How The iPad Will Impact The Church
Credit: USA Today
In one of the most anticipated announcements in tech-world memory, Steve Jobs introduced the Apple iPad yesterday. Some have called it a game changer, while others have looked at it as simply a large itouch. Still others have suggested we wait until iPad 2.0, where we will possibly get a camera, multitasking, and annotation with ibooks. Regardless of the perspective, the online world was abuzz with what the iPad might mean for particular spheres of cultural practice. Against my better judgement, I thought I would weigh in on some possibilities the iPad might afford or limit in regard to the church.
What will the impact of the iPad be on church practice? My focus is not so much on how the iPad will impact Christians — I suspect that it will impact individual Christians not so differently from their religious and non-religious counterparts. My question is how will it impact Christians when “two or three gather in Jesus name”, either online or offline. What will be the impact when Christians congregate?
Christians gather in a myriad of ways, whether that be in worship services in physical locations, in online experiences such as in SecondLife, or in Internet campuses that mix offline and online characteristics, to name a few. Christians also meet to pray, in small groups (as small as two or three) or in large groups; they sometimes gather physically together, sometimes on the phone, and sometimes through tweets or text messages. Christians meet to study God’s word, often in church buildings, homes, or in online discussion groups. Christians meet simply to connect and grow deeper in relationship, and this happens both physically and virtually. Finally, Christians also perform mission and witness together, through serving others in their local community, globally, or in online environments.
Steve Jobs introduced the iPad as a bridge between the smart phone and the laptop — seeking to meet (create?) a need that can’t be met in either iPod touch or the MacBook environments. Given that focus, what church practices cited above might be changed with the introduction of the iPad, practices that couldn’t be addressed with either the iPod touch (mobile device) or the MacBook (heavy-duty computing device)?
I see smart phones continuing to facilitate the connections of many Christians on a daily basis. People will update their Facebook status or provide tweets to their followers; they might ask for prayer or encourage one another through texting. I see Christian teachers and worship leaders using laptops or iPhones to present their messages to either their Bible studies or congregations. In mission, I see Christians using both iPhones and computers to communicate their message and serve those outside their communities. So, if both offline and online communities have the technology they need to gather in Jesus’ name, both online and off, where is there space for the iPad to have an impact on church life?
I believe the greatest impact the iPad (1.0) will have on church practice is in the role the Bible plays in the church community. For many Christians, bringing their Bible to a church service and following along with the preacher is a staple of church practice. A few have replaced this practice with following along on a mobile device with Bible software. However, these mobile devices do not have the screen size to sustain long term reading. It is still much easier to read a physical Bible. On the other end of the spectrum, bringing a laptop to church is a bit distracting to others in the pews! Here is where the iPad may have its greatest impact for Christian gatherings: Christians bring their iPad to church meetings where it serves as their Bible reader.
Not only do I see e-readers like the iPad replacing traditional Bible reading in churches, but in Bible reading for individuals as well. With each new version of Bible software on the iPad (and there are many iPhone app versions ready to go), the tools and the resources will make Bible reading on an e-reader an even greater learning opportunity (using sound, image, video, etc). Down the road, congregants will bring their Bibles, chock-full of resources, notes, and conversations, to the church service or Bible study for further exploration, all on a unit that is one half-inch thick and weighing 1 1/2 pounds. They will also take notes on the sermon with the unit as well. Many see the main significance of the iPad as an e-reader; at this point in its evolution I would agree, and in looking at church practice, it is the public reading of the Bible where the iPad will have its greatest impact.
In the longer term, I would see the iPad’s impact on churches will result in greater participation by congregants in the church services themselves. This greater level of participation is related to the large scale movement in the culture towards the creation and sharing of Web 2.0 media. The iPad is a media-consuming device, a device that can be easily shared with others. Ultimately it will have a democratizing effect on groups — serving to move groups towards more participatory frameworks and knowledge sharing. It is conceivable that the iPad may facilitate the possibility for more varied contributions in Christian gatherings, as individuals share their media-rich gifts with others. However, for many communities this is not yet on the horizon and the more immediate changes will involve the role of the Bible in the church community.
Well, these are some of my first impressions of the impact on church life by the iPad. There is much more that can be said, of course. For one, I have not explored the socio-economic implications of the congregational use of the iPad, e.g. if we determine as a community that the iPad is a good, how do we guarantee everyone in the congregation access, etc. Also, the fact that in many parts of the world the iPad is a distant dream because of its sheer cost. These questions will be for a later day or someone else to add to the conversation.
What do you think might be some of the biggest changes on church life initiated by the iPad?
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Add 2/2/2010 — if I see other websites with ideas, I’ll add trackbacks…
http://www.hostmedic.com/admin/uncategorized/ipads-place-in-ministry/
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Not only will the iPad show up in traditional, weekly church services as a “replacement” for the Bible, I think that because it seems to easily facilitate accessing the internet (via 3G and WiFi), we can expect to see web surfing during sermons, much like some students do in class with their laptops. (Not me of course.)
I don’t think this will necessarily be a bad thing. Like in class, internet access means instant cross referencing and fact checking with what is being said. It means instant bookmarking of sources. It means instant sharing of information. It will only be bad if people are distracted and not more engaged.
In the long run, I think it will mean that sermon form will change to better fit how people are engaging with what is being said from the pulpit.
Comment by elijah — January 28, 2010 @ 5:04 pm
I hope you are right. Did you see Set Godin’s blog on the ‘vook’ for the iPad? I think something like that could make a whole industry out of making the classics from the Christian tradition live. What if you were reading Richard of St. Victor and videos from various contemporary teachers are there helping you make connections or you are reading Newbign and Ryan Bolger is there telling stories about how this missiology is taking shape in churches in the present!!
Comment by tripp fuller — January 28, 2010 @ 9:36 pm
Ryan,
thanks so much for these thoughts…I am drawn to the idea of increased participation and connectedness…however, my fears about all this center on the unanswered questions (to which I have no definitive answers) with which you conclude…I also wonder to what extent the iPad is just the latest example of consumerism plaguing our culture…we can sufficiently do all the things that you attribute positively to the iPad with devices that already exist…many of which we don’t even “need” at this point…thanks again for some thoughtful reaction to all the tech hype
Comment by Parker — January 28, 2010 @ 9:51 pm
Thanks for being the first blog I’ve come across asking about the iPad’s impact on church practice. Excellent question and we’ve yet to behold all the possibilities. I appreciate your thoughtful first impressions. I do see with increasing frequency illuminated faces via the glow of smartphones accessing preferred Bible readers. Will people still bring a printed Bible to worship or any gathering in the near future? Many in my congregation already don’t. I can foresee Scripture readers standing at the pulpit iPad in hand proclaiming the word of God. It might even be easier for me as a speaker to use a iPad instead of physical notes. The iPhone is too small for that. There’s countless applications that I won’t divulge here but I’m definitely interested in discovering the socio-economic implications along with you. I’d love to eventually see iPads or clones become affordable and available for anyone.
Comment by LT — January 28, 2010 @ 10:25 pm
Thanks for the link to your article. I think you’ve obviously put a lot more thought into this than I have, but you’re spot on.
Comment by Aaron — January 29, 2010 @ 1:00 am
[...] RyanBolger.com » How The iPad Will Impact The Church http://www.ryanbolger.com/?p=193 – view page – cached Filed under:Church, Web/Tech — posted by Ryan Bolger on January 28, 2010 @ 4:13 pm [...]
Pingback by Twitter Trackbacks for RyanBolger.com » How The iPad Will Impact The Church [ryanbolger.com] on Topsy.com — January 30, 2010 @ 8:13 am
For me the biggest impact is no more printing sermon notes!
Comment by Guy — February 1, 2010 @ 2:38 pm
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by rbolger: Wrote a few thoughts down on how the Apple iPad might impact churches… http://www.ryanbolger.com/?p=193...
Trackback by uberVU - social comments — February 3, 2010 @ 5:36 am
Sorry for the late response folks — I didn’t realize my comments were not turned ‘on’…
Elijah – I believe you are right — it will ‘decenter’ the service, connect us with those outside (and inside) the community in new ways. A big issue will be the shifts of authority — leadership as guides rather than funnels of new information.
Tripp — hadn’t heard that — wow — not only can we be more connected globally, but historically — that is really mind-blowing…
Parker — I see your concerns about consumerism — we are awash in it — question is — how might we use whatever we have, in our culture now, to glorify God? This is part of a bigger discussion on consumerism, but I think the idea that we can remain outside of its influence will prove illusory — this is not to negate our actions/responses, but it gives us a more sober starting point, working from what we have…
LT — I agree, if congregations really believe that these tools are beneficial to the community, then looking to purchase these for each other may be a wise thing down the road — not too different than the one laptop per child program (which will probably shift to mobile phones as well).
No more sermon notes — now there is something to celebrate.
Thanks again for pushing the conversation forward — will be interesting to watch and see…
Comment by Ryan Bolger — February 3, 2010 @ 12:22 pm
There’s this App for the iPad called Bible HD
and it feature 41 translations in 22 languages.
IMHO the impact will be readers will not be constrained to a single version of the Bible, soon they would be able to switch back and forth to a version and see the difference.
source: http://www.machoe.com/3762/the-ipad-bible-hd-app-is-just-in-time-for-black-saturday.html
Comment by Joenel Umal — April 2, 2010 @ 10:28 am
I’d prefer that iPads not appear during a church service, it is all too easy to be distracted from what the priest is saying, then by the time you have gotten back to listening, you have probably missed something important.
However, as a means of viewing material outside of mass, at a ’study’ group (Cells group etc) they would be a lot less intrusive than a laptop, because when they are laid down flat on a table (material still readable on them) they all but disappear when it comes to looking at, and talking to other participants. With a laptop, it has to be either off to one side, or you have to constantly open and close the screen so it does not get in the way.
I use an iPod during gatherings to play recorded talks by our parish priest (on speakers for all to hear), but then have to shuffle papers – the iPad would reduce the clutter.
Comment by Paul Subbs — April 8, 2010 @ 9:51 am