High-Tech Worship

Media Technologies and Christian Liturgical Practice

Research Proposal for Doctoral Dissertation submitted to the Department of Science and Technology Studies Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

James Fenimore April 27, 2004

PROJECT SUMMARY This project will investigate the origins and development of a novel and fast growing form of Christian worship that appropriates new multimedia technologies. This phenomenon, known as “media ministry,” incorporates video and graphical elements through video projectors and screens to augment or replace traditional elements of Christian worship. This study will illuminate the complex interaction between technology, religion, gender and power. Research will be conducted over twelve months during which I will: 1) participate in a variety of worship services and conferences that use media ministry throughout the country; 2) attend trade shows and training events for media ministers; 3) interview the technologists and religious leaders who develop and use the media for worship; 4) interview representatives from media and software companies that produce products used in media worship; 5) interview congregants who attend media ministry worship services; 6) produce a discourse analysis of the media and the “how-to” literature. Primary data for this study will be collected through ethnographic research and more than 40 in-depth, focused interviews conducted with technologists, congregants, and others involved with media ministry. The breadth of this phenomenon will be documented through research on ten different churches, one church organization and eight business ventures focusing on media ministry. In addition, a more detailed ethnographic study of one church that is considered a pioneer in media ministry will provide for a “thicker” description. Analysis of the construction process of these media, will illuminate how social, cultural and theological concepts are reified in media artifacts. This project will explore: 1) whether the politics of those who design and/or appropriate multimedia technologies is “embedded” in this form of worship, and 2) whether the medium is more powerful than the message. This research project will contribute significantly to the gender and technology literature of Science and Technology Studies. This project will explore not only the intersection of gender and technology but will include religion as well. Religion structures and legitimizes the social order of its adherents. The introduction of new technologies, especially multimedia communication technologies, will either challenge or maintain the social order. This project will investigate how the social order is maintained or challenged by the introduction of these new technologies. Research findings will be disseminated through academic channels and throughout the network of “media ministers” to help those involved in the adoption of new technologies to be more conscious in their choices and to understand the consequences of these choices.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION I. BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE In the past decade, many Christian churches of various denominations have converted their worship spaces into multimedia screening rooms. It is estimated that as many as 25% of all churches are conducting a media worship service or have plans to start one. Christian worship, which has relied primarily on oral communication, sacred texts, and sacred spaces is now being assisted by multimedia “experiences” geared to attract younger members. Cultural relevance and an almost desperate need for new members (and the finances that accompany them) has led to a wholesale acceptance of almost any means that might draw the elusive “younger generation” back to the church. A graying congregation combined with a cumbersome and costly institutional structure has prompted a search for the magic elixir that will revive the church. Many consider media ministry this elixir. Popular Protestant theologians (Riddell 1998; Sample 1998; Slaughter 1998; Sweet 1999b) have given theological justifications for the adoption of technology, using the analogy of the adoption of the printing press as the fuel of the Protestant Reformation. They claim this media reformation will be as revolutionary as the Protestant Reformation. The success, measured by the numbers of attendees, of churches like Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church (Tipp City, Ohio), a pioneer in media ministry, has led to the replication of their worship style. Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church was a small rural church with only a few hundred members and only 50-70 attending on an average Sunday. Than in 1979, Michael Slaughter a United Methodist pastor who had worked as a Youth Pastor was appointed to Ginghamsburg. Slaughter experimented with a variety of new ideas in worship, including: drama, a praise band and digital technology. On December 17, 1994 the church launched their first media ministry service. This service incorporated a large screen in the front suspended fifteen feet over the stage area. A large multimedia projector costing over $60,000 was suspended from the ceiling in the center of the room powering the images onto the screen. The conversion of this church into a media ministry church is one of the great success stories told in Christian circles. Since the introduction of media into worship, Ginghamsburg UMC has grown from a small church to a church with many thousands. Five worship services are conducted each week and there still is very little room at some of these services. What is even more important is that the majority of those who attend the services are claimed by leaders of Ginghamsburg UMC to be “unchurched.” For evangelicals the “unchurched,” those who have no previous experience in a church setting, are the most sought after population. Because of their success with the “unchurched,” Ginghamsburg UMC is held up by itself and others as a model of successful ministry that needs to replicated throughout the country. The worship team of Ginghamsburg UMC holds conferences throughout the year that bring together church leaders from across the country to learn how they “did it.” They also sell many of the graphics and videos they produce to other churches that cannot afford to produce them themselves. At about the same time as Ginghamsburg UMC began its media ministry worship services, the Promise Keepers began their evangelistic men’s conferences that featured media technologies. The Promise Keepers are dedicated to “igniting and uniting men to be passionate followers of Jesus Christ through the effective communication of the 7 Promises."1 Bill

1

A Promise Keeper is a man that has covenanted to keep the seven promises which are: 1) A Promise Keeper is committed to honoring Jesus Christ through worship, prayer and obedience to God's Word in the power of the Holy Spirit.

McCartney, their founder, is affectionately known by Promise Keepers as “Coach” because he is the former football coach for the University of Colorado. Promise Keepers is not directly affiliated with any church or denomination but lists “alliances” with the American Baptist Churches, Assemblies of God, Church of God of Prophecy, Missionary Church and the Reformed Church of America. They provide conferences in cities throughout the country as a ministry to evangelize to men. These conferences are typically held in sports arenas. In 2002, Promise Keepers held 16 conferences throughout the US and attracted over 176,000. Promise Keeper’s represent a growing segment of Christianity that embraces and engages popular culture and at the same time retains the conservative ideology and theology of fundamentalist Christians. This combination is embodied in their use of technology. Multimedia technology plays a major role in each of the conferences and has since the beginning of this organization. At the first PK conferences a team of technologists provided PowerPoint presentations and live television feeds for the conference. These individuals who were employed by Promise Keepers soon discovered that Microsoft’s PowerPoint presentation software limited their creativity. Several of these individuals formed their own company, Grassroots software, that developed Prologue presentation software. This software was designed and tested at PK events and was then marketed to churches who were seeking to do similar multimedia experiences in their worship settings. A study of these and other organizations will make a significant contribution to gender and technology studies. There are a significant number of studies that focus on gender and religion (Hawley 1994; Boyd, Longwood et al. 1996; Krondorfer 1996; Griffith 1997; Beaman 1999; Gallagher 2003) and the literature on gender and technology has looked at domestic technologies (Cowan 1983; MacKenzie and Wajcman 1985; Cockburn and Ormrod 1993; Cockburn 1999a; Cowan 1999), workplace technologies (Cockburn and Ormrod 1993; Spender 1995; Cockburn 1999a; Cockburn 1999b; Light 1999), architectural design and technology (Wajcman 1991; Bray 1997; Berg 1999) and even military technologies (Weber 1999) but to date little attention has been paid to the gendered dimensions of religious technologies. The field of religion and media examines the use of images and other forms of media in religious contexts. This field provides valuable insights regarding the mediation of religious messages. Two outstanding figures Stewart Hoover (Hoover 1988; Abelman and Hoover 1990; Hoover and Lundby 1997; Hoover 1998; Hoover and Clark 2002; Hoover, Clark et al. 2004) and David Morgan (Morgan 1996; Morgan 1998; Morgan 1999; Morgan and Promey 2001) have provided a vast amount of research in this area. This research focuses on the role of mediation that media technologies perform, not the technologies themselves. Indeed, little attention has been paid to religious technologies at all. Some research on science and religion (Nasr 1993; Restivo 1994; Noble 1997) has been conducted, but very little on 2) A Promise Keeper is committed to pursuing vital relationships with a few other men, understanding that he needs brothers to help him keep his promises. 3) A Promise Keeper is committed to practicing spiritual, moral, ethical, and sexual purity. 4) A Promise Keeper is committed to building strong marriages and families through love, protection and biblical values. 5) A Promise Keeper is committed to supporting the mission of his church by honoring and praying for his pastor, and by actively giving his time and resources. 6) A Promise Keeper is committed to reaching beyond any racial and denominational barriers to demonstrate the power of biblical unity. 7) A Promise Keeper is committed to influencing his world, being obedient to the Great Commandment (see Mark 12:30-31) and the Great Commission (see Matthew 28:19-20).

religion and technology. One of the possible reasons for this is that technology seems to be antithetical to religion. Technology is about newness and innovation and although religion changes – it does so at much slower rate than technology. This stability and continuity is embodied in the use of sacred texts that are essentially changeless (McDannell 1995). Yet the church has made use of innovative technologies. Two particularly striking examples are the use of flying buttresses and the printing press. Gothic architecture introduced the flying buttress in the 12th century that effectively shifted the support of the cathedral from thick walls to an auxiliary column beyond the outside walls (Fenimore 1993). This novel architectural feature allowed for smaller walls and more importantly for larger windows. This ultimately led to the development of stained glass windows which were not technically feasible until the introduction of the flying buttress. Stained glass windows were an important communication medium as their pictorial representations of the biblical stories allowed the mostly illiterate laity to understand the sacred stories. The introduction of stained glass as a communication medium in the medieval church was an example of how the power structures are maintained. The centralized control of the Roman Catholic hierarchy allowed this novel technology to perpetuate the message of the church. The printing press, another innovative technology, had an even more revolutionary impact on the Christian church. Many theologians and historians argue that the printing press fueled the Protestant Reformation that divided the western church into Roman Catholics and Protestants (White 1994; Slaughter 1998; Sweet 1998; Wilson 1999). The printing press effectively released the Roman Catholic Church’s control of the sacred text by allowing copies of the Bible to be printed and circulated at will (Noble 1992; Noble 1997). Placing the Bible in the hands of the laity overturned the monopoly the Roman Catholic Church had as mediator of the sacred text. Protestant’s reformed worship in order to better communicate the Biblical message. This led to a movement away from the sacraments as the primary purpose of worship to an emphasis on preaching. Worship revolved around effective communication of the “message.” Churches were designed to enhance communication and practices were adopted if they helped communicate the message and at the same time conformed to acceptable practice (White 1993). The introduction of the printing press challenged and ultimately disrupted the power structure of the church. In the 1960s the guitar became a regular part of the music of many churches who sought to communicate the message in musical form to a new generation of churchgoers. The appropriation of this musical technology (although not novel) was an effort to recruit members of the counter-culture by a common “totem.” The totem was appropriated but what it stood for was not. The ideology of the 1960’s “hippie” was not adopted by most churches and the guitar was used as an empty symbol to lure a youthful generation to the church. Today the use of multimedia technologies mirrors this social phenomenon. It is assumed that a technology can be appropriated without the social and cultural ideology that it represents, but artifacts have politics (Winner 1977; Winner 1980; Winner 1986; Winner 1993f; Winner 1993c) and the introduction of new technologies can challenge or maintain existing power structures (Sharp 1952; Lansing 1991). New technologies are often introduced and/or adopted with very little thought or consciousness about what the broader social implications are (Winner 1986). The appropriation of multimedia technologies in the context of Christian worship provides a case study of this theory. Some background is necessary to understand the unique social structure of the Protestant Christian church. Multimedia technology in Christian worship began in evangelical churches. Evangelicals engage the world and are quick to use the technologies and methods associated

with the world. Evangelicals also share a particular form of patriarchy. The vast majority of the evangelical churches have doctrines that explicitly exclude women from many leadership roles within their churches. These exclusions are authenticated through the use of Biblical texts including the most often quoted from 1 Corinthians 14: 34-35: As in all the congregations of the saints, women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. Other oft quoted passages, including Genesis 2 (the second creation story), describe the creation of woman as secondary, where women are created as the helpmates of men. This created order establishes are clear hierarchical structure something like this: God (The Father)

Christ (The Son)

Holy Spirit

Man

Woman

Earth

Animals

Plants

This hierarchal relationship is to be established not only within the church but also within the home with the husband as the spiritual head of the household similar to the pastor, the spiritual head of the congregation (Ruether 1983). Thanks to the second wave of feminism, such overt sexism is no longer socially acceptable in many places including mainline churches (Beaman 1999; Ruether 2002; Gallagher 2003). This new cultural milieu has led some churches to be less open about their patriarchal policies. Patriarchy has gone stealth. For example at the Promise Keepers events the role of women is almost never discussed rather the focus is on the role of men. Through the event’s discourse, a “naturalized” male identity is constructed that includes a leadership role based on a Biblical hierarchy. Many evangelical churches claim that leadership is not limited to men, only that there are no “qualified” women to fill the leadership positions. This more subtle form of patriarchy is part of the ideological framework of the conservative Christian communities that saw the rise of multimedia technologies in worship. Media ministry is not confined to conservative Christian churches however. Although media ministry originated in evangelical churches many liberal mainline congregations have or are planning to adopt this form of technology for worship. The success of evangelical congregations, in terms of numbers, has caught the interest of liberal congregations. These liberal congregations are part of denominations that strive to be inclusive in both doctrine and polity. For example, The United Methodist Church, the denomination of two of the churches in

this study has ordained women as pastors since 1939. Women serve in all levels of leadership in the United Methodist Church including the highest office, bishop. The first woman bishop was elected in 1980 and today there are eleven active women bishops out of a total of 51. There exists a consciousness regarding gender issues in The United Methodist Church, and other liberal mainline denominations. This gender consciousness, however, seems unaware of the implications of a technology’s ability to marginalize women. This project includes churches with a broad spectrum in terms of theology and ideology. How these different churches appropriate these technologies is an important part of the project. This research project will provide a valuable expansion of the knowledge of how these and other ideologies and politics of a religious community can be “embodied” in the construction of multimedia. The following are the research questions that will guide this project: How is media ministry situated within current liturgical practice? • How is the presentation of a multimedia service different from a “traditional” service? • What is the role of spectacle in multimedia worship? • How is “technology” defined by media technologists? • What does media technology symbolize to those who appropriate it? • Does the practice of media ministry differ based on its theological, geographical or ecclesiastical context? • How is media ministry related to televangelism? How are politics “embedded” in Christian multimedia? • Does multimedia used in Christian worship embody the values and politics of their designers? • Can the users/viewers be critically aware of the politics inherent in media technologies? Does the introduction of new technologies with embedded politics challenge or maintain the social order? • Has the use of multimedia changed who controls worship? • What role do members of different ages/generations (if any) have in media ministry? What was it before media ministry? • What role do women (if any) have in media ministry? What was it before media ministry? • What role to people of color (if any) have in media ministry? • What role do the clergy have in the introduction of this technology? II. PREPERATION AND WORK THUS FAR As an ordained United Methodist pastor serving a congregation in Troy, New York I have been a practicing church leader for fifteen years and have been directly involved with media ministry for five years. I hold degrees in Computer Science, Liturgical Studies and a doctorate focusing on creative church leadership for the 21st Century. In 1999, I began an experimental worship service called Soul Café that uses multimedia technologies. This media ministry worship service has become a model for other churches interested in producing similar services. My Doctor of Ministry thesis entitled “How a Congregation’s Identity is Affected by the Introduction of Technology-Based Ministries” (Fenimore 2001) was a case study of Christ Church, United Methodist the congregation I serve in Troy, New York. This thesis uses McLuhan’s well known theoretical statement that the “medium is the message” (McLuhan 1964). This theoretical base was enhanced by Paul Levinson’s (1998) re-articulation of McLuhan’s work and the work of Pierre Babin (1991) who believes that religious communication

is the only instance in which the medium and the message are the same thing. For Babin the adoption of any communication medium is appropriate. The conclusion of this thesis was that the identity of the congregation itself was not affected any more than society in general. Since the writing of this thesis there have been significant texts written on the religious use of communication mediums (Stout and Buddenbaum 2001; Hoover and Clark 2002) that will be incorporated into this current research project. I have been actively involved in equipping others to use technology in the church. I have led numerous workshops, lectured and authored articles in popular religious periodicals (Fenimore 2000; Fenimore 2002). I am uniquely equipped to research this phenomenon as I am technically qualified, theologically grounded and at the same time methodologically prepared to perform a critical analysis of the complex interactions of technology, religion and society. As an insider of the media ministry movement, I already speak the language of media ministry and have become fluent in the technical and logistical operations of media ministry. This experience has provided valuable experience and the expertise to develop an effective research program. Each of my dissertation committee members provides expertise and knowledge for particular aspects of this research program. Linda Layne as chair who provides expertise on the interactions of gender, religion and technologies (Layne 1987; Layne 1990; Layne 1992; Layne 1993; Layne 1994a; Layne 1994b; Layne and Antoun 1995; Layne and Brand 1996; Layne 1996; Layne and Rogan 1996; Layne 1997; Layne 1999b; Layne 1999a; Layne 2000a; Layne 2000c; Layne 2000b; Layne 2001; Layne 2003a; Layne 2003b; Layne in press); David Hess whose work includes issues of science and religion (Hess 1991; Hess 1993; Hess 1995; Hess, Layne et al. 1995; Hess and Matta 1995; Hess 1997a; Hess 1997b; Hess 1999; Hess 2001); Langdon Winner whose work on the politics of artifacts is especially relevant to this project (Winner 1977; Winner 1980; Winner 1986; Winner 1992a; Winner 1992c; Winner 1992b; Winner and Society for Philosophy and Technology (U.S.) 1992; Winner 1993f; Winner 1993d; Winner 1993c; Winner 1993a; Winner 1993b; Winner 1993e; Winner 1995; Winner 1996b; Winner 1996c; Winner 1996a; Winner, White et al. 1996; Winner 1997c; Winner 1997a; Winner 1997b; Winner 1998; Winner 2000; Winner 2003); Kate Boyer who has worked on the introduction of new technologies into white-collar workplaces (Boyer 1998; Boyer 2003; Boyer 2004); Tamar Gordon (Gordon and Hancock 2003; Gordon in press) provides expertise in proselytic media use; and Stewart Hoover (Hoover 1988; Hoover and Lundby 1997; Hoover 1998; Hoover and Clark 2002; Hoover, Clark et al. 2004) has provided extensive contributions in the study of religion and media. In addition to these contributions, Linda Layne, Tamar Gordon and David Hess provide a methodological grounding in anthropology for this field research. A pilot study based on a discourse analysis of two years of the magazine Technologies for Worship will be used and expanded on in this research. The results of this study are forthcoming in the volume, Gender and Technology (Johnson, Fox et al. in press). In this study two important conclusions are drawn. First, those that market media technologies are blending together the sacred and profane (Durkheim 1995) in what Mary Douglas might call a “confused blending” (Douglas 1966). This blending has the effect of making sacred the profane media technologies. This elevation of the technology is allowed because of the purpose of the technology, namely to effectively communicate the gospel message. This leads to the second conclusion, that women in these settings have been excluded or at least remain outside of that which is sacred. Women have little to no role in the use of these technologies and this works to maintain their ongoing exclusion from leadership roles in evangelical churches. Technology, it would seem, has been chosen over women to proclaim the sacred message of the gospel (Fenimore in press).

A second pilot study was conducted during 2003. This study focused on a Promise Keepers conference held in Albany, New York on June 20-21. This ethnographic research included a “back room” tour of the event that provided an overview of the technology used to run this event and an introduction to the individuals who controlled the technology. One of the findings from this research was that the technology, or more accurately the enthusiasm about the technology, was used to form a bond of commonality among the men gathered (Mellstrom 2002; Mellstrom 2003). III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND PLAN OF WORK Media ministry is a relatively new phenomenon. All of the churches in this study have appropriated this technology within the past ten years. The focus of this research will be on a series of comparisons. First, is a comparison of churches to their past selves. Through focused interviews with church leaders and participant observation the researcher will document changes that have occurred with the introduction of this form of worship. Second, media ministry worship services will be compared to ongoing “traditional” worship services. Many of the churches in this study offer both “traditional” and media ministry worship services. Third, various churches who conduct media ministry worship services will be compared to each other to gain an understanding of the differences in how they use media in worship to see if patterns are discernable in terms of denominations, geographic location, size and composition of congregation. This proposed multi-sited ethnographic study (Marcus 1995) provides a comprehensive overview of media ministry. Ten churches will be studied to gain an understanding of the breadth of media ministry throughout Christian churches. One church, Ginghamsburg UMC, will be studied in greater detail as this church is credited with popularizing the use of media in worship. A one month site visit to this church will include a detailed ethnography including a focus on the development process of the services. A church organization, Promise Keepers, will also be studied as this particular group has been highly influential in the spread of media ministry and presents a unique opportunity to study one intersection of religion, technology and masculinity. The churches are categorized as either evangelical or non-evangelical. A number of business ventures have begun over the past decade that specialize in media ministry. These businesses include media producers who specifically design media for use in church worship settings. Other businesses include software and hardware retailers, magazine publishers and Inspiration, a media ministry trade conference.

1. Participant Observation – During the study I will participate in worship services, conferences, and planning meetings at the sites listed below. The researcher will record observations and insights in a field journal.

Field Sites – Churches Church

Location

Denomination

Average Attendance

Ginghamsburg UMC Community of Joy Fellowship Church The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection The Rock Church of the Resurrection Union-Congregational Church Mosaic Soul Café Calvary Cathedral of Praise

Tipp City, Ohio Glendale, Arizona Grapevine, Texas Leawood, Kansas

United Methodist Lutheran (ELCA) Southern Baptist United Methodist

3,100 3,377 13,000 11,500

Roseville, California Toronto, Canada Waupun, Wisconsin

Nondenominational Anglican United Church of Christ Nondenominational United Methodist Nondenominational

900 150 200

San Gabriel, California Troy, New York Brooklyn, New York

500 30 2,500

Field Sites – Organizations and Businesses Business

Location

Product

Promise Keepers Lumicon Digital Productions Midnight Oil Productions Highway Video

Denver, Colorado Dallas, Texas

Men’s Spirituality Conferences and Resources Digital media for use in worship services Digital media for use in worship services Digital media for use in worship services

Grassroots Software Fresh Media

Tipp City, Ohio Mountain View, California Grass Valley, California Grass Valley, California

Fowler Inc.

Norman, Oklahoma

Inspiration

Queensville, Canada

Technologies for Worship

Queensville, Canada

Software used to run media worship services Production company used by Promise Keepers and many others Hardware retailer focusing on sales to churches who use media ministry Annual Trade Conference of media ministry products Magazine devoted to media ministry

2. Interviews – Approximately 60 face to face interviews will be conducted. Interviews will begin May 2004. All interviews will be recorded and transcribed. Below is a partial list of those to be asked to be interviewed. In addition to these people volunteers at Ginghamsburg UMC who work in media ministry will also be interviewed. Interviews of at least 10 individuals who attend the services at Ginghamsburg UMC will be conducted as well. An additional 20

participants will be interviewed following worship services and Promise Keeper events. These individuals will be chosen through an opportunistic sampling from the congregants at services.

Partial List of Interviews Ginghamsburg UMC • Michael Slaughter, Senior Pastor • Kim Miller, Creative Director • Todd Carter, Media Director • Brent Thurston, Visual Artist/Media Designer • Matt Milthaler, Associate Producer • Craig Grisso, Technical Engineer • Sue Nilson, Director of Ministries • Karen Smith, Communications Systems Manager • Sarah Gillenwater, Graphic Designer • Brad Wise, Graphic Designer • Judy Raines, Data Team Leader • Mark Stephenson, CyberMinistry Director • Jeremy Nash, Web Technician Midnight Oil Productions • Len Wilson, Media Minister (Founder) • Jason Moore, Animator (Founder) Highway Video • Travis Reed, President and Producer • Joe Perez, Producer

Technologies for Worship • Shelagh Rogers, Founder and Publisher • Kevin Rogers Cobus, Editor • Barry Cobus, Sales & Marketing • Kathy Adams, Public Relations & Circulation • Kim Hunt, Graphic Design & Layout • Stacy Dore, Article Contributor • Don Brooks, Article Contributor Lumicon Digital Productions • Tom Boomershine, Dir. of Multimedia Resources • Michael Clements, Webmaster • Amelia Cooper • Amy Forbus, Partner Relations • Don Mayer, Director of Sales • Jason Moore, Animator/Illustrator • Len Wilson, Media Minister Leading Promoters of Media Ministry • Len Sweet, Drew University • Tex Sample, St. Paul School of Theology • Tim Eason, Churchmedia.net • Anthony Coppedge, Fellowship Church

3. Discourse Analysis – During the site visits to churches, video tapes of the services attended will be made. These tapes as well as the purchase of many of the commercially available products for media ministry (see table below of media ministry businesses) will be analyzed and studied for content. To study this I suggest employing the use of a “hermeneutic of suspicion” (Palmer 1969; Ricoeur 1974; Gadamer 1975) that implements a radical philosophical reorienting. Instead on focusing on an interpretation of what is seen (usually in texts, but I expand this to images as well), the focus of the “hermeneutic of suspicion” is on what is unseen. The unseen can provide an insight into the politics of the seen. A careful viewing of the media ministry “texts” with a suspicious eye to what is omitted can reveal the underlying politics of this new form of worship experience. Raising questions about how often women, people of color, etc. are depicted in the media ministry advertisements and discourse is an important start to this process. In the end, being suspicious of these omissions will only help to make media ministry a more inclusive representation of the church it seeks to re-present. In addition, a thorough discourse analysis of the magazine Technologies for Worship will be conducted to expand the research from the pilot study. A number of texts have been written that define the current trends in multimedia worship. These texts are primarily written for clergy or technologists. Currently the debate of the use of technology in worship is reduced to an either/or discussion. There are numerous authors promoting the use and adoption of multimedia technology with Leonard Sweet, leading these optimists. His work portrays technology as a neutral tool that can be used to benefit the

church as well as the world (Sweet 1998; Sweet 1999b; Sweet 1999a; Sweet 2000). He among others (Riddell 1998; Sample 1998; Slaughter 1998) promote the use of multimedia technology as speaking the cultural language. They equate the adoption of these new technologies as equal to the printing press. The only counter position that seeks to speak to this phenomenon in research comes from one theologian named Marva Dawn. Dawn’s critique focuses on the tendency for technologists to simplify the message to present on a graphic slide or movie clip. This simplification she sees as an oversimplification or “dumbing down” of a complex message (Dawn 1995). Texts that I will use for a discourse analysis include: Out on the Edge by Michael Slaughter (1998), The Spectacle of Christian Worship in a Wired World by Tex Sample (1998), Threshold of the Future by Michael Riddell (1998), The Wired Church by Len Wilson (1999), Digital Storytellers by Len Wilson and Jason Moore (2002) and Fresh Out of The Box by Lumicon Digital Productions (2002).

Schedule of Research Below is a timeline for the research phase of the dissertation. The darker shading shows the timeline for each entire phase; the lighter shading underneath shows the timeline for various activities within each phase.

Research Phase / Description of Activity Research Preparation ƒ Primary Literature Review ƒ Conceptual Literature Review ƒ Seek permission for field work from sites ƒ

Preliminary Site – Community of Joy (Glendale, AZ)

ƒ Select Dissertation Committee ƒ Prepare Dissertation Proposal ƒ NSF Grant Proposal ƒ Other Grant Proposals Field Research ƒ Educational Leave from Christ Church ƒ Ginghamsburg UMC (Tipp City, OH) ƒ Inspiration 2004 (Charlotte, NC) ƒ Promise Keepers Conference (Albany, NY) ƒ Union Congregational Church (Waupun, WI) ƒ United Methodist Church of the Resurrection (Leawood, KS) ƒ Fellowship Church (Grapevine, TX) ƒ Calvary Cathedral of Praise (Brooklyn, NY) ƒ Mosaic (San Gabriel, CA) ƒ Church of the Resurrection (Toronto, Canada) ƒ The Rock (Roseville,CA) ƒ Highway Video ƒ Grassroots Software ƒ Fresh Media ƒ Lumicon Digital Productions (Dallas, TX) ƒ Midnight Oil Productions ƒ Fowler ƒ Churchmedia.net – Tim Eason ƒ Technologies for Worship ƒ Transcription of Interviews Discourse Analysis ƒ

Review of Worship Services from Ginghamsburg UMC

ƒ Review of Lumicon Digital Materials ƒ Review of Midnight Materials ƒ Review of Highway Video ƒ Review of Technologies for Worship Follow-up and Analysis ƒ Follow-up Interviews by email and phone ƒ Outline of Dissertation Presented to Committee ƒ Begin Dissertation Writing

J F

Month (January 2004 – June 2005) M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J

Research Ethics The human subjects for this study will be from the various field sites as well as leading promoters of media ministry. Initial contact will be made by phone, letter or email, and the aims and scope of the study will be explained. All interviewees will be told that their participation in the interview component of the study is fully voluntary, and will be sent a copy of the informed consent form. All engagement with interviewees will follow the code of ethics of the American Anthropological Association. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will grant IRB approval before research begins. IV. DISSEMINATION The research findings and observations will form the basis of several articles, a Ph.D. dissertation and a book. In addition to the writings, several presentations and workshops will be produced. The research will be disseminated through two distinct communities, the academic community and the community of media ministry practitioners. For the academic community a detailed ethnographic study of a population and phenomenon that has not been studied previously will be produced. Academic dissemination will not be solely through the traditional STS venues. This research will be in conversation with the theological discipline of Liturgical Studies. Liturgical Studies, or the study of Christian worship, is a growing field with numerous relevant texts for this research (White 1967; White 1971; White 1976; White 1980; Ruether 1983; White 1989; Procter-Smith 1990; White 1992; White 1993; Elkins 1994; White 1994; Dawn 1995). Papers will be written and presented at the American Academy of Religion. For the informants and media ministry community reflective tools for the construction process will be provided that allow for more thoughtful use of the technologies. To facilitate dissemination many of the writings and presentations will be available through a website developed specifically for this research project. This form of dissemination is particularly useful for the technology savvy community of media ministry enthusiasts. The website will provide: reviews of current products for media ministry; information for starting a media ministry at a church; helpful tips in evaluating media use; and links to books, papers, and presentations relevant to media ministry. If funding can be attained additional multimedia resources will be produced including an interactive DVD and a documentary video. The interactive DVD would be the ideal form of dissemination for this project. As a highly visual project, the DVD would allow the viewer to explore media ministry by actually seeing the media. A documentary film could also be produced that traces the historical trajectory of media ministry and documents this novel form of worship.

References Abelman, R. and S. M. Hoover (1990). Religious television : controversies and conclusions. Norwood, N.J., Ablex Pub. Corp. Babin, P. (1991). The New Era of Religious Communication. Minneapolis, Fortress Press. Beaman, L. G. (1999). Shared beliefs, different lives : women's identities in Evangelical context. St. Louis, Mo., Chalice Press. Berg, A.-J. (1999). A Gendered Socio-Technical Construction: The Smart House. The Social Shaping of Technology. D. MacKenzie and J. Wajcman. Buckingham, Open University Press: 301-313. Boyd, S., W. M. Longwood, et al., Eds. (1996). Redeeming Men: Religion and Masculinities. Louisville, Westminister Knox Press. Boyer, L. K. (1998). "Place and politics of virtue: clerical work, corporate anxiety, and changing meanings of public womanhood in early twentiety-century Montreal." Gender, Place and Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography 5(3): 261--276. Boyer, L. K. (2003). "'Neither forget nor remember your sex': sexual politics in the early twentieth century Candian office." The Journal of Historical Geography 29(3). Boyer, L. K. (2004). "'Miss Remington' goes to work: gender, space and technology at the dawn of the information age." The Professional Geographer. Bray, F. (1997). Technology and Gender: Fabrics of Power in Late Imperial China. Berkeley, University of California Press. Cockburn, C. (1999a). Caught in the Wheels: The High Cost of Being a Female Cog in the Male Machinery of Engineering. The Social Shaping of Technology. D. MacKenzie and J. Wajcman. Buckingham, Open University Press: 126-133. Cockburn, C. (1999b). The Material of Male Power. The Social Shaping of Technology. D. MacKenzie and J. Wajcman. Buckingham, Open University Press: 177-198. Cockburn, C. and S. Ormrod (1993). Gender & Technology in the Making. London, Sage. Cowan, R. S. (1983). More Work for Mother: The Ironies of Household Technology from the Open Hearth to the Microwave. New York, Basic Books. Cowan, R. S. (1999). The Industrial Revolution in the Home. The Social Shaping of Technology. D. MacKenzie and J. Wajcman. Buckingham, Open University Press: 281-300. Dawn, M. J. (1995). Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down: A Theology of Worship for the Turn-of-the-Century Culture. Grand Rapids, Eerdmans. Douglas, M. (1966). Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. London, Routledge. Durkheim, E. (1995). The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. New York, The Free Press. Elkins, H. M. (1994). Worshiping Women: Reforming God's People for Praise. Nashville, Abingdon Press. Fenimore, J. (1993). From Meetinghouse to House of God: The Gothic Revival in the American Methodist Tradition of the Troy Annual Conference (1870-1879). Liturgical Studies. Madison, Drew University. Fenimore, J. (2000). How to Conduct an Online Bible Study. Circuit Rider. 24: 6-7. Fenimore, J. (2001). How a Congregation's Identity is Affected by the Introduction of Technology-Based Ministries. Madison, NJ, Drew University. Fenimore, J. (2002). Are You Are Ready to Lead an Online Bible Study? Leader Magazine. 16: 1013.

Fenimore, J. (in press). High-Tech Worship: Gender Politics and the Appropriation of Multimedia Technology for Christian Worship. Gender and Technology. D. Johnson, M. F. Fox and S. Rosser, University of Illinois Press. Gadamer, H.-G. (1975). Truth and Method. New York, Seabury Press. Gallagher, S. K. (2003). Evangelical identity and gendered family life. New Brunswick, N.J., Rutgers University Press. Gordon, T. (in press). Mormons and Modernity in Tonga. Gordon, T. and M. Hancock (2003). Mediating the Missionary Position: International Revival Programming for American Audiences. American Anthropology Association, Chicago, IL. Griffith, R. M. (1997). God's Daughters: Evangelical Women and the Power of Submission. Berkeley, University of California Press. Hawley, J. S., Ed. (1994). Fundamentalism & Gender. New York, Oxford University Press. Hess, D. (1995). Science and Technology in a Multicultural World. New York, Columbia University Press. Hess, D. (1997a). Science Studies. New York, NYU Press. Hess, D. J. (1991). Spirits and scientists : ideology, spiritism, and Brazilian culture. University Park [Pa.], Pennsylvania State University Press. Hess, D. J. (1993). Science in the New Age : the paranormal, its defenders and debunkers, and American culture. Madison, Wis., University of Wisconsin Press. Hess, D. J. (1997b). Can bacteria cause cancer? : alternative medicine confronts big science. New York, New York University Press. Hess, D. J. (1999). Evaluating alternative cancer therapies : a guide to the science and politics of an emerging medical field. New Brunswick, N.J., Rutgers University Press. Hess, D. J. (2001). Selecting technology, science, and medicine. Niskayuna, NY, David J. Hess. Hess, D. J., L. L. Layne, et al. (1995). "The Anthropology of Science and Technology." Isis 86(2): 358. Hess, D. J. and R. d. Matta (1995). The Brazilian puzzle : culture on the borderlands of the Western World. New York, Columbia University Press. Hoover, S. M. (1988). Mass media religion : the social sources of the electronic church. Newbury Park, Calif., Sage Publications. Hoover, S. M. (1998). Religion in the news : faith and journalism in American public discourse. Thousand Oaks, Calif, Sage Publications. Hoover, S. M. and L. S. Clark (2002). Practicing religion in the age of the media : explorations in media, religion, and culture. New York, Columbia University Press. Hoover, S. M., L. S. Clark, et al. (2004). Media, home, and family. New York, Routledge. Hoover, S. M. and K. Lundby (1997). Rethinking media, religion, and culture. Thousand Oaks, Calif., Sage Publications. Johnson, D., M. F. Fox, et al., Eds. (in press). Gender and Technology, University of Illinois Press. Krondorfer, B., Ed. (1996). Men's Bodies, Men's Gods: Male Identities in a (Post-) Christian Culture. New York, New York University Press. Lansing, J. S. (1991). Priests and Programmers: Technologies of Power in the Engineered Landscape of Bali. Princeton, Princeton University Press. Layne, L. (1992). Of fetuses and angels: fragmentation and integration in narratives of pregnancy loss. Knowledge and Society: The Anthropology of Science and Technology. L. Layne and D. Hess. Conn, JAI Press. 9: 29-58.

Layne, L. (1993). "Judy Wajcman, Feminism Confronts Technology." Science, technology & human values 18(3): 395-396. Layne, L. (1994a). "Sherifa Zuhur, Revealing Reveiling: Islamist Gender Ideology in Contemporary Egypt." Middle East Studies Association bulletin 28(1): 56. Layne, L. (in press). Unintended Consequences of New Reproductive and Information Technologies on the Experience of Pregnancy Loss. Gender and Technology. D. Johnson, M. F. Fox and S. Rosser, University of Illinois Press. Layne, L. and L. A. Brand (1996). "Home and Homeland: The Dialogics of Tribal and National Identities in Jordan." International journal of Middle East studies 28(2): 264 (3 pages). Layne, L. L. (1987). Elections in the Middle East : implications of recent trends. Boulder, Colo., Westview Press. Layne, L. L. (1990). "Motherhood Lost: Cultural Dimensions of Miscarriage and Stillbirth in America." Women & health 16(3-4): 69. Layne, L. L. (1994b). Home and homeland : the dialogics of tribal and national identities in Jordan. Princeton, N.J., :Princeton University Press. Layne, L. L. (1996). ""How's the Baby Doing?": Struggling with Narratives of Progress in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit." Medical anthropology quarterly 10(4): 624 (33 pages). Layne, L. L. (1997). "Breaking the Silence: An Agenda for a Feminist Discourse of Pregnancy Loss." Feminist studies : FS 23(2): 289 (28 pages). Layne, L. L. (1999a). "Fertility, Gender, and Health: Contributions Toward a Comparative Anthropology of Reproduction." Reviews in anthropology 28(1): 33. Layne, L. L. (1999b). Transformative motherhood : on giving and getting in a consumer culture. New York, New York University Press. Layne, L. L. (2000a). "The Cultural Fix: An Anthropological Contribution to Science and Technology Studies." Science, Technology & Human Values 25(3): 352-379. Layne, L. L. (2000b). "The Cultural Fix: An Anthropological Contribution to Science and Technology Studies." Science, Technology, & Human Values 25, no 3: 352-379. Layne, L. L. (2000c). "'He was a Real Baby with Baby Things' The Cultural Fix: An Anthropological Contribution to Science and Technology Studies." Journal of Material Culture 5, no 3: 321-345 (25 pages). Layne, L. L. (2001). "Defending the Earth, Defending the Self: Women and Environmental Activism - In Search of Community: Tales of Pregnancy Loss in Three Toxically Assaulted U.S. Communities." Women's studies quarterly 29(1): 25 (26 pages). Layne, L. L. (2003a). Motherhood Lost. New York, Routledge. Layne, L. L. (2003b). "Unhappy endings: a feminist reappraisal of the women's health movement from the vantage of pregnancy loss." Social science & medicine 56(9): 1881 (12 pages). Layne, L. L. and R. T. Antoun (1995). "Home and Homeland: The Dialogics of Tribal and National Identities in Jordan." The American historical review 100(5): 1635 (1 pages). Layne, L. L. and E. Rogan (1996). "Home and homeland: The diaglogics of tribal and national identities in Jordan." Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 59(1): 154 (1 pages). Levinson, P. (1998). The Soft Edge: A Natural History and Future of the Information Revolution. New York, Routledge. Light, J. S. (1999). "When Computers Were Women." Technology and Culture 40(3): 455-483. MacKenzie, D. A. and J. Wajcman (1985). The Social shaping of technology : how the refrigerator got its hum. Milton Keynes ; Philadelphia, Open University Press.

Marcus, G. (1995). "Ethnography in/of the World System: The Emergence of Multi-Sited Ethnography." Annual Review of Anthropology 24: 95-117. McDannell, C. (1995). Material Christianity: Religion and Popular Culture in America. New Haven, Yale University Press. McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. Cambridge, MIT Press. Mellstrom, U. (2002). "Patriarchal Machines and Masculine Embodiment." Science, Technology & Human Values 27(4): 460-478. Mellstrom, U. (2003). Masculinity, Power and Technology: A Malaysian Ethnography. Hampshire, England, Ashgate Publishing Limited. Morgan, D., Ed. (1996). Icons of American Protestantism: The Art of Warner Sallman. New Haven, Yale University Press. Morgan, D. (1998). Visual Piety: A History and Theory of Popular Religious Images. Berkeley, University of California Press. Morgan, D. (1999). Protestants and Pictures: Religion, Visual Culture, and the Age of AMerican Mass Production. New York, Oxford University Press. Morgan, D. and S. Promey, Eds. (2001). The Visual Culture of American Religions. Berkeley, University of California Press. Nasr, S. H. (1993). The Need for a Sacred Science. Albany, NY, SUNY. Noble, D. F. (1992). A world without women : the Christian clerical culture of Western science. New York, Knopf. Noble, D. F. (1997). The Religion of Technology: The Divinity of Man and the Spirit of Invention. New York, Penguin Books. Palmer, R. E. (1969). Hermeneutics: Interpretation Theory in Schlieiermacher, Dilthey, Heidegger, and Gadamer. Evanston, Northwestern University Press. Procter-Smith, M. (1990). In Her Own Rite: Constructing Feminist Liturgical Tradition. Nashville, Abingdon Press. Productions, L. D. (2002). Fresh Out of the Box: Volume 1. Abingdon Press, Nashville. Restivo, S. P. (1994). Science, society, and values : toward a sociology of objectivity. London, Lehigh University Press ; Associated University Presses. Ricoeur, P. (1974). The Conflict of Interpretations: Essays in Hermeneutics. Evanston, Northwestern University Press. Riddell, M. (1998). Threshold of the Future. London, SPCK. Ruether, R. R. (1983). Sexism and God-Talk: Toward a Feminist Theology. Boston, Beacon Press. Ruether, R. R. (2002). Gender, ethnicity, and religion : views from the other side. Minneapolis, MN, Fortress Press. Sample, T. (1998). The Spectacle of Worship in a Wired World: Electronic Culture and the Gathered People of God. Nashville, Abingdon Press. Sharp, L. (1952). "Steel axes for stone-age Australians." Human Organization: Journal of the Society for Applied Anthropology 11(2): 17-22. Slaughter, M. (1998). Out on the Edge: A Wake-Up Call for Church Leaders on the Edge of the Media Reformation. Nashville, Abingdon Press. Spender, D. (1995). Nattering on the net : women, power, and cyberspace. North Melbourne, Vic., Spinifex Press. Stout, D. A. and J. M. Buddenbaum (2001). Religion and popular culture : studies on the interaction of worldviews. Ames, Iowa, Iowa State University Press. Sweet, L. (1998). 11 Genetic Gateways to Spiritual Awakening. Nashville, Abingdon Press.

Sweet, L. (1999a). Aqua Church: Essential Leadership Arts for Piloting Your Church in Today's Fluid Culture. Loveland, Colorado, Group. Sweet, L. (1999b). Soul Tsunami: Sink or Swim in the New Millennium Culture. Grand Rapids, Michigan, Zondervan Publishing House. Sweet, L. (2000). Soul Salsa: 17 Surprising Steps for Godly Living in the 21st Century. Grand Rapids, Zondervan. Wajcman, J. (1991). Feminism Confronts Technology. University Park, PA, The Pennsylvania State University Press. Weber, R. N. (1999). Manufacturing Gender in Military Cockpit Design. The Social Shaping of Technology. D. MacKenzie and J. Wajcman. Buckingham, Open University Press: 372381. White, J. F. (1967). The Worldliness of Worship. New York, Oxford University Press. White, J. F. (1971). New Forms of Worship. Nashville, Abingdon Press. White, J. F. (1976). Christian Worship in Transition. Nashville, Abingdon Press. White, J. F. (1980). Introduction to Christian Worship. Nashville, Abingdon Press. White, J. F. (1989). Protestant Worship: Traditions in Transition. Louisville, Westminister/ John Knox Press. White, J. F. (1992). Documents of Christian Worship: Descriptive and Interpretive Sources. Louisville, Westminister John Knox Press. White, J. F. (1993). A Brief History of Christian Worship. Nashville, Abingdon Press. White, S. J. (1994). Christian Worship and Technological Change. Nashville, Abingdon Press. Wilson, L. (1999). The Wired Church: Making Media Ministry. Nashville, Abingdon Press. Wilson, L. and J. Moore (2002). Digital Storytellers: The Art of Communicating the Gospel in Worship. Nashville, Abingdon Press. Winner, L. (1977). Autonomous Technology: Technics-out-of-Control as a Theme in Political Thought. Cambridge, MIT Press. Winner, L. (1980). "Do Artifacts Have Politics?" Daedalus 109: 121-36. Winner, L. (1986). The Whale and the Reactor: A Search for Limits in an Age of High Technology. Chicago, The University of Chicago Press. Winner, L. (1992a). "Citizen Virtues in a Technological Order." Inquiry : an interdisciplinary journal of philosophy and the social sciences 35(3-4): 341. Winner, L. (1992b). "The Stalinist model of industrialization--huge is beautiful--has saddled the former Soviet Union with an oppressive technological legacy." Technology review 95(4): 74-74. Winner, L. (1992c). "Workplace democracy is advancing as "participatory design"--the shaping of technology by those who will use it--improves productivity and gains respect." Technology review 95(8): 68-69. Winner, L. (1993a). "As U.S. companies get leaner and meaner, an unwelcome side effect--a decline in the country's once-strong spirit of cooperation--needs to be remedied." Technology review 96(8): 68-69. Winner, L. (1993b). "In renegotiating the basic social contract with science, let's ask citizens to debate what effective research does for them and where public funding ought to be headed." Technology review 96(4): 65-65. Winner, L. (1993c). "Social Constructivism. Opening the Black Box and Finding it Empty." Science as culture 3(3): 427. Winner, L. (1993d). "Technology Reweaves the Fabric of Society. There's no "National Money Pump" to make it all work." The education digest 59(3): 27.

Winner, L. (1993e). "To help solve the nation's problems, the Clinton administration may spend billions of dollars wooing "symbolic analysts"--a high-tech elite that has shown little sustained interest in anything but itself." Technology review 96(2): 65-65. Winner, L. (1993f). "Upon Opening the Black Box and Finding it Empty: Social Constructivism and the Philosophy of Technology." Science, Technology & Human Values 18(3). Winner, L. (1995). "The Enduring Dilemmas of Autonomous Technique." Bulletin of science, technology & society 15(2-3): 67 (6 pages). Winner, L. (1996a). "Durango Declarations Forum Commentary." The Information Society 12, no 1: 81. Winner, L. (1996b). "The Gloves Come Off: Shattered Alliances in Science and Technology Studies." Social text 14(1-2): 81 (12 pages). Winner, L. (1996c). "Who Will We Be in Cyberspace?" The Information Society 12, no 1: 63. Winner, L. (1997a). "Cyberlibertarian Myths and the Prospects for Community." Computers & society 27(3): 14 (6 pages). Winner, L. (1997b). "Technology." Bulletin of science, technology & society 17(1): 1 (2 pages). Winner, L. (1997c). "Technology Today: Utopia or Dystopia?" Social research 64(3): 989 (30 pages). Winner, L. (1998). "The Culture of Technology." MIT's technology review 101(2): 62 (1 pages). Winner, L. (2000). "The Voluntary Complexity Movement." Science as Culture 9, no 1: 103. Winner, L. (2003). "Design as an Arena of Choice." The International journal of engineering education 19(1): 6 (3 pages). Winner, L. and Society for Philosophy and Technology (U.S.) (1992). Democracy in a technological society. Dordrecht ; Boston, Kluwer. Winner, L., R. M. White, et al. (1996). "Reforming the Reformers." Technology review 99(2): 55 (7 pages).