Addressing Digital Religious Praxis in Practical Theological Classrooms

The digital revolution has dramatically expanded available forms of and opportunities for religious praxis, offering people significantly more freedom to practice their faith where and how they choose. As this trend continues, religious leaders will increasingly be called upon to provide leadership across diverse digital media. If the theological academy is to adequately equip future leaders, it must find ways to incorporate digital praxis into the curriculum. This need is greatest in practical theology and its subdisciplines, because these are the areas where students develop the knowledge and skills to guide praxis. Taking Mainline Protestant Christianity as the primary context for analysis, this paper presents a rationale and framework for incorporating theology and skills for digital religious leadership into practical theology classrooms. The presentation will illustrate pedagogical recommendations using digital tools developed by the author. Principles presented are generalizable across a variety of traditions.