Wireless world, networked ministry: Part X of a series

By Rev. Rick King

Much is changing in the institutional church today, and the pandemic sped up the change in the past year and a half. This series of columns is based on the book “The Digital Cathedral,” by Rev. Keith Anderson, to expand our concept of Church beyond the bricks-and-mortar, exclusive-membership, financial and flesh-and-blood institution we’re used to, allowing God to birth the NEW reality, already underway in the world.

Since our main stained-glass window was repaired recently, I’ve been having conversations with several of our leaders about developing some kind of educational series on the window’s history and what the iconography in it means.

Over the years since it was installed, the main window in particular has stirred passionate reactions in people. It has a crucified Christ in it, which we don’t see a lot in Protestant churches, with the exception of Episcopal and some Lutheran churches.

So the window has passionate devotees as well as others who have a strong antipathy toward it, both because of the crucifixion scene and because the large amount of blue glass can make the sanctuary dark as well as beautiful.

So the window has passionate devotees as well as others who have a strong antipathy toward it, both because of the crucifixion scene and because the large amount of blue glass can make the sanctuary dark as well as beautiful.

But what if we learned the window’s history and what stories the images tell, along with the other windows on the north side of the sanctuary?

Keith Anderson relates his experience of visiting Washington National Cathedral with his mom, both as a young person and as an adult, to introduce what he calls the “cathedral approach” to faith formation. This approach is visual, immersive, and experiential. And whether we are primarily verbal people or visual ones, our learning about God is at least as much from what we see and experience, Sunday after Sunday and year after year.

Immersing ourselves in community experiences such as building a home altar for Día de los Muertos on Oct. 31, or a Habitat build, or choral singing, or a youth retreat, or dinner and play rehearsals, and others, shape how we understand God and neighbor through direct and multifaceted experiences.

Anderson quotes educators Douglas Thomas and John Brown, who point out that learning has never only been about absorbing information; it’s “a cultural and social process of engaging with the constantly changing world around us.” We encounter so much information every day that the real task is not remembering it, but making meaning out of it.

Thomas and Brown go on to differentiate between classrooms and learning environments (both indoors and outdoors), and teaching about the world versus learning through engagement within the world. This is why we use words like “faith formation” rather than “Christian education.” This is why Katie and I are looking for a different word than “Confirmation” for what happens in preparing young people and adults to take the next step into Christian community. Confirmation has school connotations such as boredom, requirements, and a lack of connection to real life.

Stained glass came about early in the Middle Ages because most believers couldn’t read and write, so a visual medium was best for communicating the stories of our faith. But immersion as a way of learning is not only visual, it’s also through shared experiences. If you want an example, think of our Epiphany or Mardi Gras events, or ask me about “Lent Madness” or “Ashes to Go.” Episcopal priest Tim Schenk calls these “stealth formation”—where the learning is so much fun, it feels more like a game than “education.”

Longtime youth ministry expert Dave Stone was fond of saying, “It’s a sin to bore a kid with the gospel.” Rethinking church in the moment we’re in now means taking this to hear for all ages.

What immersive or visual experiences have had an impact on you? I’d love to hear!