The Digital Media Sermon: Definitions, Evaluations, Considerations

Abstract

The question driving this particular paper is how to understand the place of the sermon on the digital frontier. In hopes of accomplishing this rather abstract task, this essay will begin with an analysis of the concept of digital rhetoric as articulated by Richard Lanham, Douglas Eyman, and Angela Haas. Next, this paper will review the dissertation literature published since 2013 that address preaching and technology. Then, this essay will address the “best practices” research on preaching and technology from Tripp Hudgins, MichaelChan, Sunggu Yang, Casey Sigmon, and Joshua Schatzle published since 2019 to see what influence the dissertation research is having on functional conversations. Finally, a proposal for capturing the concept of “digital homiletics” will be articulated based on John McClure’s idea of theological invention.

Keywords

• preaching
• digital rhetoric
• digital media
• technology
• theological invention