Introduction

In many ways the traditional Christian institutions of western societies have taken shape through their engagement with and negotiation of the social, intellectual and media frameworks of western culture. Mary Hess explores possibilities for Christian education in making the cultural shift from being focused on religious institutions to the lived context of popular media culture. Adan Medrano, an independent film producer with extensive experience in church media, reflects on the tensions experienced by a religious artist in a life lived and work produced. Frances Forde Plude argues that old authoritarian and propagandistic communication patterns that once worked in a media culture dominated by the power of institutions does not work in a media culture that is diverse, has decentralized patterns of production, where information spreads rapidly and cannot be controlled.