Evangelism through Online Gaming: Communicating to Gen Z Beyond the Church Walls
Evangelism through Online Gaming: Communicating to Gen Z Beyond the Church Walls
Evangelism through Online Gaming: Communicating to Gen Z Beyond the Church Walls
By Michael A McMullen
Abstract
“According to the Entertainment Software Association, sixty four percent of American households own at least one device used for gaming, and every gaminghousehold has at least two gamers (Fitzgerald). This is a huge opportunity to evangelizethrough a medium that is quickly replacing other mediums of social interaction,entertainment, relaxation, and community (White 12; Schultz 21; Myers 1). In the contextof the South Texas Nazarene churches, there has been a trend to embrace technology atsuch a slow rate that by the time a few churches embrace the evangelism tools availablethe market of Generation Z has shifted even further away from the Church. The issuethen becomes, “how do we overcome these obstacles to allow for Nazarenes to speak intothe lives of postmodern online gamers since this is a new medium of communication?”The implication of the research is that in order for the church to maintain relevance in the lives of emerging generations it must incorporate significant training to new pastors inthe realm of virtual environments. The administrative portion of the church must createnew ways to calculate effectiveness of organic ministries that deal with virtualevangelism. The educational branches of the church need to incorporate more advanced technology classes for students. The intuitional structure needs to realize that much of theway it operates church is held over from the Enlightenment period. The church has anopportunity to develop environments in the meta-verse in which a person can login andexperience three-dimensional immersions into the Bible, making sensory discoveries intoa world long forgotten.”
Reference
McMullen, M. A. (2022). Evangelism through Online Gaming: Communicating to Gen Z Beyond the Church Walls. ProQuest. doi:29169333 https://www.proquest.com/docview/2659689834
Keyword
Online gaming, communication, gen z, church, evangelism, American, entertainment, research