Understandable

One of the major differences between the first generation web communication (Web 1) and what’s happening now (Web 2.0) is collaboration and full interactivity.

The Web 1 model was like a library. For the most part, you would access the information, digest it, and move on. While many websites still continue that approach, the Web 2.0 model engages the consumer, encourages feedback—even input—thereby enticing people to keep returning to the site. In Web 1 you designed a site for “take away” value and a reason for people to return. In Web 2.0, this opportunity for full interaction is more like “y’all come back” value.

Historically, the church (and for that matter corporate) communication model is very much Web 1. “We talk, you listen.”

And here lies a potential difficulty. Younger church members expect some kind of engagement because that is the very nature of their world. (Schools wrestle with this all the time, dangerously clinging to a teaching methodology deeply rooted in the 20th if not 19th century!)

Some churches address this through an entertainment approach. But a lot of younger members will tell you they don’t want their entertainment in church. They are looking for real, honest, engagement with their faith.

In our Lutheran tradition, the reality comes through the real presence of Christ in the Sacrament of the Altar, the forgiveness of sins and the power of God’s Word. These things don’t change. In our worship, God speaks through His Word and we respond by speaking back his word through liturgy and often congregational song.

We also have to understand that it’s not just the younger generation who are looking for engagement with their faith. We who make up almost 1/3 of the Canadian population, the Baby Boomers, are a growing part of the new media world and the mind-set it generates.

Like the climate, culture is not static. But like a rock, the pure message of the Gospel doesn’t change. Jesus spoke to His culture using word images and words to which people could relate. We are called to do the same.