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Reaching Others Through Technology: Where Are We? October 8, 2007 By Melissa Moore
Communication seems to be the answer to practically everything today. If you have a problem, the response is ‘did you communicate your feelings?’ or ‘did you communicate what you need?’ It seems to be a cure-all and it is central to modern life. But communication is changing and it’s doing so very quickly, leaving the church wondering where we are in all of this.
It all began with oral communication. Hence we have the Iliad, Odyssey, and Beowulf. While we don’t normally read these unless forced to by a relentless teacher, they were stories told orally that were written down many years later. Everything was communicated via word of mouth. This is not unlike the Pentecostal movement. When Azusa Street happened, the primary form of communication was word of mouth. People began to tell their friends what they were experiencing and the Pentecostal movement moved into full swing without the help of books explaining what exactly was going on in the revival.
Then it suddenly hit storytellers that perhaps they might not want to entrust their great plots to people since we notoriously have the wrap of exaggerating and making up our own stories. We then have the dawn of writing, printing, and publishing texts. So Defoe publishes Robinson Caruso and today we have War and Peace, Jane Eyre, and The Great Gatsby. Or to those who prefer good books to the classics, we have John Grisham. From the church point of view, as newspapers began to publish not-so-great reports from Azusa Street, the church began printing their own literature. The first was The Apostolic Faith newsletter which was used to reply to any negative comments from the newspapers. However, the church did move on toward publishing novels. We now have nonfiction and fiction. We have books that comment on theology or tell a story about a Christian character. From David Bernard to Lajoyce Martin, the church has definitely conquered this form of communication.
That Was Yesterday . . . So here we are today in the ‘digital age,’ whatever that overused term is supposed to mean. Here we are when people are beginning to think the written, published novel may become obsolete. I know it’s horribly shocking, but let’s consider why Guttenberg’s printing press was such a hit in the first place. When the printing press was invented, it meant more people would have access to books in that there would be more of them, they would be cheaper, and they would be easier to access. With this idea in mind, there is a growing belief that the best way to publish books cheaper and ensure they reach more people is to publish them on the internet. Recently, Nobel Laureate, Elfriede Jelinek, released her fifth book in English. Jelinek was formerly known for her graphic and edgy novels; however now she is known for publishing a book entirely on the internet. While her previous books were published in book form, “this work will never appear in traditional book form and is primarily meant to be read on the screen, ‘anyone who wants to can download it or print it out’ she said.” 1 When the final installment of Harry Potter was to be released, fans were up in arms because the ending was posted all over the internet before the book was even released. When I take literature classes, I scour the internet for the books I need to see if I can download them so I don’t have to buy them. It’s just a different world and that means that communication is now different. The internet connects people from all over the world and it does so instantly.
But how does the church fit into all of this? We have obviously grasped and conquered previous forms of communication, but now where do we stand? We do have some websites but should we take it one step further? Should we publish books online? Should individual churches use the internet as an outreach tool? How important is it for a church to have a webpage? Are we effectively communicating our message through the internet? Today, people can access websites from the computer in their home or from their cell phone in the desert. Communication is changing. Is the church ready?
© 2007, Melissa Moore
--------- Melissa Moore goes to church and attends university in northwestern Oklahoma.
______________________ 1 Oleksyn, Veronika. “Online Debut.” Tulsa World. July 1, 2007. H-8
1 Oleksyn, Veronika. “Online Debut.” Tulsa World. July 1, 2007. H-8. |
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