THEOCOM Conferences, Santa Clara University
Paul Soukup, S.J., Host
THEOCOM themes have included: Theology and Communication in Dialogue (2012), Changing Models of Communications in the Church (2013), Community in the Digital World (2014), and Religious and Theological Authority in a Digital World (2015), In the World and Yet Not of the World: Ecclesiology in the Digital Age (2016) and Digital Shepherding: Pastoral Theology and Ministry in a Digital Age (2017). Sample items from these conferences are listed below.
ANNOUNCEMENT: Theology and Communications in Dialogue, (1st conference), 2012
Theologians from around the world, and several denominations, will present on “Theology and Communications: In Dialogue” on June 25-27, 2012, at Santa Clara University in San Jose, California. Theologians are encouraged to consider attending. The symposium will be limited to accommodate small group conversations.
Sponsors for the event: the Pontifical Council of Social Communications, Santa Clara University, and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Communications Committee.
Presenters will address three themes:
Ecclesiology and Communication: Theological reflection on what communication practices, technologies, and patterns means for the life and identity of the Church.
Communication and Historical Theology: What can we learn from the past about how theology reflected on or made use of communication? Are there particular theological concepts that incorporate communication in one way or another? What might we learn from Augustine, John of Damascus, Jerome, Bernard, John Henry Newman, and others?
Theological Reflection on Digital Communication: How do the new epistemologies and patterns of learning challenge our theological methodologies?
Presenters include:
Rev. Anh Vu Ta is of Vietnamese origin and priest of a German diocese. After pastoral experience in Germany, he entered the Pastoral Communication Program at the Pontifical University of Santo Tomas in Manila. He is now teaching in the same program and a doctoral student at the UST theological faculty with a proposed thesis on "Communication Theology in Intercultural Communication Perspective.”
Heidi Campbell is associate professor at Texas A&M University, whose most recent book, When Religion Meets New Media (Routledge, 2010) on Jewish, Muslim, and Christian communities’ historic perceptions and contemporary use of media technologies.
Nadia Delicata is a lecturer at the University of Malta. Through two research fellowships at the University of Toronto, Dr. Delicata has explored two pertinent themes on the role of the Christian life in the global village: a hermeneutics of digital culture through the McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology, and the role of religion in the public sphere through the Centre for the Study of Religion.
Rev. Franz-Josef Eilers, SVD, is coordinator of the Social/Pastoral Communication Program at the Pontifical University of Santo Tomas (UST) in Manila and director of the Asian Research Center for Religion and Social Communication (ARC) at St. John's University in Bangkok. His most recent publications include Communicating in Community (Logos, Manila, fourth edition, 2009).
Rev. José M. Galvan, professor of moral theology at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, has collaborated with the ARTS Lab of the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa on subjects related to the anthropological implications of research on robotics and technology in general.
Bernd Jochen Hilberath is professor of dogmatic theology and the history of dogma at the University of Tübingen and is director of the Institute for Ecumenical Research. He has been actively involved in ecumenical and inter- religious dialogues.
Bradford Hinze is professor of theology at Fordham University. His 2006 book, Practices of Dialogue in the Roman Catholic Church: Aims and Obstacles, Lessons and Laments (Continuum) investigates the implementation of synodal and conciliar practices in the Catholic Church between 1965 and 2005 and reflects on the practical and theological implications of these developments.
Rev. Richard Leonard, SJ, director of the Australian Catholic Office for Film and Broadcasting, is a visiting professor of communications at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome and has lectured at Jesuit Theological College, Melbourne and The Broken Bay Institute, Sydney.
Rev. Franco Lever is a Salesian priest who holds degrees in theology, education and catechetics, and television studies. He is cofounder and dean of the faculty of Sciences of Social Communication of the Pontifical Salesian University in Rome.
Rev. Brian Lucas is the general secretary for the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. Prior to his work at the ACBC secretariat, Father Lucas was media spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Sydney for 15 years, and has qualifications in law, media and theology.
Jolyon Mitchell is professor of communications, arts and religion and Director of the Centre for Theology and Public Issues at the University of Edinburgh. In addition to being a prolific author and lecturer, Dr. Mitchell also has experience in producing and reporting for television and radio.
Rev. Joseph Palakeel, a priest of The Missionary Society of St. Thomas the Apostle, India, holds a doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University and a diploma in social communication from the Interdisciplinary Center for Social Communication at the Gregorian.
Matthias Scharer is a professor of practical theology in the fields of catechetics and religious education at the University of Innsbruck, where he leads a research team working on communicative theology. He has lectured widely in Western and Eastern Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia on this process and has conducted seminars employing this method.
Daniella Zsupan-Jerome is assistant professor of liturgy, catechesis, and evangelization at the Loyola Institute for Ministry. At Boston College, she worked with Thomas Groome and Jane Regan while earning her doctoral degree in the field of theology and education. Her dissertation is entitled “Digital Media at the Service of the Word: What Does Internet-mediated Communication Offer the Theology of Revelation and the Practice of Catechesis?” (2011).
First THEOCOM Conference 2012
June 25
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
9:00 a.m. Opening remarks: Archbishop Claudio Celli, president, Pontifical Council for Social Communication
Ecclesiology and Communication: Theological reflection on what communication practices, technologies, and patterns means for the life and identity of the Church
9:30 a.m. Presentation: "Communicative Theology” Bernd Jochen Hilberath, Bradford Hinze, & Matthias Scharer
10:00 a.m. Presentation: "Individuation and Communion: The Crucible of Communication in the Church” Bradford Hinze
10:30 a.m. Coffee break
11:00 a.m. Presentation: "The Episcopal Conference in the Communications Marketplace: Issues and Challenges for Catholic Identity and Ecclesiology” Rev. Brian Lucas
11:30 a.m. Presentation: "Communication Theology: A Holistic Approach” Rev. Anh Vu Ta and Rev. Franz-Josef Eilers, SVD
12:05 p.m. Mass at the Mission Church
12:30 p.m. Lunch
Communication and Historical Theology: What can we learn from the past about how theology reflected on, or made use of, communication?
2:30 p.m. Presentation: "Aquinas on Virtues in a Media Saturated Culture” Rev. Richard Leonard, SJ
3:00 p.m. Presentation: "Elements of the Western Christian Anthropology for a Reflection on Today's Theological Significance of Human Communication” Rev. José M. Galvan
3:30 p.m. Break
4:00 p.m. Discussion
6:00 p.m. Dinner
June 26
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
Theological reflection on digital communication: How do the new epistemologies and patterns of learning challenge our theological methodologies?
9:00 a.m. Presentation: "Golden Calf and Digital Bytes. Theologizing and Visual Expression in Digital Culture” Rev. Joseph Palakeel
9:30 a.m. Presentation: "Negotiating New Media Religiously: The Technological Apologetic as Theological Meaning Making” Heidi Campbell
10:00 a.m. Presentation: "Theology as Persuasive Communication” Nadia Delicata
10:30 a.m. Coffee break
11:00 a.m. Presentation: "(In)forming in Faith: Catechesis in Dialogue with Digital Culture” Daniella Zsupan-Jerome
12:05 p.m. Mass at the Mission Church
12:30 p.m. Lunch
2:30 p.m. Presentation: "Christian Art as a locus theologicus and the Digital Media" Rev. Franco Lever
3:00 p.m. Presentation: "Saving Cyberculture: The Ecclesiology of New Media" Matthew John Paul Tan
3:30 p.m. Break
4:00 p.m. Presentation: Antonio Spadaro, S.J.
4:30 p.m. Discussion
6:00 p.m. Dinner
June 27
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
Open for further planning
THEOCOM Conference, 2013
Saturday, June 22
Afternoon, evening: arrivals
Sunday, June 23
10:30 a.m. Mass
Noon Lunch
1:00 p.m. Opening remarks and welcome
Changing models of communications in the Church
Matthias Scharer: Living Communication in a Digital Media Context -- Criteria from the Perspective of Communicative Theology. Dr. Scharer is on faculty for the Institut für Praktische Theologie in Innsbruck, Austria.
Heidi Campbell: Religious Digital Creatives as New Cultural and Religious Authorities Dr. Campbell is associate professor in Communication at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.
3:30 p.m. Break
4:00 p.m. Continuing presentations and discussions
Mary Hess: A new culture of learning: Implications of digital culture for communities of faith. Dr. Mary Hess is associate professor of educational leadership at Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota.
Anh Vu Ta: The Word of God in the digital world – its consequences. Father Vu Ta is in graduate studies at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines.
6:00 p.m. Dinner
7:00 p.m. Follow up discussions
Monday, June 24
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
9:00 a.m. Witnessing the Faith in social networks
Joseph Palakeel: Theologian as Imagineer: Theologizing in the Age of Image, Music and Story. Dr. Palakeel is executive director of the Syro-Malabar Church Internet Mission in Kerala, India.
James Caccamo: Hear What I Say, Not What I Do? Material Practice and Social Context as Central Factors in the Consequences of Communication. Dr. Caccamo is associate professor of social ethics for St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.
Noon Mass
12:45 p.m. Lunch
2:00 p.m. Panel discussion: representatives from social media companies such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Google and Twitter. Proposed title: “Digital Social Networks’ Contributions to the Common Good”
3:30 p.m. Break
4:00 p.m. Continuing presentations and follow up discussions
Nadia Delicata: Digital culture and the reframing of theological anthropology: Original sin and Divine-Humanity in the Ecclesial task of Evangelization-as-Witness. Dr. Delicata is a lecturer in the Department of Moral and Spiritual Theology for the University of Malta.
Eileen Crowley: Digital Media Art-Making in Small Group Faith Formation: An Occasion for Experiencing Communio in Today's Participatory Cultures. Dr. Crowley is associate professor of liturgy and worship at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.
6:00 p.m. Dinner
7:00 p.m. Follow up discussions
Tuesday, June 25
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
9:00 a.m. The future relationship of art and theology
Daniella Zsupan-Jerome: Digital Creativity for Theological Education -- Creative communication: The Potential of Digital Creativity for Theological Education. Dr. Zsupan-Jerome is assistant professor of liturgy, catechesis and evangelization at Loyola University New Orleans, Louisiana.
Eileen Daily: Making Christian Art Accessible Again. Dr. Daily is assistant professor of pastoral studies at Loyola University Chicago, Institute of Pastoral Studies.
Noon Mass
12:45 p.m. Lunch
2:00 p.m. Continuing presentations
Sheila Nayar: Reconfiguring the "Genuinely” Religious Film: The Theological Consequences of Orality and Alphabetic Literacy. Dr. Nayar is professor of English and Communication Studies at Greensboro College, Greensboro, North Carolina.
José M. Galvan: The importance of the cinema in the dialogue between theology and post-modernity. Ten stages of a journey. Dr. Galvan is a member of the Department of Moral Theology at Pontificia Università della Santa Croce in Rome.
3:30 p.m. Break
4:00 p.m. Follow up discussions – next steps?
6 p.m. Concluding dinner
THEOCOM 14: A Gathering Of Theologians–On Digital Communications
Who Do You Tweet That I Am?
June 22-25, 2014, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California
Participants include Rev. Antonio Spadaro, SJ, whose interview with Pope Francis in 2013
made headlines around the world, and young theologians with expertise in digital media, such as Dr. Daniella Zsupan-Jerome, of New Orleans’ Loyola Institute for Ministry.
THEOCOM 14 themes:
What does ‘online authority’ mean in religious communities/congregations?
How does community become ‘concrete’ in the digital space?
What do our experiences of culture ‘offline’ provide to us in understanding new media?
How do cultural expectations of community migrate to the digital world?
Do the concepts of time, place, and real presence translate into the Digital Continent’s culture?
Funded by Our Sunday Visitor Institute and sponsored by:
Pontifical Council for Social Communication
U.S. Conference of Catholic bishops
Greek Orthodox Church of America
Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California
Conference schedule: all times are pacific standard time
Sunday, June 22
10:00 a.m. Mass
Noon Lunch
1:00 p.m. Opening remarks and welcome
Matthew John Paul Tan: Faith in the Church of Facebook: The Riddle of Space and Time. Dr. Tan is visiting assistant professor in Catholic Studies and in the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology at DePaul University.
Daniella Zsupan-Jerome: Virtual Presence as Real Presence? Sacramental Theology and Digital Culture in Dialogue. Dr. Zsupan-Jerome is assistant professor of liturgy, catechesis, and evangelization at Loyola University, New Orleans, Louisiana.
Randy Boyagoda: Do We Need a Theology of the Disembodied to Reach Young People? Millennials and Expectations of Religious Community in a Digital Age. Dr. Boyagoda is director of Zone Learning and associate professor for Ryerson University in Toronto.
6:00 p.m. Dinner
Monday, June 23
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
9:00 a.m. Morning Session
Sr. Nancy Usselmann: Ethics in an Emerging Mediascape: Trans-Social Digital Communications and the Human Person. Sister Nancy Usselmann is a Daughter of St. Paul and manager of the Pauline Center for Media Studies.
Nadia Delicata: Digital Culture and the Reframing of Theological Anthropology: Original Sin and Divine-Humanity in the Ecclesial Task of Evangelization-as-Witness. Dr. Delicata is a lecturer in the Department of Moral and Spiritual Theology for the University of Malta.
Noon Mass
12:45 p.m. Lunch
2:00 p.m. Afternoon Session
Richard Leonard, SJ: The World in Our Face: How Do People of Faith Bring Their Offline Lives to Bear on Their Online Reality? Father Richard Leonard is director of the Australian Catholic Office for Film & Broadcasting.
Joseph Palakeel: Babel, Pentecost, and Facebook: Exploring Connection, Community and Presence in Actual and Digital Space. Dr. Palakeel is executive director of the Syro-Malabar Church Internet Mission in Kerala, India.
Tuesday, June 24
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
9:00 a.m. Morning Session
Antonio Spadaro, SJ: The Mechanical Brain is Coming to the Aid of the Spiritual Brain. Father Spadaro is editor-in-chief of La Civiltà Cattolica, Rome.
Alexis Torrance: Sourcing Personhood: Reflections on Technology and the Human Ideal from an Eastern Orthodox Perspective. Dr. Torrance is a postdoctoral researcher at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.
Noon Mass
12:45 p.m. Lunch
2:00 p.m. Afternoon Session
David Trobisch: How Early Christians Read the Bible: Manuscripts, Performance, and the Role of the Community. Dr. Trobisch is the director of the Green Collection and a consultant for the American Bible Society.
Msgr. Paul Tighe: Practical Applications. Msgr. Tighe serves in the Pontifical Council of Social Communications in Rome/
3:30 p.m. Break
4:00 p.m. Follow up discussions
6:00 p.m. Concluding dinner
THEOCOM 15 Conference, Santa Clara University
Sunday, June 28
10:00 a.m. Mass at the Santa Clara Mission Church
11:45 a.m. Welcome
Noon Lunch at the University Villas (meeting site)
2:00 p.m. Drawing on past approaches to authority
Biblical and scriptural texts -- David Trobisch
Authority and Obedience: Engaging Benedictine Spirituality for Digital Communication –Daniella Zsupan-Jerome
Monster Prayer Books and Timid Bishops: A 19th-century Perspective on Religious Authority and Media in the US Catholic Church -- John Osman
6:00 p.m. Dinner
Monday, June 29
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
9:00 a.m. How digital authority might work in theology
Interpretive Authority in an Internet-Driven Participatory Culture – Sister Caroline Cerveny
Crowdsourcing Divine Truth? Exploring Theological Authority in the Digital Media world –Joseph Scaria Palakeel
The Ecclesial Body and Celebrity Heads -- Matthew Tan
Noon Mass at Mission church
12:30 p.m. Lunch
2:00 p.m. Empirical investigations into current authority issues
How Digital Creatives Negotiate Religious Authority Online and Implications for Religious Institutions -- Heidi Campbell
The Church of Facebook: Catholic priest’s negotiation of religious authority --Brian Altenhofen
“Redemptive Leading” – Barriers and Opportunities in a Digitized World: A Modest Proposal to Ecclesial Leaders from the Perspective of Communicative Theology (CT) -- Matthias Scharer
6:00 p.m. Dinner
Tuesday, June 30
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
9:00 a.m. Developing Theological and Religious Authority in the Digital World
Gameful learning and theological understanding: New cultures of learning in religious settings –Mary Hess
Are you my neighbor? Theology, networks, and encounters with God and others –Stephen Garner, PhD
Youth and Internet: Overall Contestation of Church Authority -- Guy Marchessault
Top Catholic Websites and how the construct community? – Josep Maria Carbonell
Noon: Mass at Mission church
12:30 p.m. Lunch
2:00 p.m. Other approaches to religious / theological authority
Digital World Authority Algorithms Offer a New Lens on Church Authority --Eileen M. Daily
Online approaches -- Anthony Spadaro, S.J.
6:00 p.m. Dinner
THEOCOM 17 Conference, Santa Clara University, July 2017
Digital Shepherding: Pastoral Theology and Ministry in a Digital Age
Sunday, July 23
7:30 a.m. Breakfast on your own
10:00 a.m. Mass, University Mission Church
11:30 a.m. Lunch - Dining Hall
1:00 p.m. Theological Foundations
Thomas Boomershine, The Embodiment of the Word: A Pastoral Approach to Scripture in a Digital Age
Archimandrite Alexandros Salmas, St. Gregory the Theologian: A Patristic Paradigm for Pastoral Theology and Ministry in the Digital Age
Break
Matthias Scharer, From Pastoral Theology to Practical Theology: The Impact of Karl Rahner's Understanding of Practical Theology in a Digital World
Nadia Delicata, Moral Theology in a Digital Age: Retrieving the Past for the Future
5:30 p.m. Dinner -Dining Hall followed by Wine Social -Villas Courtyard
Monday, July 24
7:30 a.m. Breakfast – Dining Hall
9:30 a.m. Media and Ministry
Bishop Maxim Alhambra, The Ikon and Digital Iconicity
Eileen Crowley, Media Storytelling as Ministry
Noon Mass
Lunch - Dining Hall
2:00 p.m. Education and Formation
Mary Hess, Storying Faith Amidst Digital Cultures: Renewing Religious Education in the 21st Century
Rev. Jose Palakeel, "Feed my Geeks": Reflections on Ministerial Education and Formation in Digital Culture
Break
Theology in Context
Theo Nicolakis and George Sarraf, Conciliarity in a Digital Age: A Study on the recent Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church
Josep Lluís Micó Sanz, Míriam Díez Bosch, and Alba Sabaté Gauxachs, Digital media, the New Space for Religion to Meet Youth. The Catalan Case
5:30 p.m. Dinner - Dining Hall
David Trobisch and Seth Pollinger, The Technology outreach of the Museum of the Bible
Wine Social -Villas Courtyard
Tuesday, July 25
7:30 a.m. Breakfast – Dining Hall
9:30 a.m. Pastoral Responses
Rev. Nicolas Kazarian. Spiritual Experience and Pastoral Responses in the Digital World
Levi Checketts, The Persona of the Pastor on Social Medi
Noon Mass
Lunch - Dining Hall
2:00 p.m. Pastoral Implementation
Frances Forde Plude, Building ‘Listening’ Communities of Faith: A Response to the Appeal for Dialogue of Pope Francis
Niki Papageorgiou, The Orthodox Church in the Digital Era: Challenges and Perspectives
Break
Caroline Cerveny SSJ-TOSF, To Be, and Become, Missionary Disciples
Wrap-Up and Next Steps
5:30 p.m. Dinner -Dining Hall followed by wine social -Villas Courtyard
THEOCOM 18: Discerning Big Data In Light Of The Gospel: Big Data
Santa Clara University, July 2018
This year’s gathering explores big data and what implications it may hold for theology and ministry. Keynote presentations and facilitated conversations will center around:
What is the impact of massive data accumulation on communities of faith?
What key ethical issues does big data highlight and how might communities of faith respond to, or utilize, big data ethically?
What does it mean to be human in an age of massive data accumulation?
What practical ways can communities of faith benefit from big data?
THEOCOM 19: Faith Formation Shaped By Digital Culture
Santa Clara University, July 2019
THEOCOM is in its eight year as an annual symposium-style gathering of theologians and other scholars around the topics of digital culture and communication.
Past themes have included:
Theology and Communication in Dialogue (2012); Changing Models of Communications in the Church (2013); Community in the Digital World (2014); Religious and Theological Authority in a Digital World (2015); In the World and Yet Not of the World: Ecclesiology in the Digital Age (2016); Digital Shepherding: Pastoral Theology and Ministry in a Digital Age (2017); and Discerning Big Data in Light of the Gospel (2018). This year’s gathering explores faith formation and how this is shaped by the reality of digital culture.
These could include topics such as:
What are the historical, theological, Scriptural, or liturgical traditions for forming faith?
Who forms faith in the digital culture?
What are formative spaces or experiences unique to this context?
What does it mean to be formed?
How do we assess this, especially online?
How have the conditions/contexts of doing formation changed by the new media environment?
How does popular theology (blogs, reflections, comments, Tweets) fit into what we might consider formative?
Looking Forward
By Paul Soukup, S.J.
I invite you to list topics you would like to propose for FUTURE Theocom meetings. If we do this, each of us can both list topics and comment on. or develop. what appears.
Proposed Topics
Spirituality in the digital media age
Conversation in a World of Trolling or something to that effect
Further Thoughts
What struck me during THEOCOM 2017 is the varied understandings we have related to the concept of “technology” – “Digital Age” – etc.
In an eChurch eBook titled “The Future of Church Technology” I noted the following:
From its inception, the Church has been at the center of global innovation trends (like the ones mentioned above). Paul used the newly invented Roman Road system on his early missionary journeys. When people needed healthcare, the Church invented hospitals. When people needed to become literate to read the Bible, the Church started schools. Gutenberg invented the printing press to mass-produce the Bible, setting the stage for the Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation.
Even into the 20th century, Pope Pius XII was saying, “The Church welcomes technological progress and receives it with love, for it is an indubitable fact that technological progress comes from God and, therefore, can, and must, lead to Him.”
Billy Graham used television to enlarge the audience of his crusades. Millions have heard the gospel through those broadcasts. But Graham did not stop there. Nearly every aspect of his ministry was impacted by the technological progress of his day. He instinctively understood its significance, too. Graham once said: “It is time for the Church to use technology to make a statement that in the midst of chaos, emptiness, and despair there is hope in the person of Jesus Christ.”
As I ponder these comments and invite you to view the following videos that are futuring statements for two major companies – Samsung and Corning:
● Earth 2020 A look into the Future - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QdkmfJ4tnU
● 2017 Vision Video – Your Future. On Display -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKdqNnSHRF
I often wonder, in a world that is rapidly changing because of technology, how will the church be engaged in this ever-growing Digital Culture to share the person of Jesus Christ? What will formation be in a Digital Culture? Other ideas?
What comes to mind for me are the following themes:
● Theology in a Digital World: Its Future in a Participatory Culture
● Theology in a Digital Participatory Culture
● Digital Shepherding in a Participatory Culture: Growing into a Future
● Jesus Alive in a Digital Participatory Culture
I am also wondering, with Santa Clara University in the heart of “Silicon Valley” where the giants of – Google, Citrix, and Apple are headquartered – what could this group experience by a visit to at least one of these locations?
Silicon Valley Innovation Center (To plan a one-day tour or a ½ day tour) - https://siliconvalley.center/?gclid=CjwKCAjwk4vMBRAgEiwA4ftLs8IoIOIJANrsCcfNNDPd EfWsQTeNZJwhcVO1fKduQtELEABHvGIvFBoC1sMQAvD_BwE
(Looks like they are the ones to coordinate what would fit the THEOCOM group) I would love to do more than just visit a campus or two. This group may be able to tailor something for the THEOCOM group.
Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA - http://www.computerhistory.org/
Visit the Google Campus (Do we know anyone for an “insider tour”? https://www.tripsavvy.com/googleplex-the-google-head-office-in-mountain-view-2993763 or http://www.androidauthority.com/visiting-googleplex-whats-open-public-whats-like-72086 4/
Visit the Apple Campus – Apple Park Visitor Center - https://foursquare.com/v/apple-park-visitor-center/58adc74414250b60365c3f40/photos
Response from Matthias Scharer
I want to react briefly to your invitation to share proposals for further meetings of TheoCom. I agree with the statement there are different mindsets concerning Social Media in our group. As you can see in all my comments on our Conferences, the ambivalence of Digital Media is one of my favorite hypotheses, and I cannot join in an undifferentiated Jubilee on the Digital Age.
This does not mean I keep myself out of the Digital Context in which I am living and working. I agree with P. Antonio that the Digital World is not only the house of all of us; it becomes more and more our home. But in my mind, my home is not my castle.
Like the Letter on Diognet from the Second Christian Century says: "Any country can be their homeland, but for them, their homeland, wherever it may be, is a foreign country."
The world of Billy Graham is not my World of doing Theology, even as I do it within my Digital home. But within the World in which the aim to reduce ambivalences is rising, and is supported also by Digital Media, I want to hold up the critical position.
So, I value the diversity in our group as we belong to Social Media and a Digital World. However, as a Theologian within the Church, I have also to criticize some naiveties in the statements of the Churches reflecting on our subject.
If you would ask me about the next subject for our Conferences, two come to my mind:
In our evaluation at the 2016 Conference was a strong proposal to go from "We" (2016) to the change of the "I," the human, within the Digital World and what it means theologically, and anthropologically, and in practical ways.
Another subject could be the interreligious and trans-religious experience within a Digital home.
P.S. To visit in Silicon Valley for half a day would be a nice experience.