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Ecclesiology for a Digital Church: Theological Reflections on a New Normal
Heidi Campbell
SCM Press, 2022, 224pp, pbk. £40.
Easter 2024 was for many communities of faith and their
denominational leadership the first real test of post-pandemic
worship attendance. Although less directly mentioned, it was also
the first time for many that the COVID-19 experience was reviewed
as a historic event. Hence, the many developments related to
the practice of faith that many churches introduced during the
pandemic lockdowns have been discussed and integrated in some
form of post-pandemic in-person church.
Reviewing this collection of essays in the spring of 2024 should
take into consideration the fact that it was produced in a specific
historical context. The circumstances of most churches have
developed since then. It is to the advantage of this book that the
editors bring an established history of research on digital church,
which pre-dates the pandemic experiences of churches being forced
into such a form of gathering. As such, their decades of prior work
and insight offer a wealth of experience with which to approach the
topic. Heidi Campbell, Professor of Communication at Texas A&M
University, has cornered the area of online religion, publishing 12
books in the field of religion and digital media over the past 15
years. This includes focusing on aspects of theology insofar as they
relate to online faith, as well as to different aspects of network
and communication theory. John Dyer, as co-editor, comes to
the project as a seminary professor with a background in web
development.
Incorporating 12 chapters, the book is structured in three parts
with four essays each: first, they outline aspects of ecclesiology and
how churches generally interact with online components; second,
they discuss different aspects of online church as the practice was
developed during the pandemic; and third, a number of proposals
are offered relating to how aspects of digital communication can
play a part in the church of the future.
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