The Power of Virtual Space

The following essay emerges from the consultation of Evangelical Catholics and Catholic Evangelicals at the 2016 convention of the College Theology Society, which brings together Catholica and Protestant voices concerning a shared topic. In 2016, the theme of liturgy and contemporary social and communications media was in focus. As panelists, we offered complementary papers that have become two sections of this essay. In the first section, Katherine Schmidt provides a theological account of media from a Catholic perspective. Through reflections on the mediatory character of the incarnation, she argues that para-liturgical or extra-liturgical spaces are integral to the Eucharistic assembly and that the internet is at once challenging and cultivating such spaces. In the second section, Derek Hatch provides an historical account of the broader Christian engagement with media, presented through his experience as a Baptist. He argues that, while earlier technological approaches reinforced confessional boundaries, the internet provides new spaces for fruitful ecumenical relationships. Together, we claim that contemporary experience with social media technologies offers a particular cultural and ecclesial moment for engaging with theological difference both within and without our respective traditions and for cultivating renewed visions of the fullness of the church catholic.