Analog Church by Jay Y. Kim [Review]

I must admit, the title of this book got my heart thumping a little bit. Analog Church sounds a lot like the things I talk and write about.

The full title of this award-winning book is “Analog Church: Why We Need Real People, Places, and Things in the Digital Age”. Author Jay Y. Kim makes a helpful contribution to moving the conversation forward about the potential dangers inherent with digital technology in church ministry.

I’m very grateful for Analog Church, but not without a couple of reservations. Keep reading for my take on it …

Publishing Details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ InterVarsity Press (March 31, 2020)
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 216 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 083084158X
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0830841585

Awards

• Resource of the Year, Outreach Magazine
• The Gospel Coalition Book Award

A Couple of Ironies With This Book

The first irony is that the author, Jay Kim, is a pastor in Silicone Valley of all places, the birthplace and Mecca of digital technology.

The second is that IVP released the book in March of 2020, right as we all first went into Covid lockdown, and the kind of analog church experiences Kim argues for became impossible for quite a few months.

On the one hand, this very trying season proved the helpfulness of digital tech as a tool for churches. We would have been very challenged to do any kind of ministry to our congregations without it. On the other hand, it also proved Kim’s basic thesis, because complete immersion in digital church was ultimately not satisfying. It left most church members suffering from “Zoom fatigue”, and longing to get back in the room and face-to-face.

With that, let’s quickly walk through the content of the book.

A Quick Overview of Analog Church

Throughout the book, Kim repeatedly juxtaposes the power of churches’ traditional analog experiences with more recent digital innovations. He quite convincingly shows what a mistake it is to abandon all that has worked for so long.

People are hungry for human experiences, and the church is perfectly positioned to offer exactly that. (p.11)

The book is divided into three sections: worship, community, and Scripture. In each, the author acknowledges the advantages of technology, but also sounds the alarm about its limitations. He reminds us that God has designed the Church to function in embodied realities – people, places, things. And that cannot be abandoned without fundamental loss.

Worship

In the section on worship (chapters 2 and 3), Kim stresses that the purpose of a Christian worship service is congregational participation. Digital media too easily leads to Christians becoming “consumers” rather than active participants.

Community

In the second section (chapters 4 and 5), Kim lands some of his most telling blows. Technology can facilitate communication, but analog invites people to be present with one another and share real experiences. It forces people to deal with relational dynamics like forgiveness and acceptance. This physical presence is uniquely transformative.

Scripture

In the final section (chapters 6 through 8), Kim laments how Bible reading, when done at all, is fragmented, disjointed, and lacking context. He advocates for the public reading of Scripture, and for pastor to preach on longer passages of Scripture to develop contextual awareness.

Some Personal Responses to Analog Church

This book obviously seeks to swing the pendulum back in the Church. We are too often losing our prophetic role and becoming an insipid echo of the prevailing culture. I get that, and I can join the choir saying a loud “Amen!” to a lot of it.

But I also can’t help but feel that swinging that pendulum causes Kim to miss the target at times. Perhaps a quote from the book that illustrates this best is this one from chapter 3 …

Digital informs. Analog transforms.

The truth is we need both. We need information. But information should always move us toward transformation. Information is the means; transformation is the end. (p. 60)

I certainly agree with what Kim is trying to express here. Information is not enough and must lead to transformation. The problem is that BOTH digital and analog are merely tools by which truth is conveyed or experienced. Only the Spirit of God is able to actually produce transformation, and to suggest that He could only work through one and not the other is problematic. But to put it even more starkly, we must not enshrine any “form” as if IT is the Holy Spirit, rather than the means in his hands.

Just Another Trend?

Also, as I read Analog Church, I felt uneasy at times that a desire to return to more analog forms of ministry might, if we’re not careful, be merely following another fashionable trend. In exactly the same way that fifteen years ago we rushed after the culture into all things digital, we could just follow the culture again as it becomes “hip” to rediscover analog. Are we just going back to using leather Bibles because it’s “cool again” in the same way that people are going back to vinyl records?

We have to be clear about why we do things. First, we must stay in line with what Scripture directs. And second, whenever Scripture is not explicit, then we must do what is most effective in prosecuting the Church’s mission as God has revealed it. I do love many kinds of analog ministry,  but it’s because I find they are so helpful for the work, not just because analog is “back in”.

Conclusion

All that being said, I do very much recommend Analog Church as a helpfully provocative read. It’s available in paperback, Kindle eBook and audiobook versions from Amazon (click here).

If you’d like to hear the author, Jay Y.  Kim, himself speaking about Analog Church, click to play this video from the publisher …

Have you read Analog Church and have something to add? Leave a comment below.