Did you know that once the COVID pandemic captured the world, over 45% of church goers have watched a virtual service from home? This number was down to less than 12% prior to COVID. There is no doubt that technological advances have made, and continue to make, a dramatic impact on the Church and Kingdom building. Melissa Schilling in the 6th edition of her book entitled Strategic Management of Technological Innovation, declares that “Technological innovation is now the single most important driver of competitive success in many industries” (p. 11). While some Christian leaders may not be comfortable with the various forms’ of today’s technology, they should not allow the opportunity to advance the Kingdom of God pass them by while the world benefits from its unprecedented transformations. In Isaiah 43:19, God says to His people: “Behold I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye (today’s Church) not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert”.

What if one of the ways that God wants to bring about a new thing is through the use of social media and other digital platforms? Will the Church miss out on this opportunity for a lack of knowledge or the desire to remain in an unproductive comfort zone? Are you ready for such a revolution?

This October, BGU will offer the newly-designed, current, and innovative course called “LDR 730: Transformation through Social Media and Digital Platforms” (formerly the Transformational Communication). LDR730 will give students the opportunity to critically examine and evaluate established and emerging technologies in use across all industries, including the Church. It will expose you to the most contemporary and futuristic technologies to convince the Christian community about the value of digital and social media communication. You will learn to create and engage in social media and other digital communication platforms. You will gain knowledge and expertise in the elements of digital communication from speaking to reading, ultimately building your own digital communication action plan. You will acquire the skills to analyze, compare, and contextualize digital communication opportunities. A hands-on course, you will perform a host of technical skills including creating a blog, Facebook group, Tik-Tok account and We Chat account. You’ll join fellow classmates to create or develop a new YouTube channel, or create new websites. New AI generative tools, such as ChatGPT and RAG (retrieval augmented generation) will be explored. This course will expand your thinking and open your mind to creative and innovative options that could help you make a greater impact for the Kingdom of God.

So, do you want to remain where you are and do the same things that you did 5- or 10-years ago? Or are you open to the “new thing” that God wants to do with His Church? Take this course and you will embark upon a new way, new ideas, new methods, and new things.

This course is open to students at all levels and can be used as an elective course. The instructors for this course are highly qualified and technically skilled. Contact them with any questions and they will be happy to share their plan for this course with you. It promises to be current and much needed contributor to advancing your technical skills. Please contact Krisztina Olah (Krisztina.olah@ bgu.edu) or Nathalia Mighty (Nathalia. mighty@bgu.edu) for more information.