The Digital Cathedral: Networked Ministry in a Wireless World

by Keith Anderson, Elizabeth Drescher (Foreword by)

Overview

Provides both practical and theological perspectives on using media appropriately and pastorally.

Rapid cultural and technological changes through the last two decades have changed the context for ministry. The development of digital social media and advances in affordable, mobile technologies have dramatically changed the way most people interact with others, communicate, organize, and participate in communities.

The Digital Cathedral is a warm embrace of the rich traditions of Christianity, especially the recovery of the pre-modern sense of cathedral, which encompassed the depth and breadth of daily life within the physical and imaginative landscape of the church. It is for anyone who seeks to effectively minister in a digitally-integrated world, and who wishes to embody the networked, relational, and incarnational characteristics of that ministry.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780819229953
Publisher:	Church Publishing, Incorporated
Publication date:	05/01/2015
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Keith Anderson is the author of The Digital Cathedral: Networked Ministry in a Wireless World and a recognized thought leader across mainline denominations on the ways congregations and ministries faithfully minister in a digitally-integrated world. He is a highly regarded speaker on new media and Christian life at conferences, convocations, and consultations. He lives in Ambler, Pennsylvania.

Elizabeth Drescher is adjunct associate professor of religion and pastoral ministry at Santa Clara Universityand a highly regarded speaker and writer on everyday religion and spirituality. Her doctorate, from the Graduate Theological Union, is in Christian spirituality, and a master's degree in systematic theology from Duquesne University. She is the author of Tweet If You (Heart) Jesus: Practicing Church in the Digital Reformation and Choosing Our Religion: The Spiritual Lives of America's Nones. She lives with her family in Northern California’s Silicon Valley.

Table of Contents

Dedication vii

Foreword: Pilgrims to the Digital Cathedral Elizabeth Drescher ix

Acknowledgments xv

Introduction: Constructing a Digital Cathedral 1

1 Canterbury Cathedral C. 1167 13

2 Make Your Neighborhood Your Cathedral 28

3 Shifting From Newton to Networks 41

4 Practicing Relational Ministry 61

5 Exercising Incarnational Imagination 78

6 Everyday Sacred: Locating God in Daily Life 96

7 Naming It Holy: Common Ground for Nones and the Affiliated 110

8 God on Tap: At the Intersection of Life and Faith 128

9 Theology Without a Net: Conversation at the Core 148

10 Faith Formation: Visual, Immersive, and Experiential 164

11 Evangelism: Sharing the Gospel for the Sake of the Gospel 185

12 A Digital Rule of Life 203

Conclusion: A Transitional Cathedral 219

Notes 223

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“The hybrid metaphor Keith Anderson has crafted in The Digital Cathedral invites us to explore the way Christian practice can play out in a networked world. It calls us to value the richness of our traditions and, in particular, to honor their adaptability and robustness as they are plugged into new digitally-integrated ministries."
—Elizabeth Drescher from the Foreword

“The Digital Cathedral is an invitation to a more expansive understanding of church, and ways of being church, at a time when our definitions of church have become all too narrow, too parochial—when evangelism is reduced to membership, faith formation is narrowed to Sunday morning education classes, and sharing the Gospel has been reduced to marketing rather than sharing the free and abundant grace and love of God.”
—from the Introduction

“As the network paradigm becomes central to the way we understand ourselves, it is causing a re-visioning of the nature of the Body of Christ in the twenty-first century. Keith Anderson, in his travels, interviews and examples gives us an expansive view of how this transition is happening. There is much to think on in his writing, and much to learn from the communities of practice he introduces us to in this lovely book.”
—The Rt. Rev. W. Nicholas Knisely DD, SOSc, Bishop, The Diocese of Rhode Island

“Here’s what we know: the digital revolution has radically changed the way we make meaning, craft our identity, and communicate with each other in today’s world. We also know that most of us congregational leaders have done little to embrace this new world of digital connectivity beyond creating a website and Facebook page. One more thing we know: we have in Keith Anderson a remarkably capable and creative guide into this new world. In The Digital Cathedral, Keith has provided not simply tips on using social media or the Internet for ministry, but rather offers us the means by which to participate in the virtual Body of Christ, extending the care and compassion of the Gospel to, quite literally, the ends of the earth via digital means.”
—David J. Lose, President, The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia

Editorial Reviews

The hybrid metaphor Keith Anderson has crafted in The Digital Cathedral invites us to explore the way Christian practice can play out in a networked world. It calls us to value the richness of our traditions and, in particular, to honor their adaptability and robustness as they are plugged into new digitally-integrated ministries."
—Elizabeth Drescher from the Foreword

“The Digital Cathedral is an invitation to a more expansive understanding of church, and ways of being church, at a time when our definitions of church have become all too narrow, too parochial—when evangelism is reduced to membership, faith formation is narrowed to Sunday morning education classes, and sharing the Gospel has been reduced to marketing rather than sharing the free and abundant grace and love of God.”
—from the Introduction

“As the network paradigm becomes central to the way we understand ourselves, it is causing a re-visioning of the nature of the Body of Christ in the twenty-first century. Keith Anderson, in his travels, interviews and examples gives us an expansive view of how this transition is happening. There is much to think on in his writing, and much to learn from the communities of practice he introduces us to in this lovely book.”
—The Rt. Rev. W. Nicholas Knisely DD, SOSc, Bishop, The Diocese of Rhode Island

“Here’s what we know: the digital revolution has radically changed the way we make meaning, craft our identity, and communicate with each other in today’s world. We also know that most of us congregational leaders have done little to embrace this new world of digital connectivity beyond creating a website and Facebook page. One more thing we know: we have in Keith Anderson a remarkably capable and creative guide into this new world. In The Digital Cathedral, Keith has provided not simply tips on using social media or the Internet for ministry, but rather offers us the means by which to participate in the virtual Body of Christ, extending the care and compassion of the Gospel to, quite literally, the ends of the earth via digital means.”
—David J. Lose, President, The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia

From the Publisher