Technology and Mission

Issue 31 Editors: Mike Frith and Tim Davy

Whether you are a technophobe or a technophile, this edition of Encounters makes for important reading. We have gathered experts in various fields relating particularly to digital media and asked them how technology has and is impacting mission.

They discuss a number of key issues, such as the role of IT in mission, the place and potential of internet-based evangelism, and the vital importance of video for engaging with the current and forthcoming generation of new missionaries and their peers.

We also wanted to illustrate best practice for using 'social media' such as Facebook, Twitter and blogs as part of a mission organisation's activities. A huge thank you is due to Wycliffe Bible Translators for showing how it can be done, and for sharing their thinking behind it. They have also furnished us with numerous examples of individuals on the field who are using these technologies to communicate about their work, with supporters and the wider world. We have no book reviews this edition, so why not check out some of their blogs instead?

Mike and Tim

Mike Frith is Founding Director of OSCAR, the UK information service for world mission.
Tim Davy is a co-editor of Encounters, Lecturer in Biblical Studies and Web Marketing Officer at Redcliffe College. He is the author of the Bible and Mission blog.

• Article 1:  How Technology has Affected, and is Affecting, Mission.
  (Tim Young, 3463 words, pdf 49 KB)
  
  
• Article 2:  Evangelism, Mission, and that New-fangled Interweb Thingy.
  (Tony Whittaker, 3408 words, pdf 65 KB)
  
  
• Article 3:  A Response to Tony Whittaker on 'Evangelism, Mission, and that New-fangled Interweb Thingy'.
  (Ceri Longville, 514 words, pdf 26 KB)
  
  
• Article 4:  What a Difference a Decade Makes: OSCAR's observations on changes in technology.
  (Mike Frith, 1089 words, pdf 32 KB)
  
  
• Article 5:  Lights / Camera / Mission: Why using video is essential for mobilising Generation-Y.
  (James Clarke, 1586 words, pdf 32 KB)
  
  
• Article 6:  Wycliffe Bible Translators and the Use of Social Media: A case study.
  (Phil Prior, 2660 words, pdf 124 KB)
  

Read what others are thinking on the Discussion Board.  Use the Voice your comments form to add to the debate.

Please Note: The views expressed in articles are those of their authors
and do not necessarily reflect the position of Redcliffe College.