How does the pervasive and changing electronic media distract and enamor us to the point of shaping how we think and act, often without our awareness?
Shane Hipps (www.shanehipps.com) of Phoenix, Ariz., believes there is great promise as well as peril in our technological society, but, he says, “We’ll never make our way through the maelstrom of our media if we don’t stop and ask the right questions before moving forward.”
Hipps will give a public address on “The Spirituality of the Cell Phone,” 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20 in Lehman Auditorium. The presentation will expore the hidden spirituality of the digital age, the way it shapes community and ways persons can respond.
A “talk back” session with Hipps will follow at 8:30 p.m. in the Common Grounds Coffeehouse in the University Commons. Coffee, tea, hot chocolate will be available at half price along with free brownie bites and cream puffs.
Hipps speaks from experience. Before accepting a call as a pastor, he was a strategic planner in advertising, which included working on the multimillion-dollar communications plan for Porsche Cars North America.
Today, he is pastor of Trinity Mennonite Church, an urban Anabaptist congregation in Phoenix, a writer and sought-after speaker on the topic of media’s effect on the church and its mission in the world. He is a graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, Calif.
Hipps is a contributor to “Leadership Journal,” host of the “Third-Way Faith” podcast on www.wiredparish.com and author of “The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture: How Media Shapes Faith, the Gospel, and Church.”
He is serving as primary resource person for the annual School for Leadership Training being held Jan. 19-22 at Eastern Mennonite Seminary on the theme, “Christians Engaging Cultural Change.”
Both events are sponsored by EMU campus ministries and are offered to the community free of charge; donations are welcomed.
– Story by Jim Bishop
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