THE KUKMIN DAILY

“Now is the time for the Protestant church to look for a new role and write a new story.”

In the eyes of one scholar of religion, media and culture, the future of the Protestant church lies in its focus on a “new story.” In her recent interview with Kukmin Daily, Prof. Mia Lovheim (47·Sweden, photo), vice-president of the International Society for Media, Religion and Culture (ISMRC), said in relation to the stagnant Protestant church, “The European churches have already experienced this phenomenon since the 20th century and it is something still going on in many countries.” In her analysis, “That is because the European churches failed to find a new role, after playing a crucial part in the process of building welfare nations.”

She challenged, “It is time for the Protestant church to create a ‘new story.’ As one good example, the church could become a driving force to bring all sectors together, by helping and building solidarity with marginalized members of society such as extremely poor neighbors, immigrants and immigrant workers.”

Sociologist of religion Lovheim, who is on the faculty of theology at Uppsala University, suggested that the digital media, with its rapid technological development, can enable a great advance by the Protestant church. She explained, “The development of digital media may threaten religion by allowing extreme individualism to creep in, but at the same time the church should seriously consider how to utilize digital media for the community… In the past traditional church setting, members of the community were grouped by gender or age. Now, with the help of digital media, a complex approach is possible, according to the various regions, age groups, interests, and so on.”

Lovheim emphasized that the younger generation will be able to relate better to the Gospel message if churches widen their embrace to include controversial issues in the public sector such as welfare and human rights.

Her visit to Korea in early June was to prepare for the 10th ISMRC conference, its first in Asia, which will take place in Seoul on August 1 to 3 next year. ISMRC, launched in 1994, is a major international scholarly society in the fields of media, religion, and culture, with participation by 200 some media scholars.

Reporter Jaechan Park (jeep@kmib.co.kr), with Yeara Ahn-Park (yap@kmib.co.kr)

Photo by senior reporter Kang Min Seok


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