What CHURCH is becoming

The parishioners at Our Lady of Good
Counsel in Plymouth are rarely far from
the word of God — or each other.
Besides a website that links to a blog and
podcasts, the Catholic church has a
YouTube channel, a Facebook page as
well as Twitter and Instagram accounts. It
even has its own newly developed
smartphone app that shares homilies and
bulletins.
“We’re really at the forefront of this push
for the new evangelization,” said the Rev.
Steve Mateja, associate pastor. “We really
have to reach everyone where they’re at.
… We know technology is one of the great
ways.”
From scrolling through sacred texts on
hand-held tablets during services to
heading online for spiritually centered
classes, members of religious
communities across Metro Detroit are
taking advantage of the latest technology
to enhance worship, learn about their faith
and conveniently observe centuries-old
traditions.
For the thousands turning to devices and
electronic connections, the thrust is less
about gaining digital dexterity than
capitalizing on a divine development.
“Digital gadgets and digital experiences
are built into the everyday rhythms of
people’s life, and the spiritual domain is
not an exception to this,” said Lee Rainie,
director of the Pew Research Center’s
Internet & American Life Project, which
tracks the social impact of technology
usage. “Places of spiritual worship now
use these tools to do things that have
always interested them, but they now
have new ways to show and participate in
that interest.”
Venues allowing worshippers to indulge
that interest include the Bible App by
YouVersion.
Keep up with the message
Attendees of Sunday services at the
nondenominational Life Bridge Church in
Taylor, which has noted substantial
growth attributed to its online presence,
are encouraged to bring their phones and
use the app to follow along with
Scriptures read, Internet pastor Bill Rice
said. “Unlike a lot of churches, we
encourage you to turn on your
cellphones.”
From her seat, member Lynsi Hoyt
regularly calls up the Bible app on her
purple-covered iPhone. “People use their
phones for everything — you could use
your phone to navigate your spiritual life,
as well,” the mother of three from Flat
Rock said. “I feel like I can keep up with
the message and what’s being taught
much better. … It actually helps me stay
on task more.”
California-based IslamiCity.com is hoping
to share the teachings of the Quran by
offering an iPod loaded with readings
from the Muslim holy text. The idea is to
help adherents follow prayers and recite
portions while traveling during holy
periods, CEO Mohammed Aleem said.
“People are able to actually use these
technologies to make sure they perform
their religious obligations in a much
easier way.”
The site also is developing an iBook to
learn the Arabic alphabet, which is
expected to aid Muslims as well as others,
Aleem said. “They’ll learn it much faster.”
In the Sikh community, followers often
take advantage of apps such as Gurbani
Anywhere, which can translate prayers
into English. “It is very useful and
innovative,” said Kabeer Singh, 18, a
college student from West Bloomfield
Township.
Sikhs also are aided during services at
their worship sites, known as gurdwaras,
with SikhiTotheMAX, a software that
projects onto screens translations and
transliterations of the Guru Granth Sahib
sacred text.
For youths and others needing help,
“apps and software definitely are playing
a huge role in the learning/understanding
of scriptures for Sikhs,” said Jasvir Singh,
who is active with the Sikh Society of
Michigan.
The Michigan Conference of the United
Church of Christ has also noted an uptick
in technological use — including social
media during services, said Campbell
Lovett, its conference minister. “It’s
definitely becoming more acceptable. ...
Maybe cellphones and tablets and some
of the new media are this generation’s
new stained glass: ways we tell a story.”
Some experts consider the trend another
way for religious communities to remain
as modern as their devotees.
“Today, churches and religions are
challenged to find the appropriate
metaphors to maximize the new
opportunities that media presents and
come to terms with a fundamental shift in
reading practices that digitality has
brought about,” said Daniel Ramirez, an
assistant professor of North American
religious history at the University of
Michigan.
Students' comfort level
That’s why leaders at Temple Israel in
West Bloomfield opted to link fourth-
graders in its Hebrew school with an
online program through ShalomLearning,
an education services company. Besides
one day a week of classroom instruction,
students can learn language basics on a
tablet, iPad or other device in their own
time, said Rabbi Arianna Gordon, the
synagogue’s director of education and
lifelong learning.
“That’s where their comfort level is,” she
said. “It’s how they’re learning … and it’s
how they’re being trained to learn.”
Molly Weisberg, 9, of Milford, said she
enjoys mastering “shin” and other
Hebrew letters as quickly as possible. “I
think it’s good because now I don’t have
to rush through things … I can just do it at
my own speed.”
The convenience of online education
inspired Chris Yaw of St. David’s
Episcopal Church in Southfield to form a
team that developed churchnext.tv. The
website, which debuted in August, allows
individuals and congregations to take
more than 30 Christian-centered courses
— including “How to Take a Sabbath” and
“The Presbyterian Tradition” — by
themselves or in groups.
More than 200 congregations have
enrolled so far, Yaw said. “I think this is
just where the church is going,” he said.