I Am as Old as the Cell Phone

A Digital Ministry Memoir

On Mondays I'll share a bit of my "how I got into digital ministry" story. My hope is to reflect on how my story continues to impact the work I do today in the hope that you will reflect on your story and how it does the same.

The first commercial cell phone call was made on October 13, 1983 in Chicago, Illinois. And just one state to the left, in a small town in Iowa on that exact same day, I was born.

I am as old as the cell phone.

We're not sure which one caused the other to happen, but these two stories began on the exact same day.

This makes me an elder millennial (or geriatric millennial, if you prefer), growing up before the internet existed and seeing it fit into the palm of my hand by the time I was a young adult. I remember Zach Morris’ chunky cell phone on Saved By the Bell, around the same time when I was a chunky toddler. Over the years the cell phone got thinner, sleeker, smarter, sexier. (And so did I!)

And all the while I was growing up in the church.

My dad is a retired Lutheran pastor. My earliest memories are being pushed up and down the basement hallway in his office chair, raiding the church kitchen for leftover cookies, and playing ping pong in the youth room. And followed his lead, in a way, and found myself studying youth ministry and eventually an M.Div. (where I tonight myself html and css while the seminary taught me Greek and Hebrew, but that's another story for another day.)

These two origins – the cell phone and the church – make me the antitheses of any "no cellphones allowed" signs that we still find in church lobbies and narthexes today (including the church where I currently work!). I can’t imagine ministry that doesn’t involve responding to comments on a TikTok video, engaging in the livechat on YouTube, posting a photo on Instagram, splashing around on Bluesky, capturing photos and videos, Zoom calls, DMs, and more.

For me, it is obvious and inevitable that this emerging communications technology must be integrated into the life and work of the church. The church is the people, and our cell phones have become an integral way that people connect with one another.

Cell phones are about more than making phone calls – does anyone actually still use them for that anymore?! – but they allow us to capture ideas, share memories, make new friends and reconnect with old, and so much more.

I can't imagine life, let alone ministry, without a cell phone. And I am eager to see how communication technology continues to evolve and all the ways it will allow us to connect with one another.

What are your first experiences with cell phones?
How have this technology made an impact on your life, your faith, and your ministry?

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