Paul Clark on "Media and Worship - Careful Consideration"

My friend, Paul Clark, has a great article on his blog regarding media and worship that is worth reading. Here's just a snippet:

Lest you think I am just a non-comformist, old fashioned stick-in-the-mud who refuses to keep up, I am, after all, writing this on a blog, ok?  Twenty years ago none of us had ever heard of the term, “blog.”  Give me a little credit here.  This is not some kind of a “burn your cellphone” rant.  Rather, my appeal to the church is for us to think about the implications, ramifications, and long-term impact upon our culture of these “advances” and more particularly, I would call for serious consideration of how embracing their use affects our worship, and how it might impact the spiritual lives of the worshipers.  Certainly, very careful evaluation as to how technology effects worship when it is used in the gathered worship event itself must be a concern for church leadership.  The field of media ecology has evolved into a field of study of which more Christian leaders, and particularly worship ministry leaders, must take note. 

[...]

I am not necessarily advocating an abandonment of technological devices in our gathered worship.  Like anyone I could provide a significant list of ways technology can and does contribute to the worship environment.  What I am positing is a need for prayerful, careful consideration of any and all technologically induced and produced materials in worship.

To read the entire article, click here.

And for those of you in and around Jackson, Tennessee, you might be interested in joining us at First Baptist Church the next few Sunday nights as we consider how we should think about and use technology in appropriate ways as followers of Jesus Christ (including in worship).  We will be led by Dr. Ben Mitchell and Dr. Justin Barnard, and the topics for each night are listed below.

Following Christ in the Age of Twitter (with Ben Mitchell and Justin Barnard)

First Baptist Church | Jackson, TN

Sunday Nights at 5:00 PM

2/9    "Saved, Saved, Saved: Technology's Promise and Problems" - C. Ben Mitchell

2/16  "Gadgets @ Hearth & Home: Technology and Family Life" - Justin D. Barnard

2/23  "Help! I’m LinkedIn and My iPad is Driving Me Google" - C. Ben Mitchell

3/2    "PowerPoint Praise? Technology and Church Life" - Justin D. Barnard

Biblical and Theological Foundations of Worship

During Sunday evenings in September, we at First Baptist Church will be having a teaching series on The Biblical and Theological Foundations of Worship with guest speakers Paul Clark, David Dockery, Chris Mathews, and Ben Mitchell.  Each session will begin at 5:00 PM.  The schedule and topics are below:

September 8      Dr. Paul Clark, "Worship Renewal and Music Ministry"

September 15    Dr. David Dockery, "The History of Worship"

September 22    Dr. Chris Mathews, "Selecting the Songs We Won't Sing"

September 29    Dr. C. Ben Mitchell, "The Gospel and Worship" 

Audio will be made available on the church website for those unable to attend.   

Panel Discussion on "What Is the Mission of the Church?"

For those of you in and around Jackson, we at First Baptist Church are having a panel discussion this Sunday at 5:00PM related to the recent book, What Is the Mission of the Church? Making Sense of Social Justice, Shalom, and the Great Commission, by Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert.

Panelists include our own pastoral staff, as well as two of our church members who have served as pastors, Ben Mitchell and Todd Brady.  

For more information click here.

In Defense of Religious Liberty

One of our church members, Dr. Ben Mitchell, who serves as the Graves Professor of Moral Philosophy at Union University, was called on to testify before a Congressional Committee this past Thursday to defend religious liberty and freedom of conscience. The Congressional hearing was in response to the recent government ruling that requires religious institutions to provide contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs for their employees.

Ben did an excellent job of articulating the historical significance of religious liberty for Baptists, but he also made it explicitly clear that this is not just a Baptist issue (or a Roman Catholic issue).

We're thankful for the Lord's gifting of Ben and in preparing him for a moment such as this. May the Lord use Ben's efforts for the common good of all Americans.

To read more about this story and to watch a video of Ben's opening statement, click here.

A Sanctuary of Life

One of our church members, Ben Mitchell, preached yesterday morning as part of our celebration of Sanctity of Human Life Sunday (and did a wonderful job). He made a comment in his sermon that I believe is worth sharing and worth reflecting on:

The church is a sanctuary of life in a culture of death.

--Ben Mitchell