Church in 2025 - apps, QR codes, and prayer requests

 

Several notes while visiting the venue for art exhibits hosted at a Protestant Church 9/2025 zip 49503

Many churches and their people take seriously the principle to be "in the World but not of the World." So it is not surprising to see similar features of everyday commerce, consumerism, and confusion experienced outside of church now to be applied to the functions of social interaction, coordination, and communication inside the church life, too. These two photos near the entrance closest to the church parking lot show some of the video kiosk messages that cycle through the screen. Several colored highlights later added for this article point out additional notes about the scene visible here.

The lefthand photo shows the "How can we pray for you?" slide in ALL CAPITAL letters for legibility and emphasis (the visual equivalent of shouting or using an 'outdoor voice'). The smaller text explains that your requested concern or joy will go out to prayers of that week to repeat in their daily habit of saying prayers for self and others. The screen message in the righthand photo is about forms of giving money to the church so as to sustain its activities, staff, supplies and other costs. Church-goers can send money by postal delivery (by mail), online (secure website), by app (phone or tablet), or by using the physical Giving Boxes located inside the church building. The QR code in the lower left corner of the video screen is also transcribed as URL that one can type or dictate into a computer or portable device to see how each of the four methods of giving will be handled.

In the righthand photo there are a few other colored mark-ups. The lavender one above the video screen is a video surveillance recorder to monitor the entryway from the church office or maybe from administrator cellphones. In the event of some offense or trespass being committed within view of the lens, the recording allows replay and analysis by city police, for example. Just like real life outside of the church premises, there are good reasons to observe and record the entrance. And yet, it does seem to displace any illusions of innocence or trust among strangers as well as friends. The blue box toward the right edge of the image points to the coffee shop atmosphere in this socializing space adjacent to cooking facilities. Since food and fellowship go together very naturally, it makes sense that the church makes the food and drink one of the first impressions a visitor gets by entering through this doorway. No religious paraphernalia or references seem to be at hand there. The green circle at the midline of the composite image says, "Connect with Us" and has four spokes. These are business card-sized reminders of church groups one can readily fit into (left to right): Students, Support groups, Women, Life groups.

In summary, a generation or two earlier, before the widespread use of portable telecommunication and Internet services, church membership was face to face on worship days (usually wearing "church clothes" - something fancier than everyday wear) and sometimes also on other days of the week, depending on the groups one took part in. But in 2025 many of the various age groups are used to interacting with each other on computer or phone screens and so the boundary of church and non-church is blurrier: some non-church expectations and processes filter into church life. And perhaps the reverse also is true - some church routines and habits figure into one's thinking and reactions to things experienced away from the Body of Believers. With software so ingrained in daily habits, it is hard to imagine how church-goers would think of relating to each other unmediated by mass media and social media.