John Wyatt and Jonathan Ebsworth discuss our experiences of how technology provided a lifeline for many Church communities through lockdowns. We explore both the blessings that came from this, the risks that follow and some of the longer-term consequences as we look to a future that seems to require a hybrid on-line and embodied expression of 'Church'.

Some groups - like the housebound - found they had unexpected access to collective events as online provision grew in response to the pandemic-driven lockdowns. Youth groups; that might have been expected to find the switch online easiest of all, often struggled to maintain contact with all those who were participating before lockdown. For us, this suggests that while digital presence for Youth work can be helpful - it is hard for a fully online youth work to compete unconstrained access to brighter, more addictive expressions of technology engagement, like TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram.

We speculate that the hybrid expression of Church is here to stay - and consider a few of the challenges that follow. There is going to be a need for creativity, and we feel that our existing theology may need to be refined in the face of these emerging expressions of Church.

Come and join the conversation on TechHuman.org.

In this episode Professor John Wyatt and I look at how technology adoption has accelerated through the Pandemic, asking whether these changes are permanent or temporary, and what they mean for our lives post-lockdown.

Algorithms touch almost every part of our lives - but what are they? Do we really need to care what they are or how they work?

In this episode John Wyatt and I introduce provide some simple answers to these questions, and then explore by way of a case study, the Public Examination fiasco of 2020 in England. In doing this we raise a number of questions about the use of algorithms, and suggest some possible ways that we could protect people better from the unintended consequences of getting things wrong.

(this episode was originally recorded at the end of 2020)

Whether we love technology or are suspicious of it; it is increasingly hard to avoid. Technology is reaching ever further into our lives, our homes, our relationships, our travels and our workplaces. TechHuman.org is keen to understand the impacts of those technologies – and to find and promote ways that we as human beings can live well with technology. 

We are excited to announce a new podcast, where I will talk with some fascinating people, including my TechHuman co-founder, Professor John Wyatt, who bring their own perspectives and expertise at the intersection of human life, technology and faith. We will explore what the technology revolution means to us, how they see it enhancing, threatening or damaging the world we live in. We will discuss how we can seize the opportunities, minimise the threats and overcome any harms that have emerged.