Andrew SearsPresident, City Vision College

Executive Director, TechMission

Jesus Geeks:Equipping Technology Ministers

to Serve Digital Natives

Lessons on How to Serve Digital NativesBased on Past Mass Migrations

Rural

Urban

Online/

Digital

Lessons from Urbanization1. Urbanization presents new problems and

opportunities2. Rural parents not fluent in parenting

urban children3. Need balanced urban-culture fluent

parenting and teaching4. Need to teach new models for ministry to

address new opportunities and problems

Lessons for Virtualization1. Online world presents new problems and

opportunities2. Digital-immigrant parents/teachers not

fluent in parenting/teaching digital native children

3. Need balanced digital-culture fluent parenting & teaching

4. Need to teach new models for ministry to address new opportunities and problems

Opportunities and Threats from Technology for Digital Natives

Opportunities Threats

Growth in diversity Growth in deviance

Many options/connections

Shallow focus & relationships

More information More temptation

Less global poverty More domestic inequalityDecreased autocracy Decreased accountability

Viral church growth Viral cults

Megachurch network growth

Wal-Mart Effect on Churches

Increased specialization Holistic church decrease

Increased Capacity for Good

Increased Capacity for Evil

How Do You Prepare Future Technology Ministers to Address These Needs?

Incarnational Ministry Philosophy

Become a Jew to the JewsAnd a Greek to the Greeks

Incarnational Ministry Philosophy

Become a Jew to the JewsAnd a Geek to the Geeks

Jesus was the first techie (Tektōn)

“Technology is anything invented after you were born,

everything else is just stuff.”

-Alan Kay

Techies

Digital Natives

Diffusion of Digital Culture

Time

Bilingual “Age Out”

Incarnational Ministry among Digital Natives

Are we becoming bilingual/bicultural by immersing ourselves in their culture?

Are we meeting them where they are or forcing them to meet us on our cultural terms?

Are we preparing them to live in the world we grew up in or the world they will live in?

What indigenous leadership development of tech leaders strategy do you have?

Masters in Science, Technology, Society & Ministry Program Design

Modeled after similar programs at MIT & Stanford◦ Interdisciplinary like Science, Technology & Society

programs, but much more practical ministry focusDesigned…

◦ To balance out training of tech staff in Christian organizations

◦ To function as an incubator/startup accelerator for technology ministries

◦ To equip future Chief Digital Officers◦ Around project based learning

1. Theology

of Technolog

y3 .

Organizational Systems

Emerging Media

Electives

4. Appropria

te Technolog

y

2. Theology of Work

(Identity)

Capstone Course

MSTSMProgram Design

5. Limits of Tech & Tech Addictions6. Financial Sustainability

MSTSM Courses

Required CoursesTheology of TechnologyTheology of Work in

STEM ProfessionsSystems ThinkingEmerging Media

MinistryAppropriate Technology

in the IT FieldCapstone DesignCapstone Project

ElectivesHistory and Case

Studies of Technology in the Church

Technology and Addiction

High Tech Social Entrepreneurship

Grant & Proposal Writing

Examples of Helpful Responses to Issues with Digital Natives

Lack of ability to focus in depth: “The Shallows”

Device distractions in the classroomTech addictionsTablets with kidsSpiritual formation online

Questions for Discussion1. General comments or questions2. What advice or suggestions do you have

to make the MSTSM program more effective?

3. How would you change this program to better meet the needs of tech staff and students from your institution?

4. Ideas for ways City Vision could partner with your school?

Appendix

MSTSM Program Outcomes1. Theology of Technology: understand the philosophy, theology and

historical context of technology in ministry and how to apply that in professional settings

2. Identity and Calling: understand the vocation of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) careers and their unique identity and role within their field in a way that maximizes their calling and enables ministry

3. Systems: understand complex systems in a way that helps them to effectively lead others and apply technology in ministry and professional environments

4. Appropriate Technology: develop effective technology programs in a way that takes into account the unique cultures they will be serving and how to use technology to serve the poor and cross-cultural communities

5. Limits of Technology: understand some of the limits of technology and how to counter some of the negative implications of technology and its effect on relationships and creation of new addictions

6. Sustainability: develop effective strategies for sustainable technology ministry initiatives by monitoring and understanding the latest theories, trends, tools and opportunities in technology in ministry and business professions.

Re-imagining InternshipsWhat if the internship replaced the campus as

the center of education?What if every class had a major project designed

to be applied in an internship or ministry setting?◦ Each class provides a lens to be applied at internship

CityVisionInternships.org◦ Designed as a Christian counterpart to AmeriCorps based

on 9-year AmeriCorps program placing 500+ interns◦ Over 500 applicants annually to be placed in about 50

ministries◦ Ministry sites pay tuition of interns

Past Debates: Writing

Key Debate: Will writing hurt learning?

“For this invention [writing] will produce forgetfulness in the minds of those who learn to use it, because they will not practice their memory. Their trust in writing, produced by external characters which are no part of themselves, will discourage the use of their own memory within them.” – Socrates in Phaedrus 274c-275b)

Writing enabled knowledge discovery to be modularized from rest of learning process

Past Debates: BooksBig Debate: Should a professor only teach

from books they wrote?◦“…If we use Sasso’s book, theywill say what

our students have learned, they have learned from Sasso, not from us” –John Paul Nicolas, 1588, expressing concerns about not using grammer books that they had written themselves

Books became modularized from rest of learning process

A Potential Future: by 2030-40…

More than half of majority culture US Christian colleges will either close or will shrink by more than 50%

Non-western Christian colleges will grow by 10-fold◦May have cost structure 1/10 of Western colleges

More than two-thirds of enrollments will be onlineGeneral education courses online will be

commoditized and will be offered by a few large centralized players (i.e. Amazon.com of education)

Potential Future by 2030-40: 4 Models of Colleges

1. Resort College◦Residential colleges become counterpart to elite

private high schools◦For the rich and upper middle class (Saks Fifth

Avenue)◦Costs will continue to go up

2. Inexpensive online & community colleges◦For middle and low income (Target, Walmart)

3. Inexpensive international colleges4. Non-accredited free educational programs

TechMission/City Vision Strategy

How do you lead in a disruptive technology environment in Christian higher education? 1. Gather the Christian disruptive tech

leaders (Jesus-Tech)2. Retail Strategy: Provide innovative

(tech) Christian university for serving at-risk communities (Jesus, Justice)

3. Wholesale Strategy: Provide tech capacity (tech) to Christian minority-culture schools (Jesus-Justice)

Modular Transformation of Computer Industry

Source: Only the Paranoid Survive, Andy Grove

U of A U of B

Virtually Integrated University

Univ.

Unbundled University

OpenLessons

OpenCourses

Study Groups

Adjunct Faculty

Adjunct Faculty

Faculty Networks Churches

Internship

Univ.

Univ.

Univ.Research

LabCorporations Individuals

OpenContent Publishers

Self-Publish

Univ.

KnowledgeDiscovery

WrittenKnowledge

Course Materials

Faculty Community

Student Community

The Unbundled University

Knowledge Discovery

WrittenKnowledge

Course Materials

Faculty Community

Student Community Churches

U of C U of D

Strengths of STEM Christians• Logic and analysis, Rational/methodical• Objective/data driven• Meritocracy• Innovation/Efficiency• Collaborative, Open• High leverage

Weaknesses of STEM Christians• Analysis paralysis • Lower emotional IQ• Perfectionism • Communication/Public speaking/Shyness• Isolated (personally, society)• Risk adverse• Distant from end use• Unknown whether you are helping others• Arrogance of rationality• One part of many/anonymous

Opportunities for STEM Christians• Tent Makers• Natural missionaries to STEM fields• People leadership in tech field• Create stuff that helps those in need• Magnify reach of other Christians

Threats/Challenges to STEM Christians• Faith in rationality/logic/numbers• Attacked for faith• Legalism• Working for wealth• Limited work in STEM for direct ministry• Isolation: from gadgets• Addiction to gadgets• Loneliness• More frequent crises of faith• Instant gratification/impatience

Tech & MissionsICCM, Lightsys, MAF,GEM, EMI, WIN, OBVisionSynergy, AIBIWycliffe IT, CheckItOut

Tech & MinistryInternet Evangelism Day, Mobile Ministry Forum,YouVersion, ABS, Cru

Christian College STEM ProgramsAccessED, ACU, Calvin, Taylor, BaylorBiola, Olivet, Fuller, Wheaton, Liberty

Christian MediaOnline, Magazines, SoftwarePublishers, Radio & TV

Church TechLifeChurch, Menlo ParkSaddleback, Willow Creek

Christians in Tech CompaniesCode for the Kingdom,Christians in Tech (FB & LinkedIn)

Christian STEM AcademicsChristians Engineering Society, Intervarsity Faculty, Cru Faculty, ASA,ISCAST, ASA, CSS

Christian Tech WritersMedia Ecology, Ministry,

Marketplace Ministry

Economic Development

Business as Mission

Tentmaking

For ProfitNonprofit

General

Tech Specific

Churches

Parachurches

Christian Education

Does Technology Hurt or Help the Poor?