postmodernbible

Methodist Church and Communion Mediated through Social Media #methodistconf

Ironically tomorrow at either end of the day the Methodist Church will do two things:

1.    around 9.15am LIVESTREAM the Conference Communion Service - presumably so that Methodists across the country can feel some solidarity with those who are in Southport, can join with them in Worship.

2.    around 4.30pm Debate a report which says such social presence in not fully possible unless you are physically present with those celebrating communion.

 

I have already sent out a couple of posts on this subject.

Some initial thoughts and a video

Some further thoughts and a reading list

AND 

David Wynd has written an amazingly thoughtful piece: Draw near by faith

 

The Methodist Conference is debating Communion mediated by Social Media. It is recommended the following:

'The Faith and Order Committee recommends that the Conference adopt the policy that presbyters and other persons authorised to preside at the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper may not be permitted to use electronic means of communication, such as the internet or videoconferencing, in order to invite those not physically present at the celebration of the sacrament to participate by using their own communion bread and wine.'

This leaves little leeway. 

In my thinking the ONLY justification is concerning presidency which is a matter of Church Order. I think this argument stands as long as Methodist polity of presbyteral presidency stands. As such, I would need to reluctantly abide by this ruling if it was passed. But if I was in the Conference, I would have to ask for the report to be sent back to F&O for reconsideration because of the issues relating to the other arguments, which are used to support this.  I think they fall away pretty easily.

I don't think physical presence is the issue. I think that sufficient social presence is possible through social media to recognise the body of Christ in different locations at the same time. Solidarity does not mean you need to be physically present to each person you are in solidarity with. Most of all, I think the focus on physical presence could be used to argue that we cannot have solidarity with Christ or with the Church Triumphant. 

But you know this.

As such, I'm joining those who wish to offer some form of digital dissent:

Will you be tweeting the picture too? Add the hashtag #methodistconf or the twitter handle @methodistgb

Pete

#Methodistconf and Social Presence Online - some reading? #asrequested

So I was also asked to put together some suggested reading for people who want to look at social presence through online engagement.

I've put together a starting list - although sadly without reference to the books scattered all over my office in Durham. I'll need to upgrade it when I get to the office later in the week.

Of course, where do you start? The idea that Social Presence online is a debateable thing kind of doesn't make sense to me. Of course we can engage online and have meaningful community. Of course being physically present is richer. But being fully present can also be overwhelming and manipulative and completely disempowering as well. Social presence isn't limited to embodied presence.

God, Jesus, Paul all know this - the great theologians and mystics, every Christian who believes that Jesus dwells within their hearts. That latter isn't an embodied presence as if a little Jesus sits inside a hermetically sealed chamber within your upper right atrium (that's Pixar's Inside Out you're thinking of). If we can know Jesus' social presence both in mystical union and in the breaking of bread and wine, we should be guessing that human psychology does not need embodied presence to afford social meaningful presence to one who is absent in terms of physicality.

Isn't that kind of basic?

Download Social Presence Resources

Anyway, here is the list. I wonder what one book you would add to it to strengthen it. I am more than aware that I have focussed on secular digital literature rather than run around the houses with the theological literature.

Cheers

Pete 

Methodism debates Twitter Communion - Initial Reflections #methodistconf

Over the next week, the Methodist Church in Great Britain is holding its conference in Southport. One item on the agenda is Communion Mediated Through Social Media. The Report is Here. This story was picked up (with a quote or two from me) in Christianity Today recently - and David Wilkinson and I have done a brief video on the subject before the report was available for scrutiny:

 

The report broadly proposes rejecting such celebrations of the central liturgical act of the Church. The reasons are threefold – community, presidency and virtuality. But the key controversial section of the report for many is the query about whether you can have social presence online.  The committee who wrote the final report is saying it wants to explore this further.

As part of the preparation of the report, I was asked to submit some thoughts on the subject as a representative of CODEC.  So I have decided since I retain the copyright and intellectual property rights on the piece I wrote and because there is not much left of my comments in the final report, that I would make it more available.

So here it is…

Can we ‘do’ Communion Mediated by Social Media” – or as the original memorial asked:"he practice of celebrating Holy Communion with dispersed communities via live, interactive media such as the Internet or video-conferencing"

My point is not that Holy Communion mediated by social media cannot be a valid celebration, or a significant corporate act of worship, but simply that within Methodist doctrine on Holy Communion it cannot be done – presbyteral Presidency stops us performing multi-local communion.  It’s all about procedure and church order (the only reason we hold to presbyteral presidency) and not about theology at all.  The theology both of community across multiple locations and of social presence across multiple locations and multiple modes of embodiment (or not) has been well rehearsed over the years and certainly well within reach of contemporary conversations about a Mission-shaped Church.

We need to hold in mind that the Faith and Order Committee has severely limited the remit of the report by moving away from the original Memorial (a broad definition of translocational Holy Communion) to a narrower idea of social media mediated communion, indeed even to Communion on Twitter.

The original memorial  from the South East District asked the following question:

The South East District Synod requested the Conference to instruct the Faith and Order Committee to form a policy regarding the practice of celebrating Holy Communion with dispersed communities via live, interactive media such as the Internet or video-conferencing.

In this form of remote communion, a minister in one location would be permitted to preside over a celebration of Holy Communion with a gathered group of fellowshipping believers consisting of groups or individuals residing in disparate locations who provide their own elements to be blessed by the person presiding

The attached document represents some of my initial thoughts.

The key  question is the validity of social presence online.  The report has this rather crazy (IMHO) sentence (para 29):

However, social presence is only fully possible in a physical, embodied encounter in which people establish a relationship in numerous ways through verbal and non-verbal communication. 

Sociologically, pyschologically, anthropologically, theologically, digitally, relationally - that sentence cannot make sense. Letter-writing? Friendships? Long-distance relationships? Faith? Families connected by blood rather than by distance? This is just so wrong. 

This is the key problem with the report that if the section on social presence being limited to embodied presence is passed, then it would seem to be both counter-biblical and counter-theological.  Remember that Paul said he could be present in Spirit not body - proper, influential, social disembodied presence (Colossians 2:5, 1 Corinthians 5:3) and Jesus said he was with us always (Matthew 28:20).

Indeed, if we argue that there can be no experience of social presence without the direct physical presence of the being with whom we are in social engagement, then I wonder whether we blow apart the whole concept of religion in any case.  A reductio ad absurdum argument - but isn't that what the current report suggests?

Pete

Download Communion mediated through social media Initial Thoughts