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???

Book 13 of 2024 Twelfth Night

 Looking for a different type of read to end the year I remembered that I have a complete collection of Shakespeare on my e-reader so I thought it was time for a play. I decided a comedy was what I was in the mood for and given the time of year Twelfth Night seemed an appropriate choice.  

It was a good break over the last few days. Mixed up identities, prankish plots, love triangles, poor communication...has it all like any good Shakespearean comedy. I also re-learned that these plays are best read aloud -- though my girls were a bit less impressed by that part.

I should turn to that collection more often.

Book 12 0f 2024 -- Grace and Gigabytes

 This fall I took a course about digital ministry. The course was good but spent far more time talking about AI than I was expecting. It did however make me think more about the role of digital and hybrid ministry in the life of a congregation. If I were to take a sabbatical again that is the area I would take time to explore.

At any rate, the presenter/instructor of the course intrigued me so I went looking at the books that had been suggested for Further Reading and decided to read this one. Panzer lives in both worlds, he has an MDiv and a career in IT, so is very well situated to lead these discussions.

I liked what he had to say about the cultural change that is happening and ideas of how the church which is rather notorious for being behind when it comes to cultural changes) could respond. Panzer is clear that the way to do and plan digital ministry is about far more than simply signing on to a bunch of different platforms or tools. Like any other ways of considering new directions in ministry it means careful deliberation and discerning what is the best fit for your context.  I also really appreciated that he gives high- medium-  and low-tech options for how the ideas presented in each chapter could be played out.

Panzer talks about a variety of topics that address the philosophical foci of this new tech shaped culture. they are: Questions, Connection, Collaboration, and Creativity. I think it could be argued that the church as a whole has a mixed history of effectiveness on all four of those points. It is not just about the technology, it is about how people want/expect their communities to work. The technology is a tool (or a set of tools) to help us do ministry in a changed and changing culture.

This was a good read. It has things I need to ponder more. Now I am contemplating getting this book also by Panzer.

Book 11 of 2024 -- The Spirit of Hope: Theology for a World in Peril

 

Earlier this year when Jurgen Moltmann died I realized that while I had read excerpts of his work over the year I had never read one of his books (though I have been told that my eschatology might fall close to his). So I went looking and chose this volume. 

It appears mainly to be a compilation of lectures and essays from a variety of times in his career, mainly the later years. The first section was a very easy read and informed some of what I did in September sermons for Creation Time. Then second section was a bit less engaging and took into October to finish.

Overall I generally liked what Moltmann was proposing. I definitely like his focus on hope. There are parts I may go back and re-read as time goes on.

Book 10 of 2024 -- The Bright Ages

 Every year as the summer approaches I look for something different from my normal reading list to read while on vacation. This year I happened on this volume about Medieval history and decided that it would be my holiday reading this summer. I was especially intrigued by the title. It was a nice counterpoint to the oft-used (and IMO inappropriate) descriptor of the Early Middle Ages as the "Dark Ages".

The book is not a comprehensive history of the period or even a survey history. It is a selection of stories that are not as well known, told from a different point of view. The authors also take effort to remind the reader that the whole dividing of history into ages and eras is a bit artificial. It is not like there are hard divisions between different periods of history, there are always crossovers and holdovers.

I found this a very easy and entertaining read. Many of the stories were ones I was either completely unfamiliar with or were ones I had only heard from a very different perspective. I really appreciated the time taken to push the reader to see a Medieval Europe where female voices and people of colour were more a part of the story than most history has portrayed. In the same vein the intentional lifting up of the tension of a multicultural, multi-religious, world connected across Europe, Africa, and Asia was greatly appreciated.

It was indeed a good choice to start my vacation with.

Book 9 of 2024 -- A Year in the Life of the Atikokan River

For nine years every day I looked out the dormer window in the manse out over the Atikokan river valley. Many times I would walk the dog along the trails. When Patty came to Atikokan for the first time we took a walk along the trail leading down from the church before she left. The river is a highlight of the community though, as Brian says in the last column in this book, sometimes it might be easy to take it for granted.

So when I saw on Facebook that Brian and the Progress had put a series of columns into a small book I immediately asked how one might get a copy without having to travel to Atikokan.

It is a great little read. 12 monthly columns about the river. I really appreciated that for each month Brian had not only given the traditional English month names but also the Anishinabemowin names. It is a small act but one that recognizes that the river has been used for far longer than the 125 year that the community of Atikokan has existed.

As we travel through the 12 columns Brian leads us in an exploration of the biology, the flora and fauna one encounters in the valley. He talks about how climate change and human activity have impacted the river and also how the river has impacted human activity. He then includes an appendix with some scientific data about the river.

It is probable that the book will be of most interest to people who have lived in Atikokan and experienced the river directly and given how it was published it is not likely to spread much beyond the town. But I am sure glad I had the connections to get a copy (a signed copy in fact). Well done Brian!

Book 8 of 2024 -- Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul

 

There is something deep in my heart that seems to resonate with Celtic Spirituality. Always has been in fact. So when I happened across this book while browsing one day earlier this year, I decided add it to my cart.

To the best of my memory this is the first book by Newell that I have read, though I know I have heard the name before (I would have to check my shelf at the church to see if I have another one of his). In this book he uses a variety of Celtic saints and leaders over the centuries to explore some aspects of Celtic Christian Spirituality. Some of them are names I have known of for years, though not always been really familiar with their way of thinking. Others were people I heard of first when reading this book.

The overarching premise of the book is that of finding/recognizing the sacred in a variety of places. Much of Western Christianity (Roman Catholic and Reformed churches) has tried to limit the sacred to the realm of the church. Celtic Christianity has a broader view of where the sacred might be seen and found. I agree with the latter point of view. In some ways I wonder how the Celtic approach (which was intentionally quashed by the Roman Church in the Middle Ages, indeed I would suggest that quashing the remnants of Celtic Christian though is part of why the Pope allowed Henry II to invade Ireland, thus beginning a bloody centuries long struggle) might tie in to some of Christian mysticism (which has also long been viewed with suspicion by the church).

Over and over again as I was reading I found myself vigorously nodding in agreement. The chapters of Pelagius, Brigid, and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin were most notable for this. Each chapter ended with a meditative exercise focusing on the theme of that chapter which are all compiled into an appendix and I may have to go back and revisit those as time goes by.

Certainly a book I would endorse for a gentle, meditative read.

Book 7 of 2024 -- Where the Light Fell

 Many years ago Philip Yancey's book What's So Amazing About Grace? was suggested to me and I read it. The book made a big impression on me so when I saw this memoir by Yancey while browsing one day I thought I would give it a try. Besides I always enjoy memoirs as reading material in general.

Yancey talks about his strict, one would even say rigid, fundamentalist upbringing and how both he and his brother had their rebelliousness against that rigidity. How such an grace-less legalistic upbringing (as he describes it) led eventually to a faith based so heavily on God's grace is somewhat amazing. In some ways his brother's form of rebellion and reaction seem much more expected.

As time goes on we see Yancey finding a new path back to faith and grace and hope. We hear how he tries to bridge a massive gap between his mother and his brother. We see him trying to reconcile with the life he had and the life he ends up with.

IT is a good read, it makes you feel and think. And there is a good story told along the way.

Book 6 of 2024 Indians on Vacation

 An impulse buy really, though I do like Thomas King's writing. However this is the first of his fictional works that I have read.

A couple in Prague, seeking a long lost family member and having an interesting visit makes up the base story. Mixed in with the story of their vacation are snippets and episodes from their past. 

A nice light read. Good for a break.

Book 5 of 2024 My Mother's Legacy

 This short little volume was a Clergy Appreciation Month gift from the congregation. The subject of the book, Angie Mercredi-Crerar is well known here in Grande Prairie. She was one of the Metis representatives who visited His Holiness Pope Francis as a part of encouraging the Roman Catholic Church to live in the the truth and reconciliation process.

The book is very engaging. It draws one in and is one of those "hard to put down" books. I just wish it was longer so we could learn more of Mercredi-Crerar's life story.

A very good read.

Book 4 of 2024 -- Disruptive Thinking

 Late last summer I was standing in an actual bookstore holding real live books in my hands looking for ideas of what looked interesting. This was one of the ones the caught my attention (and then I went home and bought the e-book versions instead). The idea of the need to more of us to embrace being intentionally disruptive intrigued me. I really do think that when it comes to the church, to socio-economics, to environmental policy we have to be disrupted or we will really keep trying the same solutions as before while hoping for different results.

To be honest I found the book a bit disappointing. Maybe I had forgotten what had intrigued me looking at the cover back in the summer but reading the actual book several months later left kind of blah. There were some helpful ideas and ways of seeing things but I was not filled with excitement and feelings of "YEAH!" as I was reading.

I still think there is a real need for disruptive thinking and action in the world. I am just not sure this book will help me (and I am not a natural disruptor by any means) get to that point.

Book 3 of 2024 -- When Church Stops Working

 In a clergy discussion last month one of my colleagues mentioned that she had just read this book and recommended it as a good read. While the Zoom meeting was still going on I had purchased it.

IT was a good recommendation. In a world where many of our churches are struggling with decline and trying to figure out a way forward this book offers a different answer. Too often the answer we jump to is "maybe if we tried..." or "this new program will...." or "if we worked harder at...". Instead this book suggests we pause and wait and listen so we can encounter the God who is acting in the world.

It is hard advice in a world where we feel like we have to do something to stave off decline and death. Then again, the way we have been responding have not really worked out the way we hoped so maybe trying a different tack has some merit.

There were suggestions in this book that resonated with things I already thought needed to happen, things I was trying to bring in. I do still struggle with how to convince churches who want to  "do" to get out of decline to pause to "be" and wait and listen. In some ways it goes against all common sense. In many ways it is the reverse of what seems needed, sometimes doing somethings out of our anxiety is the only way we can cope. Then I am drawn to the example the authors use of the Acts 1 church who are told to wait for God to act but end up trying to act themselves while they wait -- only for God to go God's own way as the book continues.

As with most books on this topic it is useless if only the clergy reads it. I encourage all church leaders, clergy and lay, to read and discuss it. With that in mind, I will be suggesting it to our local council.

Book 2 of 2024 --The Dead Sociologists Society

 On Christmas Morning as I was emptying my stocking I found this little volume.

IT is an interesting concept. A bunch of dead sociologists have a meeting, one might even call it a seminar, to present papers about the events most live people would consider the fictional account of Harry Potter's time at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Because after all the events were real and the story had been fed to JK Rowling by the Ministry of Magic as part of a grand cover-up. Only the ghosts know the real truth.

What results is a unique way of presenting different sociological theories and showing how they might be applied. I like the tool. I greatly enjoyed the reading and pondering if I agreed with the interpretations being presented. 

This is a great way of introducing theory and showing how the theory can be used to analyse a culture. I think I would greatly like to take an introductory Sociology course from the author.

Book 1 of 2024 -- The Undertaking of Billy Buffone

 Love, death, secrets, scandal, a ghostly narrator.  Makes for an interesting book. 

This one I bought simply because I knew the author. Besides a novel to read over the break of the year seemed a nice idea.

It is a story that takes place both in the mid 1970's and in the mid 1990's. On one side we have a scandalous troubling story. On the other we have the story of a blossoming romance, and a family deep in fresh grief, a minister in her first year of ministry, and an odd small-town undertaker. Then there is a surprising twist....

But in the end there is healing, or at least that seems to be where we are headed.

A very good read indeed. Touches the heart. Leads one to consider the power of buried secrets. 

Book 7 of 2023 -- Value(s): Building a Better World for All

 

One day in late summer I was standing in a bookstore and started leafing through this one. I liked the premise so went home and ordered it. I was drawn to the idea that we need a discussion about how to build value while being intentional about the values that underpin our decisions.

To be honest it was a hard slog at times. I have taken exactly no economics courses and so there were a few places in the book where I was getting a bit lost in the economics of what Carney was saying. This was especially notable when he was discussing the lead up to the 2008 financial crisis.

After an introductory section of the book providing some historical economic background Carney uses three case studies of global events that both challenged (or are challenging/will continue to challenge) economics and our values as a culture. These were: a) the 2008 financial crash, b) the COVID-19 pandemic, and c) the climate crisis. I think he did a good job of laying out the realities and challenges of both. I also think that in the latter two his analysis does not actually reflect the culture where I live.

Overall in both his discussion of COVID and of the Climate Crisis I found Carney to be a bit overly positive. While his description of the initial response to the pandemic was accurate I think he missed the fact that the initial outpouring of community and "we are all in this together" faded well before the pandemic was over -- and that fading had a definite impact on how the pandemic played out, while also making a strong statement about societal values. In terms of the Climate Crisis I live in a province where 30 years ago the Premier insisted that reducing per-barrel CO2 emissions was enough and that Alberta would not try to reduce actual total emissions -- a logic largely followed by our current government insisting that Carbon Capture and Storage will solve everything and actually reducing use of fossil fuels is not needed.

In the end I found this to be a good book. The length of time it took me to read did make it challenging to recall exactly what had been said in earlier chapters so it is a book I wonder would have been better in hard copy so I could more easily flip back and compare. The other thing I would have found helpful was a list of acronyms. Carney is very good about spelling out an acronym the first time it is used but several hundred pages later it can be difficult to remember what those letters meant.

Book 6 of 2023 -- Pure Colour

 At the beginning of the summer I heard a radio interview with the author of this book. I was intrigued by the concept that the world as we know it is God's first draft and is being assessed to see what would be changed in the next draft. So I bought it for summer reading.

Frankly, I was disappointed. While the book is a novel it does not have a really clear narrative structure. It often seemed more like a stream  of consciousness exploration of some intriguing philosophical questions than a narrative. I prefer a novel to be a narrative piece.

That being said, the philosophical questions raised about the nature of life and the nature of grieving and the nature of relationships were certainly intriguing. IT was worth reading for that piece, it just wasn't what I was expecting or the sort of book I was looking for at the time.

Book 5 of 2023 -- Leisure Resurrected

What does leisure mean to you? How do you use your leisure time? Social Media? Reading? Watching TV? What is the role of leisure in our world today?

I found out about this book while cruising through Facebook one day. It is written by a colleague of mine in Ontario.

Crittenden seeks to explore questions like the ones I listed above. He does so by looking at the roots of our traditions: Greek and Roman understandings, Jewish Sabbath, early Christian understandings. Then he muses about what these might mean for us today.

I appreciated that Crittenden took us deeper into what leisure could mean. I think that for many of us it is more of an entertainment category, or "wasted time" or even moving into the modern equivalent of "bread and circuses" rather than something intentionally life-enhancing. I found it challenging to re-think what leisure could mean. I wonder also how we can push the discussion into our wider circles.

Book 4 of 2023 -- Leadership On the Line

 This was a book recommended in a course I took earlier this year so I started working my way through it. Leadership is sometimes a challenging task within the church, where one is called to lead but also called to empower/allow congregants to do the leading. Part of leadership is vision-casting, part of it is vision-keeping, and I have long pondered whether the casting or the keeping should get the higher priority,

As many people have learned over the years leading in a time of change/transition/upheaval is probably the most challenging leadership. It is unquestioned that the church right now, at the local regional and denominational levels, is in a time of change/transitional/upheaval. How do we lead in a time when we are not entirely sure which direction we are going?  That is why I read the book.

It was a slow read. I found I often needed to stop and think through a passage. Heifetz and Linsky draw on many years of experience and share multiple stories to explicate what they are tying to describe. There were certainly things I will need to remember (and probably go back to re-read) as time carries forward. I did like that they were open about the fact that leading through change is a risky, even dangerous, task and that the book is designed to help manage the danger to lead to a more positive experience.

THis is one I probably should have in hard copy rather than as an e-book so it would be easier to use as a reference volume.