Barnabas File

You’ve probably received a letter or e-mail with this message: “(Name of organization) wishes to inform you of an incident that may impact the use of information you have provided to us.”     Yes, there’s been a data breach.   In the past year, we have received such messages from a prominent medical clinic in our city, an insurance company, and the custodian of some of our retirement funds.     The hackers are out there, and they want your information.    And don’t think that church will not be a target.   The tools of technology, like all others, can be a blessing and add impact to our work, but there is the potential for abuse as well. As we think about the church and technology, digital privacy is just one of the things we must consider.     Data Privacy and Trust: What ethical frameworks are we using to protect the data and privacy of our congregants in an era of increasing digital surveillance and data harvesting? ...

A few short years ago, a seminary student asked one of his professors, “When are you going to start teaching online?”  The professor replied, “When you start leading worship online.” We know where that went, don’t we?  During the pandemic, most churches learned how to take their services to Zoom, Facebook Live, or some other digital platform.   In The Great Digital Commission , author Caleb J. Lines encourages the church to go even further, embracing social media not only to connect those who are already involved in a local congregation but to use digital platforms to reintroduce itself to those outside the church.   Just as Jesus and the early apostles developed community to reach and disciple believers, Lines argues that community is still at the heart of the Christian faith and the social media can be used to engage the unreached and to nurture believers.  He defines social media as “applications and websites that enable social networking and t...