22 Oct 2025, 12:53Catherine Anthony BoldeauBracknell, Bracknell Forest, England, United Kingdom
ConnectED25, Faith, Tech and the Future: SEC and Newbold College Host Groundbreaking Outreach Conference
'This was a visionary event, inspired by the Holy Spirit… anyone who missed this, you must come to the next one. It was informative, inspirational and exactly what you need to move into the future of media and communication' remarked Cynthia Osei Owusu-Arthur, HR professional and presenter of the IN2G show, produced by the British Union Conference (BUC). Her sentiments captured the buzz and enthusiasm of the recent connectED25: Faith, Tech and the Future of Outreach conference, a collaborative venture by the Media and Communication department of the South England Conference (SEC) and the Newbold College of Higher Education, held on Sunday, 12 October.
This state-of-the-art gathering brought together pastors, church leaders, and passionate lay members not only from the UK and Ireland but also from as far away as the Netherlands. And the overarching goal was clear: to bridge the perceived chasm between timeless faith principles and the rapid advancements of the digital arena, transforming technology from mere service equipment and platforms into cutting-edge tools for mission and outreach in this part of the world.
Keynote Address
Pastor Joe Philpott, newly elected Associate Communication Director of the Trans-European Division (TED), kicked off the conference. His presentation, “Digital Discipleship – Called to Connect”, incorporated personal narrative, inspirational dialogue with solid theological grounding. Drawing on the biblical command by Jesus to his disciples in Acts 1:8, 'But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth' (NIV), he states that 'Jesus doesn't give them a communication strategy, but he gives them a mandate that the Spirit would work through them'. He continued, 'witnesses are called to give a factual account of what they have experienced… and be an authentic witness for God'.
He encouraged the attendees to 'communicate the gospel through the 'reporter's pen as a pulpit,' through the photographer's lens and a graphic designer's image. ' In closing, he reassured the listeners that 'the same power that carried the disciples through… is the same Holy Spirit' with heaven-sent power to us today. All we need to do is answer the call, 'Here am I, send me.'
Foundations
Plunging us into a world of digital disruption, emerging technologies, academic rigour and faith-based mission was Dr Sorin Petrof, Director of Media and Communication, and organiser of the event, who is not only a researcher in media studies, a guest lecturer at Newbold College, but a specialist in communication strategy and digital transformation.
Quoting from historian Yuval Harani, he stated, that 'Religions that lost touch with the technical realities of the day forfeit their ability even to understand the questions been asked' and went on to emphasise that 'if we don't engage meaningfully with technology, we won't simply struggle to reach people – we won't understand… the world they are navigating'. He then stated that this forum 'exists to ensure we remain relevant, effective and faithful in our outreach'. We're here to equip ourselves with the skills, vision and theological grounding necessary to harness digital tools for God's mission.
TED-style Talks
If you thought you were attending this conference to touch on the rudiments of social media —posting short devotions, quotes, or scripture —there was a steep learning curve to climb.
With a specialisation in Digital Disruption, Pastor Carlos Magalhães, Director of Digital Strategies, South American Division delivered a presentation entitled, “AI, Gaming, Streaming to Engage Gen Z” providing examples of the use of AI tutors for Bible studies, Films as modern parables and Games, Virtual Reality (VR) and the Metaverse for use in Pathfinders. He concluded that the lessons learned from his work in this area are 1) people use technology seek friendship, belonging and acceptance, 2) focus on the younger generation but you will find that all age groups value connection, 3) we need not fear technology if we use Christ method as detailed in the Ministry of Healing (page 74) and, 4) the Seventh-day Adventist Church needs to be where Gen Z generation is.
Paulin Giurgi, Vice President of Hope Media Europe, spoke about "From Screens to Streets: Faith in Action." With nine media centres in the Inter-European Division, they reach 2.5 million people monthly. 'There is a danger of treating faith as a commodity,' he said. We are not sellers, we are disciples.' But disciples who make an impact through 1) uniqueness, 2) context, 3) profiling, 4) innovation, 5) creativity, 6) relevance, 7) regularity, 8) influence, 9) presence, 10) entertainment (engagement).
Keith Kirk's presentation was titled "Harnessing Music Publishing for Digital Mission." A qualified and seasoned musician and music business manager, he is now the CEO of Code Group Music, a company specialising in music metadata administration. 'How many of the 695 hymns in the Seventh-day Adventist hymnal were written by Adventists? was one of his probing questions, and the audience was surprised at the low number of 1.5%. He then proceeded to give a short history of Chapel Music (formerly Chapel Records), the Adventist record label that was founded in the 1940's and has released music for The Kings Heralds, The Heritage Singers and Wintley Phipps, provided details of agencies that were willing to work with Adventist composers and arrangers and highlighted the growing influence of Christian music world-wide for outreach.
Dr Dan Serb, Newbold College Principal, and co-organiser of this event, delivered RELATE: Faith, AI & Relationships, the intersection of belief, technology and human connections. While supporting the use of AI for outreach and its benefits to the mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, he also spoke about the challenges, noting that 'AI is the first tool in history that can make decisions by itself independently and autonomously'. He completed his presentation by quoting Rowan Williams, the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, by saying, 'The holy presence is not one item to be noticed among others, but the foundation of all noticing'.
The key characteristics of the distracted generation are 1) a crisis of attention, 2) informational overload, 3) loss of stillness, and 4) inhibition of spiritual life. Neil Nunes, a globally trusted BBC news presenter, delivered his presentation, Communicating to a Distracted Generation, by stating that we need to appeal to the H.E.A.R.T. Through holy intention, empathy, attraction, revelation and the touching of their will, we can engage more meaningfully with those who are often immersed in worlds dictated by social media.
'Where were you in 1982? ' was one of the first questions that Pastor Christian Salcianu, the Principal of the Adventist Discovery Centre, asked as he opened his presentation, “Leading in a Digital Age: From Scripture to Strategy”. Using an illustration from Time Magazine, which, in a significant cultural shift, broke with tradition and named the personal computer Machine of the Year rather than the usual Person of the Year, he invited the attendees to recognise the profound and growing influence that computers had 33 years ago. His thesis focused on discerning divine vision to empower individuals to become digital missionaries in a constantly changing landscape.
Eunice Alves, BT Product Designer, spoke about design in her presentation, “Maximising Your Canva Skills for Digital Outreach”. She provided four principles for great design that engage: 1) beauty draws attention, 2) story builds connection, 3) familiarity builds trust, and 4) emotion drives action. 'God is the original designer, ' she stated, who was intentional in creating the world, and she encouraged the participants to ensure that they learned how to use sound design on their local church websites, poster design and social media posts.
“Exploring WhatsApp for Pastoral Connections” was the topic of Pastor Pavle Trajkovski's presentation. The youth pastor of Newbold Church and an alumnus of the college, he researched the role of group chats in pastoral care as part of his MA in Theology. Arguing that most church WhatsApp groups are used to 'broadcast' information such as forthcoming events, he asked several poignant questions, such as 'can we achieve personal interaction in a digital space?' and 'can the warmth of a handshake be translated into our digital spaces?' concluding that with intentionality even the 'dreaded WhatsApp group' can be turned into an instrument of God's grace, in God's hands.
These eight 15-minute, TED-style talks were then expanded as 50-minute workshops in the afternoon.
The Panel
'What is the single biggest challenge for digital outreach? How do we balance public platforms and private spaces? How do we ensure that the voice of Gen Z is heard and used more effectively? These are some of the questions that were discussed in detail by the panel of presenters, with audience interaction. The key takeaway from this session was that community and connection are essential in outreach. Still, the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the UK and Ireland needs to harness the power of the digital space, under the control of the Holy Spirit, to be most relevant and impactful.
Reflecting on the day, Pastor Joe Philpott, whose keynote address opened the event, said, 'connectED was excellent, the environment was good, the networking opportunities superb and the event was Spirit-led'.
'This was a visionary event, inspired by the Holy Spirit… anyone who missed this, you must come to the next one. It was informative, inspirational and exactly what you need to move into the future of media and communication' remarked Cynthia Osei Owusu-Arthur, HR professional and presenter of the IN2G show, produced by the British Union Conference (BUC). Her sentiments captured the buzz and enthusiasm of the recent connectED25: Faith, Tech and the Future of Outreach conference, a collaborative venture by the Media and Communication department of the South England Conference (SEC) and the Newbold College of Higher Education, held on Sunday, 12 October.
This state-of-the-art gathering brought together pastors, church leaders, and passionate lay members not only from the UK and Ireland but also from as far away as the Netherlands. And the overarching goal was clear: to bridge the perceived chasm between timeless faith principles and the rapid advancements of the digital arena, transforming technology from mere service equipment and platforms into cutting-edge tools for mission and outreach in this part of the world.
Keynote Address
Pastor Joe Philpott, newly elected Associate Communication Director of the Trans-European Division (TED), kicked off the conference. His presentation, “Digital Discipleship – Called to Connect”, incorporated personal narrative, inspirational dialogue with solid theological grounding. Drawing on the biblical command by Jesus to his disciples in Acts 1:8, 'But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth' (NIV), he states that 'Jesus doesn't give them a communication strategy, but he gives them a mandate that the Spirit would work through them'. He continued, 'witnesses are called to give a factual account of what they have experienced… and be an authentic witness for God'.
He encouraged the attendees to 'communicate the gospel through the 'reporter's pen as a pulpit,' through the photographer's lens and a graphic designer's image. ' In closing, he reassured the listeners that 'the same power that carried the disciples through… is the same Holy Spirit' with heaven-sent power to us today. All we need to do is answer the call, 'Here am I, send me.'
Foundations
Plunging us into a world of digital disruption, emerging technologies, academic rigour and faith-based mission was Dr Sorin Petrof, Director of Media and Communication, and organiser of the event, who is not only a researcher in media studies, a guest lecturer at Newbold College, but a specialist in communication strategy and digital transformation.
Quoting from historian Yuval Harani, he stated, that 'Religions that lost touch with the technical realities of the day forfeit their ability even to understand the questions been asked' and went on to emphasise that 'if we don't engage meaningfully with technology, we won't simply struggle to reach people – we won't understand… the world they are navigating'. He then stated that this forum 'exists to ensure we remain relevant, effective and faithful in our outreach'. We're here to equip ourselves with the skills, vision and theological grounding necessary to harness digital tools for God's mission.
TED-style Talks
If you thought you were attending this conference to touch on the rudiments of social media —posting short devotions, quotes, or scripture —there was a steep learning curve to climb.
With a specialisation in Digital Disruption, Pastor Carlos Magalhães, Director of Digital Strategies, South American Division delivered a presentation entitled, “AI, Gaming, Streaming to Engage Gen Z” providing examples of the use of AI tutors for Bible studies, Films as modern parables and Games, Virtual Reality (VR) and the Metaverse for use in Pathfinders. He concluded that the lessons learned from his work in this area are 1) people use technology seek friendship, belonging and acceptance, 2) focus on the younger generation but you will find that all age groups value connection, 3) we need not fear technology if we use Christ method as detailed in the Ministry of Healing (page 74) and, 4) the Seventh-day Adventist Church needs to be where Gen Z generation is.
Paulin Giurgi, Vice President of Hope Media Europe, spoke about "From Screens to Streets: Faith in Action." With nine media centres in the Inter-European Division, they reach 2.5 million people monthly. 'There is a danger of treating faith as a commodity,' he said. We are not sellers, we are disciples.' But disciples who make an impact through 1) uniqueness, 2) context, 3) profiling, 4) innovation, 5) creativity, 6) relevance, 7) regularity, 8) influence, 9) presence, 10) entertainment (engagement).
Keith Kirk's presentation was titled "Harnessing Music Publishing for Digital Mission." A qualified and seasoned musician and music business manager, he is now the CEO of Code Group Music, a company specialising in music metadata administration. 'How many of the 695 hymns in the Seventh-day Adventist hymnal were written by Adventists? was one of his probing questions, and the audience was surprised at the low number of 1.5%. He then proceeded to give a short history of Chapel Music (formerly Chapel Records), the Adventist record label that was founded in the 1940's and has released music for The Kings Heralds, The Heritage Singers and Wintley Phipps, provided details of agencies that were willing to work with Adventist composers and arrangers and highlighted the growing influence of Christian music world-wide for outreach.
Dr Dan Serb, Newbold College Principal, and co-organiser of this event, delivered RELATE: Faith, AI & Relationships, the intersection of belief, technology and human connections. While supporting the use of AI for outreach and its benefits to the mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, he also spoke about the challenges, noting that 'AI is the first tool in history that can make decisions by itself independently and autonomously'. He completed his presentation by quoting Rowan Williams, the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, by saying, 'The holy presence is not one item to be noticed among others, but the foundation of all noticing'.
The key characteristics of the distracted generation are 1) a crisis of attention, 2) informational overload, 3) loss of stillness, and 4) inhibition of spiritual life. Neil Nunes, a globally trusted BBC news presenter, delivered his presentation, Communicating to a Distracted Generation, by stating that we need to appeal to the H.E.A.R.T. Through holy intention, empathy, attraction, revelation and the touching of their will, we can engage more meaningfully with those who are often immersed in worlds dictated by social media.
'Where were you in 1982? ' was one of the first questions that Pastor Christian Salcianu, the Principal of the Adventist Discovery Centre, asked as he opened his presentation, “Leading in a Digital Age: From Scripture to Strategy”. Using an illustration from Time Magazine, which, in a significant cultural shift, broke with tradition and named the personal computer Machine of the Year rather than the usual Person of the Year, he invited the attendees to recognise the profound and growing influence that computers had 33 years ago. His thesis focused on discerning divine vision to empower individuals to become digital missionaries in a constantly changing landscape.
Eunice Alves, BT Product Designer, spoke about design in her presentation, “Maximising Your Canva Skills for Digital Outreach”. She provided four principles for great design that engage: 1) beauty draws attention, 2) story builds connection, 3) familiarity builds trust, and 4) emotion drives action. 'God is the original designer, ' she stated, who was intentional in creating the world, and she encouraged the participants to ensure that they learned how to use sound design on their local church websites, poster design and social media posts.
“Exploring WhatsApp for Pastoral Connections” was the topic of Pastor Pavle Trajkovski's presentation. The youth pastor of Newbold Church and an alumnus of the college, he researched the role of group chats in pastoral care as part of his MA in Theology. Arguing that most church WhatsApp groups are used to 'broadcast' information such as forthcoming events, he asked several poignant questions, such as 'can we achieve personal interaction in a digital space?' and 'can the warmth of a handshake be translated into our digital spaces?' concluding that with intentionality even the 'dreaded WhatsApp group' can be turned into an instrument of God's grace, in God's hands.
These eight 15-minute, TED-style talks were then expanded as 50-minute workshops in the afternoon.
The Panel
'What is the single biggest challenge for digital outreach? How do we balance public platforms and private spaces? How do we ensure that the voice of Gen Z is heard and used more effectively? These are some of the questions that were discussed in detail by the panel of presenters, with audience interaction. The key takeaway from this session was that community and connection are essential in outreach. Still, the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the UK and Ireland needs to harness the power of the digital space, under the control of the Holy Spirit, to be most relevant and impactful.
Reflecting on the day, Pastor Joe Philpott, whose keynote address opened the event, said, 'connectED was excellent, the environment was good, the networking opportunities superb and the event was Spirit-led'.
