moore offers up a sample policy for churches to use when describing how AI will be used in their contexts. It is a very detailed policy geared toward a larger multi-staff and multi-program church so would be a bit excessive in many congregations but it raises (or reminds the reader) of some important points to consider.

As I said above, we have to deal with the question of AI. When is it appropriate? When is it not? Why? How do we ethically use these tools? I am not convinced a blanket “AI is bad don’t use it at all” statement is either realistic or helpful. SO how will we, as individuals and as organizations decide to respond to the reality of AI in the world?

Going Home..... well one of the homes

The first time I went to Camp....

 Have you ever noticed that there are some places that are always home? A place that, as soon as you arrive something just feels right?

For me one of those places is Camp Maskepetoon, along the north shore of Pigeon Lake. I went as a camper three time as a child and enjoyed myself greatly. I still have some very clear memories of wide games, of sleeping at outback, of the ghost story The Claw (which we were told the night before going to sleep at outback in 1980--probably not the best timing). I remember a talent show in 1981. I remember campfire singing (where I first learned to sing with glee about the sinking of the Titanic) and telling stories and jokes when we were probably supposed to be singing. We had great times.

Then 8 years later, in my second year of university, I was looking for a summer job. As an Education student I was looking for something that might be slightly career oriented. In the job centre in the Student Union Building was a listing for staff positions at Camp Maskepetoon and I thought it sounded good so I applied to be the Devotions Director. I got an interview (and can still name the three people who interviewed me 37 years later) and was offered the position.

Realistically, I had no idea what I was doing. I certainly had no idea that my  life was about to be changed. It was just a summer job....right?

Cooking at camp
can be...different

I had a great summer. I went back the next year in the same job. Then ended up going back to work in the kitchen for a third summer at camp. Took a few years off, working summer jobs at a golf course clubhouse (which was great, good people but not the same). Then I needed something for another summer and applied to work in the kitchen again. Did that for 2 years.

Then was asked to be on the Board, which I did for three years before going off to finish my degree and start my career. While on the Board I helped hire three sets of staff. And because I had three days or four days off in a row every week (one of the blessings of shift work) I spent LOTS of time out at the lake visiting, singing, and helping with whatever needed to be done.

Camp changed me. Camp changed my life direction. If it hadn't been for those first 2 summers I might not have started to feel called to ministry. But it was more than that.

I made friends at that place. Friends that I have not seen for years but in June when we all gathered for a reunion the connection was still there. I grew spiritually at that place. Eveneings standing on the beach staring at the lake and the sky, nights at outback sitting around the fire, the (sort of) stillness of sitting in one of many canoes as the whole camp group canoes across the  lake. Times that opened my heart and soul.

These were times of laughter. Times of hijinks == the time we hung a bunk in a tree, or the day in 1999 when I came out of the cabin to find that my car (which I had foolishly left the keys in) had been moved to the middle of the cabin area and mummified in saran wrap. There were games played, hiding in the bush, chasing each other around the sports field. It was a place where we were invited to be free to be who we really were. In a time of my life where I had few places where I felt really comfortable Camp stands out as that place. At camp I was free to make a fool of myself (arguably something that came naturally). Before camp I would never have seen myself leading campfire songs.

I would never have thought I might offer the first car I ever owned up for redecoration.

Many years later I moved back to Alberta. My daughters became old enough to go as campers. I convinced them to give it a try -- which was an easy sell as they had experienced church camping before -- and every year as we turned into the driveway to drop them off my heart sang. We always got there early enough to have time to walk around the site before leaving however many of them were staying that week/ I wanted, no needed, to walk around this sacred place, to sit on the campfire benches, to walk down to the chapel. Just to be there for that 45 minutes gave me some renewal.

ANd it worked again. this summer two daughters are on staff (one for the 4th summer) and one is volunteering. For some of us camp seeps into your bones and draws you back.

At the reunion for the 70th anniversary last month I was asked to say a few words about what camp meant to me. The first word that came to my mind was HOME. Wherever I go that place will go with me. Later this summer I am going to spend a week as Camp Dad and general helper. I look forward to seeing what a week at camp looks like now and how it is both the same and different as when I spent all those days there long ago.

If you get a chance to experience church camp ministry TAKE IT. Just be aware that it might affect you more than you expected.

Book Review: From Social Media to Social Ministry: A Guide to Digital Discipleship

 

From Social Media to Social Ministry: A Guide to DigitalDiscipleship By Nona Jones ©2020 Zondervan Press 176 pages.

When it comes to being a hybrid church or finding new ways to be church in an online world we have to move beyond Sunday morning. Much of the time we stop there, thinking streaming worship is enough. But if we are considering how these tools might support, for example, a church who has trouble convincing a clergy person to move to town or can not afford full-time ministry, we have to ask how the rest of the work of the community can be fed/supported/nurtured online. So I was really looking forward to this book that promised to move beyond the live stream.

I was somewhat disappointed, more on that later.

In this short little volume Jones pushes the reader to see Social Media in ways beyond merely another advertising tool to get people to attend in-person events/activities. She reminds us that community can be built online as well. It won’t be the same but it is real. This is something many of us struggled with during the early stages of Covid-19 as we were barred from gathering in-person. How could we be a community without being together in the same space?

In the post-lockdown world the question still lingers. Jones would likely point out that some had started to embrace that question long before March 2020. For a variety of reasons there are some people who prefer (or are only able) to join a community in virtual/online space. How can we make that a full experience of community? I note that she also works (or worked not sure of timelime) for Facebook and much of the book is explicitly talking about how to use Facebook for social ministry. It started to feel a bit like an ad for Facebook at times. This was one of the disappointments.

Disappointing as it might have been, I think Jones raises several good points about what is needed to create a true ministry presence online. I think she is right about the limitations of many platforms to create a safe place for building community and relationships. I am less certain that Facebook is as good for it as she claims (and am relatively certain it might be getting worse as AI slop invades the atmosphere). It is a real challenge to see Social Media as something other than an advertising tool.

The other disappointment I had in the book was that it was treating the online space as creating a separate campus for a church, in the same way that a large church might set up a second (or third or fourth) physical location. With this approach the online church starts to need a whole staffing/support structure that many churches can not (or will choose not to) provide. A small church with one (or no) pastor or staff that wants to create an online side to the community will not be able to designate a pastor for that part of the community. Much of the discussion of how to move from social media to social ministry seemed to assume a much larger church structure than many readers would have.

Still I want to know how we use online tools to build a community, either as a stand-alone or more likely as an adjunct part of the in-person community. How can we use online tools (be that Facebook pages and groups, Zoom, Instagram, or...) to facilitate community building, spiritual growth, Christian Education, stewardship/opportunities to serve as well as Sunday worship? How can online ministry help the church that has no pastor, or the one who only has a pastor onsite half-time? This book raised good issues and questions. It is sorting out those learnings from the sales pitch on one (plausibly one very good) answer that is the challenge I need to meditate on some more.

Book Review Both/And: Maximizing Hybrid Worship Experiences for In-Person and Online Engagement

 

Both/And: Maximizing Hybrid Worship Experiences for In-Person and Online Engagement By Jason Moore. ©2022 Invite Press 204 pages

This book grew out of the reality of COVID-19 and the changes pushed on churches by the lock down. Of course many places had been doing some form of hybrid worship long before March 2020 but many of us were suddenly pushed to do worship differently in that month. And then as the world moved into the later stages of the pandemic many of us decided (either intentionally or by default – more on that later) to continue with some form of hybrid worship. Whether we were/are doing it well might be a whole other question.

In fact that is one of the questions I brought with me into Sabbatical, which is why this volume ended up on my reading list. I am instinctively convinced that hybrid worship needs to mean more than simply streaming what happens in the sanctuary on Sunday morning, but am not entirely sure what I think needs to be done differently. I was hoping this book would help me sort that out.

It did and it didn’t.

Moore affirms my thoughts that we need to do things differently. He draws out questions and concerns that had not occurred to me and ones that had but not at a conscious level. At the same time, many of the suggestions he presents for how to do things differently seem like they only work within specific worship structures, with a bigger volunteer/staff team, and with far different technology than some of us work with. So the questions were good. The suggestions made logical sense. The challenge is how to adapt them to the context (worship style, team size/expertise/comfort, technology available) where one is.

One of the key pieces I took from the book was the idea that we are serving different audiences. We have the people who are in the room. We have the committed church folk who, for a variety of reasons, who are not in the room but are on-line instead. We have the people who are using the livestream as a way to check us out, to test this as a possible faith community. We have those who drifted away, or left more intentionally, who are wondering about coming back. There are probably more subsets as well. We also have the reality that some will join online as the service is happening, and some will join when their schedule fits better. How do we build hybrid worship that meets these various needs? How do we make all feel welcomed, included as participants rather than observers? How do we keep them engaged? What language opens or closes doors? What pieces work really well on screen but not in the room, and vice versa? In the end it becomes an inclusivity question.

Another piece that kept occurring to me, particularly early in the book, was that maybe improving the experience for the online side of the hybrid worship equation will improve it for the in-person side as well. Maybe that hit me because it ties in to my ongoing pondering of “does our current worship order actually work?” (or maybe who does it work for and who doesn’t it). Can worship (on-line and in-person) be more interactive and participatory? How? Changing worship is always a bit of a tightrope to walk, but worship styles/patterns need to evolve and change over time.

Then there was the key question, the one many of us may not have spent much time on. Why are we doing hybrid worship? There are lots of answers to this. There are also people who, in 2022/23 were saying “OK we can stop now so all those people will come back”. It is possible that we need to talk about why we see the need/why we are called to be hybrid churches (or the reverse) as we move forward into a new era. I appreciated Moore’s suggestion that one of the reasons for hybrid worship is as a way of living out the Great Commandment, seeing it as much as outreach as service to the current members of the community.

It is my belief that the church of the future will need to be a hybrid church. This is about worship and about everything else we do. Generally speaking we (clergy and laity alike) have been well-trained to be church in one way. We need to learn a new way. There are churches that are primarily (or only) on-line. That is not what most of us are looking for. We need to figure out how to be Both/And.

Book Review: iJesus: The Culture of God in a Digital World

 

iJesus: The Culture of God in a Digital World By Nadim Nassar ©2023 Sacristy Press (153 pages)

Last fall I went looking for a book I heard referenced in a podcast. Because I wanted to reach the free shipping threshold I needed to buy a second book and this title seemed like something that would fit my Sabbatical plan. Ironically I have yet to read the book I originally went looking for.

Nadim Nassar has written a previous book called The Culture of God to which this is a bit of a follow up. There were times, particularly early in the book, when it might have been helpful to have read that first one to know what Nassar means by the phrase “Culture of God” as he tends to use it assuming that foreknowledge. But with time I was able to pick up where he was going with it.

The book as a whole is, as one might expect from the title, very Christ-centered. Nassar is pushing the reader to find how we can best share the encounter with Jesus on a digital world. Within that discussion he talks about the centrality of communication as a building block of community. He also takes time to talk about the cultural clash we find in a digital world. I found his suggestion that the onset of digital globalization has brought about culture clash at a speed that was not known with slower, and earlier, forms of communication and cultural change quite intriguing Still the reality that how we communicate the old story in a new world is a central point of being the church in a digital world is inescapable. As he says at one point: “...because Christianity is about knowing the risen, living Christ, the Church has the responsibility in every generation and in different cultures to reinterpret the timeless revelation in Christ for its time and place” (p.30) [this quote reminds me if the United Church of Canada understanding that each generation needs to restate the Gospel which is why we have a succession of statements of faith].

I found that Nassar does a good job of naming both the positive possibilities and the negative possibilities of technology as we move into the new world. Over and over he talks about what new communications are available to us but also that we can not let the technological relationship replace ‘IRL’ relationships. This is important but at the same time I have to wonder at his suggestion later in the book that online relationships lack a reality that can only be found in person. I wonder how this might sit with the debate during Covid (and following) if online worship/online church was ‘real” or just a stand in.

In the end this book did not quite fit my Sabbatical goals quite as well as I thought it might. But that does not mean it was not an important read in the topic area. A big takeaway from it was the insistence that the way we measure our actions, the thing that we allow to shape our actions needs to be the Culture of God/Culture of Trinity (which is inherently relational)/Culture of Love. Technology may be one of the tools but it should not be the primary force that shapes us – even if it can be a powerful force to shape us. At a number of points I found myself thinking “I need to remember this for a sermon” even when the sermon was not going to be about the Digital world – for example Creation Time this fall.

Book Review: Tweet if you ❤ Jesus: Practicing Church in the Digital Reformation

Tweet if you ❤ Jesus: Practicing Church in the Digital Reformation By Elizabeth Drescher ©2011 Morehouse Publishing (190 pages)

Fourteen years ago standing at a Presbytery book display I saw this book and picked it up. Never really got into it at the time but gave it another crack this month.

Drescher uses this book to both explain what she sees happening in this new Reformation and share thoughts about how the mainline church might be best able to move into the new way of being. Based on her understanding of how social media works she suggests that the mainline Protestant church is better able to adapt to new communication patterns in the Digital Reformation Social Media than other forms of church.

The model that Drescher starts with is to talk about what she terms habitus, a term used to describe a model of understanding and being in the world. This is similar to a rule of life but a more complete thing than that. Early in the book she talks about how this habitus has changed from medieval to modern to current eras. Habitus, she says, is resistant to change but also evolves over time. One of the questions she raises pushes us to look closely at what our habitus is. As habitus evolves and a new paradigm takes over it raises questions about authority, something we can see happening in the development of the Digital age.

One of the things Dresher seems to see in this new paradigm is the idea that some of the ancient, pre-modern ways of approaching storytelling and h ma become more relevant in the new Social Media age. She talks about interactivity and visual imagery as examples. She suggests that Boradcast media (particularly in the last half of the 20^th Century) was much more spectator based than the new way of corresponding. She suggests that mainline churches, being less focussed on a charismatic leader ove the community as a whole, may be well suited to make use of those ideas.

All of what Drescher has to say in this book really is about communication and how we do it well (or poorly). How we mightdo it well using new tools and models is the discussion churches need to have. It is not about the technology, it is not about making use of all the flashy bells and whistles. It is the how rather than the what that takes precedence. At one point she does lead the reader to ponder “what might Jesus tweet?”, pointing out that Jesus makes use of the communication styles of his day. She also discusses more than once the challenge that the Digital Reformation might encourage more vicarious participation and lessen incentive of IRL participation. This certainly has been a discussion as more churches have moved to streaming worship services.

Drescher raises some very good points about how life in the church might look in what she terms the Digital Reformation. She raises the image of dispersed authority and less reliance on charismatic leaders repeatedly. This brought to mind Phyllis Tickle’s book The Great Emergence and made me ponder of maybe the Digital Reformation is part of what Tickle would call the church’s next great rummage sale.

At the same time Drescher seems more optimistic about how the Digital Reformation and Social Media in general will play out in society. Looking at how things like Facebook and Twitter/X have actually developed over the last 15 years makes me wonder if that optimism was accurate. Social Media has indeed democratized sources of authority and information but has that really been a good thing? Has it diminished the role of the charismatic voice or emboldened and empowered it?

This is a good read. Drescher raises important questions (each chapter ends with some questions for reflection). She challenges the church to seriously engage in this new world. It is not a book of how to use specific tools, it is a book calling us to reflect on how we will be in the new world and the last chapter does include some suggestions for building a digital rule of life.

The church, perhaps especially the mainline Protestant, Roman Catholic and Orthodox branches of it, does not have a great history of adapting to new ways of being church. But when the world changes we have no choice. I close with two things from the conclusion of the book. One is this quote:

“if we update practices that have served us reasonably well for some two thousand years, i do believe we will be able to enrich relationships and build communities that will allow us to more generously live out the commitments of our faith” (p.181)

The other is this question asked almost at the end of the book: Is the Digital Reformation the end of the church? The beginning of a new way of being the church? Both? (p.181). Only time will tell, and the answer will in part depend on us.

Book Review: Theology in a Digital World

 

Theology in a Digital World by David Lochhead ©1988 UCPH (95 pages)

This piece by the late David Lochhead [1936-1999] (https://grokipedia.com/page/david_lochhead), United Church minister, theologian and professor is part of the early discussions of the role of computers in the life of the church. Written in the early days of personal and home computing and the very early days computer networks it is ahead of its time.

In 1988 many of us had barely even used a computer and when we had it was not to communicate with others – it was for word processing, or spreadsheets, or games. There were some early adopters who had been playing with programming for much of the 1980’s and those of us who went to see the movie War Games (1983) knew that it was possible for computers to connect across the miles – though that was in a setting that was both comedic and terrifying at the same time.

Lochhead was an early adopter. He was part of early networks like UCHUG and ECUNET and saw the potential for what these new possibilities (he calls the computer a possibility machine) could mean for the church. He also saw the need to give thought to how these changes needed to be intentional and would change the church. Still he is very positive on what he sees coming.

Each of the book’s 6 chapters is something that was first prepared for another purpose: public lectures, worskshops, addresses at conferences. The earliest dates back to 1984, which means it truly was ahead of it’s time. In 1984 the only computers I had seen in person were school machines with green screens and only operated using commands – menu-driven machines were yet to hit the market. As such there is some repetition of themes and comments over the course of the book.

Lochhead talks about how the computer changes communication patterns, looks at some of the theological questions that this new technology brings up, and how we might find ourselves using it. He is clear that the computer (even in what we would now call early early stages) can make big changes in how we are the church, how we build community. He is also clear that the computer is a tool (and more than a tool) and that it itself is not salvific, that, as he says at one point “That Computers have heir place in the Kingdom, I have no doubt. That computers will create the Kingdom, I have no illusion” (p.80). In the final chapter,”Toward a Theology of Information”, he talks about the differences between information and knowledge, facts/data and interpreting/organizing them to find meaning. I would have liked some more discussion about where things like truth and wisdom fit in to that discussion.

I found that Lochhead was somewhat prescient in this book, written on the cusp of a new world. At the same time so much has changed in the last 40 years as this new world has changed a few times. In the late 1980s any computer networking was text only, with all the limits that written text has in full communication. Now we share images and audio and video. It was a fairly small percentage of people who were involved in networks at that time – now with the advent of social media it has blossomed into something so much bigger. Lochead sees both the positive and negative effects of a ne technology (as he names that is the reality of any new technology). He is, I think [speaking with knowledge of what the Internet has become and how it has re-shaped/is reshaping our society] overly optimistic. I often found myself wondering what he would say in 2026.

This volume raises good theological questions, ones that continue to be relevant as we continue to be re-shaped by the possibility machine of the computer. The die has been cast, we can not go back to the pre-computer way of being. More changes are building (eg. the rise of AI). We still have to ask the questions. We still have to be intentional about how we build community using the tools and reality of our time. What is our theology in an increasingly digital world?

"Bible-Based" Culture

 All the time there are voices around us calling for a change to build a society based on "Biblical Values" or a "Biblical Worldview".

SOmetimes those voices become louder or more prominent than others. One example of this would be Turning Point USA and Charlie Kirk. Another would be last week's Alberta Christian Leadership Summit. [SIde Note, a friend and colleague of mine attended this Summit and here are his thoughts.]

Now there are a number of problems with this quest to build society on some "Biblical Worldview".  Among them:

1. It is arguable that there is not one Biblcal Worldview, that the full text of Scripture contains multiple worldviews
2. It is not in doubt that in modern Christianity (in North America these voices always claim to speak for all of 'true' Christians) there are multiple understandings of what one means by Biblical Values or a Biblical Worldview
3. In a pluralistic world it is wholly inappropriate to build society around one religious set of standards
4. Theocracy damages both the faith community and tradition it claims to support and the pluralistic community it is imposed upon.

However I do believe that as people who are guided and informed by our faith we are called to consider the type of world God would have us live in. As people who pray "thy kingdom come on earth" we have an obligation to consider what we mean.

So from time to time I do ponder what a society shaped by Biblical values (as I understand them) might look like...

Such a society would be shaped wholly by love of Creation, the world that God loves.
It would be a place where the newcomer, the stranger, the wanderer, the refugee, the immigrant would be welcomed into the community.
It would not be about enforcing homogeneity, it would name and accept pluralism.
Discussions of Human Sexuality would be focussed on respectful relationships instead of rules and traditions
In this society there would be strong rules and laws ensuring that all are provided for, that their basic needs are met. In Torah there were rules about not harvesting too well, to leave produce for the gleaners to find later -- what is the 21st century equivalent of gleaning?
We would take seriously the stewardship of the earth as commanded in Genesis, we would only take what we need as commanded with the manna in Exodus.
We would know that allowing great inequality is a problem.
We would encourage sharing of things in common so that all would benefit (See Acts 2)
We would be encouraged to subsume self in favour of community, or at least to find a new balance between the two. WE not ME

WHat might you add?

How I hope to Spend my Summer...

As part of marking 25 years of Ordained ministry this year I am taking a Sabbatical leave. When I requested the time I said this:

...plan to take the time to look into newer ways of being the church in an increasingly digital world. This would include some reading (starting with David Lochhead’s ahead-of-its-time book Theology in a Digital World if I can get my hands on a copy) and interviewing people who have/are been involved in online work within the church...This investigation can include looking at both “how can we be a hybrid church” and different ministry models in a world where more places can not afford full-time ministry. Obviously this is an area that could quickly become a D.Min level project so some paring down of ideas will have to happen.

Now as I find myself 2 months away I find I should maybe give some thought to what this might look like. When I was ordained in 2001 there was not much talk about how the internet might change how we do church. It was still really Internet 1.0 at the time. There were some websites starting to pop up sharing prayers and sermons, some churches were experimenting with webpages. 3 years earlier Wood Lake Books had published a book called Get Me to the Church Online which was a listing of churchy websites -- I am sure many of the websites in the book are now defunct, I think I left my copy in Atikokan when we moved in 2010. Social Media and widespread online video conferencing were a few years in the future. I have no memory of any discussions at seminary about how the internet might impact our ministries.

Leap forward 25 years and the reality is soooooooo different. Through things like Zoom and Google Meets and Microsoft Teams (and Skype before them) many of us attend meetings virtually rather than by driving to the location, a real boon for those serving outside major centers. Those same technologies allow for Bible Studies where people out of town can take part. Particularly since COVID many churches now livestream their worship services thereby increasing the number of people who can take part in those experiences. Some do this simply with a stream on YouTube, FacebookLive, or Vimeo, others have chosen something like Zoom where there is more opportunity to be interactive. There are, or at least were, arrangements made where multiple churches can worship together with different spots doing different parts of the service. There was (I think still is) an entirely online congregation within the United Church. I know of one place where the minister alternates between a period onsite and a period at home but interacts with the church digitally. As it has in many parts of our culture, the Internet has transformed the ways we can do church.

I think the church uses online community in at least a couple of ways. One is marketing. Facebook pages, Instagram feeds, TikTok, websites... all are ways of getting our name and image out there. We need to explore how best to make use of these tools. That might be part of what I explore this summer

The other way we can use the online reality is to make it part of how we are a community of faith. How do these tools help us build community? As I look at that questions I am wondering how to fit the answers into a couple of frameworks. One is the 5 marks (or Core Ministries) of the church: Liturgia, Koinonia, Didache, Diakonia, and Kerygma. How does/can online community work with offline community to feed each of those? The other is the framework laid out by Janet Gear in Undivided Love. Gear talks about the different tables that are gathered at the Banquet of faith: Evangelical, Ecclesial, Missional, Ecumenical, and Spiritual. How can online community work with offline community to feed each of them?

Hmm still sounds a bit too broad. We will see what comes of it. Because the purpose of Sabbatical is not just to find work.

AS one of my colleagues said to me, Sabbatical is also about Sabbath. So part of the time will be finding other, non-church, things in life. This should include trying to improve my physical shape (otherwise I have to start replacing wardrobe). It might include relearning what I once knew about piano and guitar. It will include some family time. Maybe even getting a chance to visit camp again????

SO that is the hope/plan/dream for four months this year. I wonder what it will end up being in reality???