by Ellie Evans ('01)  (ellie848@hotmail.com)

“Signs, signs, everywhere signs…” or so the popular sixties song goes. The sign outside of the church on the corner used to have brick posts with an engraved cement sign displaying its name and date of establishment. Several years later the cement engraving was replaced with a glass covered sign that used removable letters. Some signs displayed service times while others held clichés and memorable sayings. Many churches still have these signs at the entrances of their facilities, but what will the next generation of signs look like?

While driving across town one might spot the movie theater sign that is computer programmed to rotate movie times and titles. Now gigantic billboards not only display one, but alternate between two and four advertisements. How will the church adapt to this technology or will the church even attempt it?

Over the years the church has not only had to update signs, but tackle many technological advancements as well in order to function in this age of technology. Although not all churches have the capabilities to advance as quickly as others do, most would agree that the church is a different place than it was ten years ago.

Church Worship Services
According to Alan Chamness, the “traditional” worship service is changing dramatically since the onset of technological advancement.

A 1970 graduate of Union, Chamness has served as the Minister of Music, Youth and Senior Adults at First Baptist Church, Henderson, Kentucky, for the past 29 years.

“Technology has replaced a lot of traditional elements. Some are things that I am not sure need to be changed, but technology has also enhanced worship to a great degree,” says Chamness. He has seen the transitions in worship styles and technological advancements first-hand since he has served in one church for such a long period of time. “We’ve gone from picking up a hymn book and singing a song to looking at lyrics on the wall or screen in worship,” Chamness points out.

Although he is a supporter of ‘keeping up with the times’ within the church, he warns that the church must be careful to give praise where praise is due.

“We still have to be convicted that God is the one to be praised and not computers,” he says. “Computers tend to emphasize the worship service itself and thinking ‘wow! look what they’ve done,’ while traditional services guide us to worshipping the One who we are supposed to be worshipping,” Chamness says.

Similar to the additions of PowerPoint to worship services for song selections is the way in which music is written. Chamness also serves as a hymn writer and uses computer pro-grams to write the notation. “It has replaced the note-setter of thirty years ago,” asserts Chamness, explaining that the programs designed to construct notation simplify the workload of music as a profession.

Members of Englewood Baptist Church in Jackson, Tenn., worship together on a
Sunday morning using PowerPoint and other technological aids.

Chamness also attributes much credit to the midi programs used for accompaniment. He says that the com-poser’s job is now much easier. When planning for a church musical or any-thing needing accompaniment, Chamness says he can easily make such choices as one flute or two.

Although technology has made the musician’s duties simpler, Chamness says musicians still have to have the basic training and skills. “Computers enhance what you do, but you still have to know the music you learn in school,” says Chamness.

Serving in a ministerial position as a youth pastor and with senior adults, Chamness says that the benefits of technology include the greater organization, quicker services and more expansive communication.

“When ministers can utilize technology to cut down on duties, we can spend more time on the street with people and doing ministerial work,” says Chamness.

According to Chamness, the difficulty and drawbacks of technology affect ministry when people lose con-tact with each other.

“Because of the television and video industries of the past we have been tied to a little box; now we are tied to another little box,” says Chamness. He is supportive of Internet churches and ministries, but says his main concern is still to create relation-ships with others. “I worry that we are replacing the tactile approach that Jesus had with a box or piece of machinery.”

From Chamness’ position in music, with youth and with senior adults, he believes advances in technology provide a checklist of where the church should be, but the church should remain watchful of where their money goes.

“People don’t think twice about spending $5000 on a new computer, but when asked to spend $5000 on a mission trip, people go ‘eek!’” though he points out that being watchful when it comes to money doesn’t mean that the church should neglect technology. “The world offers teenagers so much and the church is often short-changed because we don’t. We should provide Internet Bible studies and other technical interests – Satan appeals to our kids on this level all the time,” argues Chamness.

Music is not the only element of worship being influenced by technology, according to Union’s Executive Vice President, Michael Duduit. Duduit is also editor of Preaching, a professional journal for ministers, and he notes that pastors have adopted new technologies in their work of sermon and lesson preparation.

“Today it is becoming difficult to find a full-time pastor who isn’t using computer technology in his work – from drafting sermon notes with the word processor to using the Internet for researching sermon illustrations and ideas,” Duduit explains. “With streaming audio on many church web sites, a pastor can even sit in his office and listen to other great preachers from around the world.”

Missions
“Modern technology has impacted our mission program as much as almost anything else that has come along in a long time,” says Herbert Higdon (’50), whose daughter Nancy serves as a missionary with her family in Southeast Asia.

Thanks to the invention of the Internet and the widespread use of email, Higdon’s daughter Nancy (’78) and her husband Tommy Tucker (’79) and their children are able to correspond with him and his wife almost everyday.

“Instead of waiting weeks or even months to hear from them, we have almost instant communication, although we do have to take the 12 hour time difference into account,” says Higdon.

Higdon and his family do not use chat rooms for fear of revealing the Tuckers’ position as missionaries. Similarly, the family is careful to write in a coded language so nothing is said that might infringe on the Tuckers’ security.

In addition to email the Higdon’s have a digital camera and a microphone hooked up to their computer. They coordinate times with the Tucker’s and meet through the Internet. This allows each family to see and talk to each other at the same time. Higdon says that they use this infrequently because of the time delay in the transmission of the conversation and the twelve hour time difference.

The Higdon’s frequently use a program called “dial-a-pad” where the Tucker’s dial the Higdon’s telephone number on the Internet and it rings to the Higdon’s telephone. “Again, there is a time delay and communication is a little like a two-way radio in which you speak and then say ‘over’ to give them time to reply,” explains Higdon.

Higdon says that although they seldom use the telephone because of the extreme rates, they are members of the AT&T program where they pay $3 a month regardless if the service is used, and 45 cents per minute when they call. According to Higdon, this is less than half the rate if the Tucker’s were to call them from Southeast Asia.

“I don't know how families survived without email when their loved ones went away so far. I email my sister everyday and she emails the family almost every day. I even send email cards to the kids,” says Susan Hopper (‘81), Higdon’s other daughter and co-director of the Center for New Students at Union.

Technology has not only aided in communication between separated families, but has also “hastened globalization,” according to Suzanne Frost, director of student out-reach at Union and former prayer and advocacy coordinator for the International Service Corps of the International Mission Board.

Frost, a 1999 graduate of Union, saw this first hand when she lived in Africa for a year since her main duty was to communicate with prayer sup-porters who lived in North America, South America, Asia, Europe and Australia. “Fifteen years ago this would have been unheard of but distance and communication are no longer an issue in the twenty-first century,” says Frost.

This type of technology is just the beginning of what modern missionaries use. During her time overseas, Frost emailed a monthly prayer bulletin to supporters and helped develop prayer tools and advocacy pieces, all of which were designed on the lap top computer she took to Africa.

In order to distribute these literature pieces, Frost would burn the documents on recordable compact discs and send them to representatives from the church or organization. The organization would then be responsible for printing and distributing the information to others.

Frost also coordinated and led prayer walks. She said that email was most useful in arranging these visits. “I cannot imagine leading a group when my first communication with them would be when they stepped on foreign soil,” says Frost.

She would send a three-week prayer guide and Bible study related to the specific people group, cultural information, a packing guide and air-port and travel instructions prior to the group’s arrival.

Since Frost’s main objective was to mobilize prayer internationally for the specific people group in Africa, she doubts she could have accomplished her goals without modern technology. “I would wager that the obstacles would have been insurmountable,” says Frost.

“Technology is allowing more and more Christians, not just college students, to participate in God’s global purpose,” Frost says. She adds that technology is also advancing an aware-ness of missions and encouraging prayer.

“The development of virtual prayer walks on compact discs and websites with daily prayer updates allow Christians to be on the mission field waging war for the Gospel of Christ without ever leaving their home,” says Frost. “This mobilizes more and more Christians to pray for world evangelism.”