Three small ideas for screen-free church

Plus: the value of links, stop-motion medieval cats, and more

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A take I haven’t written elsewhere

Three small ideas for screen-free church

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In late October, we published an article from Brad East at CT that presented a vision for screen-free church. “Technology use requires discernment, spiritual and otherwise,” he argued. “Christians, especially evangelists and evangelicals, are quick to see potential uses to advance the gospel but slower to see the long-time formative impact of a technology on a community over time.”

You should go read it now, if you haven’t already—here’s an unlocked link—and then come back here.

As you should now know, it’s a big-picture piece largely attentive to why we would not want many or any screens in church and, specifically, involved in Sunday worship. The portion devoted to practical advice includes suggestions like not using smartphones while leading the service, not inviting congregants to “open up their Bible apps,” curtailing or eliminating video use, and refusing to treat consumption of a sermon livestream or podcast as equivalent to in-person attendance.

Yes to all that, but here I want to offer three smaller-scale addenda. They’re all church-centric but applicable to local institutions more widely, especially schools or any kind of broad community organization that might plausibly seek to attract the involvement of children and old people.

First, never make QR codes the only (or only easy) way to access important information or events. This is inspired by news that the freshly reopened Notre Dame Cathedral reportedly denied entry to those without a QR code, including those there to pray more than gawk.