Communication professor contributes to new book about influence of evangelical media

 

GOSHEN, Ind. – Goshen College Associate Professor of Communication Ron Johnson, who teaches broadcasting courses and is also the campus' coordinator of video production, contributed to the first book to examine the wide-ranging relationship between evangelical Christians and the media in the 21st century. The book, Understanding Evangelical Media: The Changing Face of Christian Communication, was edited by Quentin J. Schultze and Robert H. Woods Jr. and published by InterVarsity Press in July 2008.

Johnson was one of 50 scholars and communication professionals who contributed essays about everything from evangelical theme parks to broadcasting, periodicals, film, comics, podcasting, worship technology, popular and worship music, public relations, video and computer gaming.

Johnson says in the book that the use of high-tech innovations like PowerPoint in worship might reflect congregational boredom as well as churches' expectation that worship should be like mainstream media. Writing as an evangelical, he says, "We expect and even demand the same level of spectacle."

Johnson also addresses in the book the impact of new communications technologies on evangelical communities. In the "era of YouTube videos, blogs and millions of other Web sites," evangelicals are living "in increasingly narrow networks of virtual community and community." But sometimes the new networks actually "divorce [them] from family, neighborhood and congregation. We spend hours chatting online with distant people we'll never meet in person."

Johnson has taught at Goshen College for four years. He received a bachelor's degree from Marietta College and a master's degree from Kansas State University, and has completed coursework for a master's degree in theology and communication at Wheaton College. He was previously employed as assistant professor of communication at Dordt College in Iowa.

The book's editors and authors have created a massive Web site that is monitoring the spectrum of new and old evangelical media. The site can be found at: www.understandingevangelicalmedia.com.

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

###

Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college's Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron's Best Buys in Education, "Colleges of Distinction," "Making a Difference College Guide" and U.S. News & World Report's "America's Best Colleges" edition, which named Goshen a "least debt college." Visit www.goshen.edu.