Tuesday, February 03, 2026
Making as connecting: IAMS 2026 conference paper
I’m pleased to have a paper proposal accepted for International Association of Mission Studies, July 17-21, 2026 in Pretoria, South Africa. I am so grateful the conference is offering a hybrid option, to enhance accessibility for global scholars.
The theme is “Walking Together in Mission: Facing Global Challenges for a Sustainable World.” My paper responds to this theme and brings together two of my research interests, craftivism and digital technologies.
Making as connecting: the role of digital technologies in the diffusion of handmade missional innovation
Key words: digital technology, innovation, knitting, local Christian communities, making, missio Dei
This article analyses the role of social media in the diffusion of innovation among local Christian communities. In Making Is Connecting (2018), David Gauntlett argues that the internet is a new media technology that amplifies makers and making in our world today. He proposes a shift from a ‘sit back and be told’ culture to a ‘making and doing’ culture. This paper examines the implications for the missio Dei in local Christian communities by bringing empirical case study research into dialogue with contemporary theories of innovation in digital technologies.
In research published elsewhere, I have used the five Marks of Mission to analyse craftivism in local community outreach, including yarnbombing knitted Christmas angels, knitting scarves in climate justice activism, and knitting strawberries in solidarity with victims and survivors of church abuse.
Different Christian organisations initiated these knitted missional innovations, including a local Methodist circuit, a parachurch organisation and a Diocesan staff team. In each case, an active web presence and grassroots social media activity were essential in how individuals in local church communities became involved. Despite online toxicity, digital technologies enabled a peer-to-peer diffusion of innovation, driven by grassroots interest rather than top-down strategies. Digital technologies facilitated unplanned innovation at the speed of authentic sharing and peer-to-peer local connections.
Theoretically, the research supports claims that digital culture is a domain of God’s action in the world. Practically, it outlines how digital systems can support local Christian communities as they participate in the missio Dei.
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