Bekentenisse van ’n YouTube-prediker: Voorlopige outo-etnografiese refleksies oor die opname en lei van ’n digitale erediens

Abstract

Confessions of a YouTube preacher: Prelimaniry autoetnographical reflections on the recording and conducting of a digital worship service. Digitalisation as part of a ministry strategy was already high on the agenda of communities of faith prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. When considering possible ministry strategies, references to, among others, the Fourth Industrial Revolution and its potential systemic influence were evaluated in reflections on the nature of future congregations. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, considerably complicated and accelerated these trajectories, as the digitalisation of congregations took place, as it were, overnight. An autoetnographical exploration presents a personal, intimate and subjective reflection of this dynamics as well as the significance of digitalisation for communities of faith as can be seen in die conducting and recording of a digital worship service.

Contribution: In these critical-evaluative autoetnographical reflections, the author sensitively considers, from a practical theology perspective, the possible significance of perspectives for future worship practices of communities of faith.