Led by Revd Dr Matt Prior
Hosted by St Mary’s Church, Welwyn
Linked in or Disconnected?
Digital technologies are an entirely ordinary part of our daily lives, and never more so than in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Yet so often our thinking about digital space is purely pragmatic, rather than deeply theological. This session will basically ask: what have digital technologies got to do with God? And what are the implications of the various answers we might give for how we might then use, or refuse, certain aspects of these technologies? What are the particular gifts and challenges of communication, attention and social connection in the digital era? And what are some of the larger questions on the horizon we need to be prepared for? I look forward to reasoning and discerning together.
Revd Dr Matt Prior
Matt has been ordained in the Church of England since 2005 and has worked in both parish and school settings. He has been lecturer in ethics at St Mellitus since 2019. He is interested in the interface between technology and theology, both in terms of offering a coherent theological account of technology (the subject of his doctorate on the French social historian and theologian Jacques Ellul, published in 2020) and of exploring specific ethical questions arising from rapid technological development. He is also passionate about the place of the local church in forming our hearts and our minds for faithful living.
Matt is married to Esther, a vicar, and they have two children. He enjoys traveling to visit family in Africa. He loves playing cricket and still occasionally bowls straight.
