Postkiwi Duncan Macleod

Media Communication and Christian Community

Here’s the outline for the Media and Communication course I’m teaching at Trinity College, Brisbane, Monday July 6 to Thursday July 9. We have about 15 registered participants, most of whom are training for or are in ministry in the Uniting Church. Cost is $100 for auditing-only participants.

Monday July 6 - Media and the Gospel

Morning Session (9 - 12.30 am)

Opening worship experience exploring the death of John the Baptist using oral/aural expressions only, using music, story telling, silence, extempore prayer, call and response. Mark 6:14-29.

Introduction to Marshall McLuhan’s focus on Laws of Media, with reference to Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media. Read Shane Hipps on Laws of Media (Download excerpt).

Exploration of impact of print media on Christian faith, using Shane Hipps, The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture (download excerpt).

Afternoon Session (1.30 - 4 pm)

Exploration of electronic culture using Tex Sample, The Spectacle of Worship in a Wired World, Peter Horsfield, The Mediated Spirit. (Download Peter Horsfield, Theology, Church and Media)

Exploration of ambient approaches to learning, marketing and worship.

Tuesday July 7 - Communication and Community

Morning Session - Effective Communication ( 9 am - 12.30 pm)

Worship experience using printing, writing, speaking, exploring the metaphors of salvation in Ephesians 1:3-14.

Information Sharing, Semiotics, Cultural Texts, Community Building, Dialogue, Feedback loops.

Afternoon Session - Developing a Communication Plan (1.30 - 4 pm)

Mardi Lumsden, Communications Director, UCA Queensland Synod, on the Synod integrated communication plan, and on developing a local communication plan.

Wednesday July 8 - Local Media and Communication

Morning Session - Local Media (9 am - 12.30 pm)

Worship experience embedding visual media exploring Psalm 24.

Marketing and the Church - billboards, TV advertisements, Direct.

Phil Smith, ABC radio presenter, on hypothetical situations - relating to newspapers, magazines, radio and television. Proactive communication and crisis management.

Afternoon Session - Online Community (1.30 - 4 pm)

Online Church - using email, designing a web site, blogging, podcasting, videocasting, social networking.

Thursday July 9 - MultiSensory Worship & Ethics

Morning Session - Multi-sensory worship (9 am - 12.30 pm)

Multi-sensory worship experience, using 2 Samuel 6 (The return of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem).

Visual Arts, Film and the Church (a retrospective)

Exploring the concept of curator in worship experience, using The Prodigal Project, Kathy Kirkpatrick, Mike Riddell and Mark Pierson (Download Excerpt)

Afternoon Session - Ethics, Media and Communication (1.30 pm - 4 pm)

Exploration of principles for virtuous reality, using Quentin Schultze, Communicating for Life, and Habits of the High-Tech Heart: Living Virtuously in the Information Age.

Evaluation

Useful Reading

Understanding Media, the Extensions of Man, Critical Edition, Marshall McLuhan, Gingko Press, 2003. (Original edition was 1964)
The Mediated Spirit (CD ROM) Peter Horsfield, 2002
Introducing Cultural and Media Studies, a Semiotic Approach, Tony Thwaites, Lloyd Davis and Warwick Mules, Revised Edition, Palgrave, 2002
The Media & Communications in Australia, edited by Stuart Cunningham & Graeme Turner, Allen & Unwin, 2006
Belief in Media, Cultural Perspectives on Media and Christianity, Edited by Peter Horsfield, Mary E. Hess and Adan M. Medrano, Ashgate, 2004
Flickering Pixels: How Technology Shapes Your Faith, Shane Hipps, Zondervan 2009
The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture: How Media Shapes Faith, The Gospel and Church, Zondervan, 2005
Entertainment Theology, New-Edge Spirituality in a Digital Democracy, Barry Taylor, Baker Academic, 2008
A Matrix of Meaning: Finding God in Popular Culture, Craig Detweiler and Barry Taylor, Baker Academic, 2003
Reel Spirituality, Theology and Film in Dialogue, Robert K. Johnston, Baker Academic, 2000
Engaging Technology in Theological Education: All That We Can’t Leave Behind, Mary E. Hess, Rowman & Littlefield, 2005
Between Sacred and Profane: Researching Religion and Popular Culture, edited by Gordon Lynch, I.B. Tauris, 2007
Understanding Theology and Popular Culture, Gordon Lynch, Blackwell, 2005
Digital Storytelling: The Art of Communicating the Gospel in Worship, Len Wilson & Jason Moore, Abingdon 2002
The Prodigal Project, Mike Riddell, Mark Pierson, Cathy Kirkpatrick, SPCK, 2000

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