Today’s house of worship has become an amalgam of office buildings and event centers, which may explain the blossoming movement for the “Screen-Free Church.” Christianity Today’s Brad Easy wrote a comprehensive editorial on a “Vision for Screen-Free Church” to explain how some places of worship may want to consider getting people’s heads off the projectors and eyes back in the Bible.
He writes, “The greatest threat facing the church today is not atheism or secularism, scientism or legalism, racism or nationalism. The greatest threat facing the church today is digital technology.”
From the outside, larger churches feature modern architecture, sleek sightlines, and a host of LED lights that greet passers-by. Sometimes, it’s too much. For many, that is a welcome addition that showcases how current churches can be. However, for others, the removal of a cross, stained-glass windows, and the steeples of old are missed because those created the landmarks of yesterday.
On the inside of these contemporary cathedrals are the familiar seats, stages, and lecterns of the pulpit, but they do appear more like soundstages and concert halls rather than a gathering place for God’s people to meet. While those modern conveniences are welcomed by many, the gigantic projection screens are the focal point of this groundswell of attention in Christendom.
Since the turn of the century, inquiries and online suggestion boxes have been teeming with wishes for the church to “get back to the basics,” which is code for “the days before Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and movie screens hanging from the wall.” What’s all the fuss? Is it about tradition? Do people miss holding a hymnal during worship? Does it enable everyone who forgets their Bibles (or doesn’t use one at all)?
The answer is all of those, and for some, none.
What Happened to the “Church” in America?
The historic Cathedral at Notre Dame (Image Credit: Ricardo Almagro via Pexels)
Theologians and historians alike believe the first Christian church was the Cenacle in Jerusalem, which was the location of the Last Supper. It was Jesus and his 12 disciples huddled around a table on top of a clay floor. There were no stained glass windows with cherubs, no spires reaching toward the heavens, no church bells ringing at sundown, none of it. Yet, because of its ornate splendor, Gothic architecture was romanticized as “the look of the church.”
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
Technically, a church is anywhere two or more people want it to be—a picnic table in the park or standing in its parking lot. “Church” comes from the Greek word ekklesia, which means “the called out ones.” The grammar of the word is plural—”kaleo” (to call) and “ek” (out). The building is not the church; it’s about the people.
America is home to approximately 2,000 megachurches (defined as a pre-pandemic attendance of 2,000 or more). Today’s churchgoers have become more accustomed to the convention center/sports complex/office complex appeal than the place of the Old Rugged Cross. Yet, it wasn’t until churches began adopting the massive electronic backgrounds that clamoring for screen-free churches began.
East goes on to quote Marshall McLuhan, a revered Canadian philosopher whose teachings have helped shape media theory. He believed that “subliminal and docile acceptance of [forms of media] has made them prisons without walls for their human users.” Is that what’s happening in today’s church? Is that why we need a “screen-free movement”?
Most Christians wanting screen-free churches are in the more traditional denominations, such as Lutheran, Wesleyan, Episcopalian, or Catholic. Removing the screen from the wall of the sanctuary welcomes back the church’s “high mass” feel or the embracing of its ceremony and formal pageantry. Do they have a point? Is technology desensitizing churchgoers somehow? Are we so focused on the “pomp” that we miss the “circumstance?”
It depends on who you ask.
The Evolution of Our Celebration
Either way, both are praising God. (Image Credits from L to R: Ric Rodrigues, Luis Quintero via Pexels)
Since 1998, the National Congregations Study, facilitated by Duke University, has chronicled the sentiment of those church attendees. The surveys ask questions ranging from “Does your church still use hymnals, and how do you feel about that?” to “Does a megachurch create an open environment to worship?” Questions and answers vary over the years, including thoughts about screen-free churches or embracing a “digital detox.”
The U.S. Catholic Church thinks so. In 2021, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops began examining the issue and weighing whether to develop national guidelines for technology use during Mass. Monsignor Patrick Winslow, vicar general and chancellor of the diocese in Charlotte, North Carolina, spoke about this with when sparked the concern in digital distractions and began a movement of “screen-free churches” nationwide.
“It is important for sacramental reasons that people aren’t distracted during Mass, and that they are concentrating on what’s happening at the altar – not on words on a screen,” he said.
Digital screens are useful and can elevate a program or talk, and one of Bishop Jugis’ pastoral goals is to increase our digital evangelization,” Monsignor Winslow said. “Nonetheless, we also want to preserve the essence of the Mass as a holy celebration in which people participate fully in the Eucharistic sacrifice offered on the altar.”
Other churches see the wisdom of creating, what they are dubbing, “traditional services.” St. Andrew Methodist Church, which hosts approximately 7,000 members from Plano, Texas, an affluent suburb of Dallas. The church, which actually disaffiliated with the national UMC in 2022, continues to uphold traditional services today.
“Our new traditional service along with expanded programming will help us serve our growing congregation with multiple, outstanding options for worship and ways for all ages to enjoy fellowship and find community,” said Rev. Arthur Jones, senior pastor, St. Andrew Methodist Church. “Establishing a Sunday morning traditional service in the Hasley Chapel was one of our goals following its construction, and it is exciting to see it become a reality.”
Is it necessary? Is the informality of the Church the fault of technology or the user? In 2009, Daniel Terdiman, a senior writer at CNET, wrote about “Technology and the Megachurch.” In the article, Terdiman writes about a road trip he took to a 10,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado to speak to its lead pastor, Brady Boyd. He asked Boyd about the importance of technology during service, which touched upon social media, Bible apps, and even the larger-than-life monitors. Even amid the rising curiosity about how technology could either enable or inhibit church service, Boyd said this:
“Churches have to stay current. We’re in the communications business. The whole purpose of a church is to communicate a message of truth….We have to stay informed and realize that most of the world is rapidly advancing in their ability to communicate.”
He continued his point and referenced pastors caught in the middle of this emotional tug-of-war between holding on to the traditional and moving on to the contemporary.
Pastors have to embrace this,” he said. “It’s a generational gap. A lot of pastors over the age of 50 cannot embrace it, and they have stopped advancing with the culture. I think it’s a mistake.”
What is the core purpose of having a church? Paul said it best:
You’ll remember, friends, that when I first came to you to let you in on God’s sheer genius, I didn’t try to impress you with polished speeches and the
When it’s an intimate moment between us and Jesus, this is all that matters. (Image Credit: StockSnap via Pixabay)
latest philosophy. I deliberately kept it plain and simple: first Jesus and who he is; then Jesus and what he did—Jesus crucified.
The rest of it is window dressing, really. There are compelling arguments to go back to screen-free churches, but there are compelling people who have been saved and set free in a more modern facility among all the bells and whistles. Much like with anything, there are benefits and disadvantages to the overwhelming power of technology in church. Yet, if the message isn’t about what Jesus did and Him crucified, no projection screen–or lack thereof–will win a soul to Heaven.
Only the Spirit of God can do that. And, as we have seen numerous times before, Jesus is compelling enough to do it on a screen, with a hymnal, by the altar, or in your heart.
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