To tech or no Tech | UMC YoungPeople
Connecting young people and their adult leaders to God, the church, and the world
19
February 2013

To tech or no Tech

By Kelly Peterson-Cruse
I just returned from the Relevance Lead/X event, and besides an overall great insight and many conversations around the exciting ministry going on with young adults, I came back thinking about the message of one of the speakers, Dan Wunderlich who had some very profound thoughts around technology and ministry. On the positive perspective "Technology can be a voice that needs to be heard, a story to be told, a connection that needs to be maintained." However, "The key is the RIGHT tool in the RIGHT context", If the context and the how the technology is contained within it, are in disconnect, the power and the message is lost." Does the coolest video screen and the latest visual aids create community or disconnect us all to sit and watch a screen? " What does the medium do to your message?" Was one of the question asked to think about in our work in ministry. In in our camping ministry we often ask for those participating to disconnect from the world and be still in God's creation. I can honestly say, the experience of some time without all the distraction is good for my soul, but takes times to be at peace with. It is often very freeing for our youth that come to camp, although sometimes an anxious time for some parents. Some help and thoughts around that subject can be found at www.mashable.com/nocellphones I appreciate pod-casts that I can download and listen to during my many hours of travel. My church. The Table, out of Sacramento has a weekly pod-cast, and I also often download from www.prayasyougo.org for daily devotions. I still often get looks when I read my bible off my phone, and see more and more preach from their tablets, but the point I carried with me was "match the tool to the message" Dan recommended www.lifehacker.com
  • Lifehacker curates tips, tricks, and technology for living better in the digital age