Theology After Google: Leveraging New Technologies and Networks for Transformative Ministry

Watch the live stream here.

All plenary sessions are in Mudd Theater

We invite you to join us March 10-12, 2010 in Claremont, Calif., for a first-of-its-kind national conference, “Theology After Google.” Thanks to a generous grant from the Ford Foundation, we are able to keep registration costs low. 

All sessions will be held at Claremont School of Theology, 1325 N. College Ave., Claremont, CA.

Who is coming?

Tony Jones, Spencer Burke, John Franke, Helene Slessarev-Jamir, Adam Walker Cleaveland, Bob Cornwall, Dwight Friesen , Jon Irvine, Monica A. Coleman,  Glen Stassen, Philip Clayton, Tripp Fuller, Ryan Parker, Bruce Epperly, Barry Taylor, Ryan Bolger, Jana Riess, Doug Pagitt, Phil Snider, Emily Bowen, Jeff Jarvis, Steve Knight, Jonathon Walton

Why “theology after Google”?

Progressive Christian theologians have some vitally important things to say, things that both the church and society desperately need to hear. The trouble is, we tend to deliver our message using technologies that date back to Gutenberg: books, academic articles, sermons, and so forth. We aren't making effective use of the new technologies, social media, and social networking. When it comes to effective communication of message, the Religious Right is running circles around us.

Hence the urgent need for a conference to empower pastors, laypeople, and the up-and-coming theologians of the next generation to do “theology after Google,” theology for a Google-shaped world. Thanks to the Ford funding, we’ve been able to assemble a stellar team of cultural creatives and experts in the new modes of communication. We are also inviting a selection of senior theologians, and well as some of the younger theologians (call them “theobloggers”) whose use of the new media (blogging, podcasts, YouTube posts) is already earning them large followings and high levels of influence. For two and a half days, in workshops and in hands-on sessions, in lectures and over drinks, these leading figures will be at your disposal to teach you everything they know.

Schedule and Costs:

"Theology After Google" (TAG) will kick off with drinks and dinner on Wednesday, March 10, and will end with a closing celebration on Friday evening, March 12th. Inexpensive rooms are available at the nearby Hotel Claremont.

Check Out the Schedule HERE

Registration Options

$99               Three-day registration (includes opening-night reception)

$149               Gold Star Registration — includes regular reception, plus lunches with the speakers, plus post-program “Theo-Pub” nights for follow-up discussion with speakers and participants.

Additional Options

$15              Theo-Pub ticket for one night

$10              Per-day registration for students enrolled at CST and CGU (does not include opening-night reception or the “Theo-Pub”)

Download a Flyer for 'Theology After Google" HERE and share it!

Recommended hotel:

Hotel Claremont - 840 S. Indian Hill Blvd, Claremont, CA  91711

Call (909) 621-4831 or email reservations@myhotelclaremont.com to reserve a room. Mention the Theology After Google conference for a reduced rate of $69/night plus tax.

Course on Theology After Google

A course on "Theology After Google" is being offered by Philip Clayton and Tripp Fuller at Claremont School of Theology in the Spring 2010 semester on Tuesdays at 1pm.  Read the course description and find out how to register as an audit student or as a transfer credit student.

The “Theology After Google” conference is not just about techniques — however important these may be. It will also serve as a top-level forum in which the next generation of American theologians begin to think together about the implications of these new modes of communication. Marshall McLuhan's famous "the medium is the message" may not have been completely on the mark; still, what we say is affected by how we say it. During the conference we are challenging pastors, laypersons, and theologians to reflect with the speakers about what it means to do theology after Google. How are the new media changing the nature of human existence and human social connections? How are they transforming human conceptions of God, Jesus, and Christianity? And what will (and should) the church become as a result? If these discussions are as successful as we hope, the conference will eventually produce a high-impact book.

 To Proceed to the Registration Page CLICK HERE