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#synod: the week in review

by Ian on February 15, 2010

in Features, News

SynodAfter another week of debates, motion, amendments,votes and all the obscure etiquette that is the modern governing body of the Church of England, it is now all over, and many observers will be asking what, if anything, was accomplished?

There was no groundbreaking new resolution passed – no ordination of women, no Methodist/Anglican covenant, no Fresh Expressions. It seemed to be a synod of ‘wait and see’; a decision to not make any decisions.

The report on Women Bishops was postponed, as it seems no final arrangement can be found; Fresh Expressions and other initiatives from Mission Shaped Church were given a pat on the back and told to carry on; the BBC were let off the hook in the emasculated ammendments to the debate about religion in the media; amendments also sanitised the potentially explosive debate about the ACNA – they were ‘recognised’ and ‘affirmed’ but anything else was put off until 2011. The only real decisions were to grant equal pensions rights to surviving partners in civil partnerships as married couples and various other financial issues.

It is, perhaps, ironic that the most moving and inspirational part of the who week was the address by the chair of the Methodist Conference, Revd David Gamble. Facing church decline that means the Methodist Church could cease to exist within 40 years, he spoke to synod with a blend of passion and humilty that gave him a prophetic force. He said that the Methodist approach the Covenant with the Church of England in the spirituality of the Covenant prayer, and that, “when we say to God ‘let me have all things let me have nothing’, we say it by extension to our partners in the Church of England as well. We are prepared to go out of existence not because we are declining or failing in mission, but for the sake of mission. In other words we are prepared to be changed and even to cease having a separate existence as a Church if that will serve the needs of the Kingdom.” Read the full text of teh speech here.

However, the biggest development of this Synod was the way technology involved people from all over the world. As well as a live audio stream Twitter, through #synod, became the means of a global community responding to and engaging with the debates as they happened. Participants included Synod members on the floor, the official Synod Twitter account, members of the press in the gallery (including me) and Anglicans from around the world who were listening in. The decisions may have been taken on the floor, but the issues raised have taken on a life of their own as the Anglican Communion moves beyond the formal structures to engage people in parishes and dioceses far beyond the confines of Church House.

Tagged as: Anglicanism, CofE, Debates, Social Media, Synod, Twitter

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DigiMission: How technology shapes faith, church and mission

by Ian on December 2, 2009

in Features

digimissionA report from Anna Moyle

Small-world theory, digital connectors, intimate anonymity, blogging in your pyjamas – the digital age has brought with it a new language and new ways of communicating, as well as unique challenges for the church.

These topics and more were discussed at DigiMission, an Evangelical Alliance event on 1st December in London. The event explored different ways digital technology influences faith and mission – starting with the people attending the event. The 50 people physically present were quadrupled in number by those who logged on to watch the live broadcast online, with an average of 40 viewers at any one time. Many others following along on Twitter as various attendees updated their Twitter pages with soundbites and key ideas from the various talks.

The four physical speakers – Maggi Dawn from Cambridge University, Jonny Baker from Church Mission Society, Mark Meynell from All Souls Church and Krish Kandiah from the Evangelical Alliance – were joined by blogger Adrian Warnock over video in the morning.  In the afternoon, American author Shane Hipps gave a talk over live online video from his home in Arizona, about the ideas behind his recent book, Flickering Pixels, and fielded questions through a chatroom from both attendees in London and those watching online from around the UK.

While each speaker had a different take on how the church should use the digital space, the running theme throughout the day was the importance of both developing Christian community within the new context and using the existing technological structures to “get the message out.”

Jonny Baker challenged us to seek out digitally-minded “connectors” in each church to connect up various “small worlds” which otherwise might not be aware of each other’s existence.  Maggi Dawn spoke powerfully about how she sees her blogging as very relational – as a published author she takes a very different approach to blog-writing than she does to book-writing. She quipped, “I am the vicar of my blog,” and noted that people stumble upon her blog when through occasional entries on topics that she doesn’t normally cover but are of interest to a wide variety of people.

Both Krish Kandiah and Mark Meynell encouraged us to avoid creating “online Christian ghettos” but to use mediums that already exist to produce really good content and redeem the digital space for the kingdom of God. Adrian Warnock took a similar line and pointed out that there are many ways to communicate online – some will prefer microblogging tools such as Twitter, while others prefer social networking sites like Facebook. He said that it is important for Christians to be present in all those spaces, and that they are also good for bringing together various wings of the church. Krish also pointed to a new Evangelical Alliance initiative called Biblefresh which will be promoting Bible engagement using a variety of creative digital platforms.

One of the highlights of the event was Shane Hipps’ online streaming video talk about the various paradoxes of the digital age: both tribal and individualistic, empathetic and distant, intimate and anonymous.  Digital media is very useful for creating connections but it cannot replace, and it must work alongside, close physical community – it is not the best medium for that, he argued. The digital age tends to separate those who are close and bring together those who are at a distance. Why does nobody consider online parenting or online marriage? Those relationships require real physical intimacy that the digital world cannot replicate.

No doubt some in the church will be more sympathetic with Shane’s emphasis on maintaining authentic physical community and using technology intelligently alongside of it, while others might consider his perspective as too timid and will advocate more for the potential of online communities. Whatever the views, the key lesson coming out of the day is that it is important for the church to be present in the digital world but also to keep up the conversation about the best ways to go about doing just that.

A Slipstream podcast as well as talks coming out of the event will be available on Thursday 3 December on the Slipstream website.

You can find attendees’ updates by searching for #digimission on Twitter.

Anna Moyle works in the Evangelical Alliance press office and coordinates Slipstream, a suite of resources for leaders.

You can watch some clips from the day here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/digimission or watch below:


Tagged as: Culture, Internet, Media, Mission, Publishing, Social Media, Twitter

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