There seems to be a bit of a debate raging in the US over the use of Halo 3 in Youth Ministry spurred by an article in the New York Times called Thou Shalt Not Kill, Except in a Popular Video Game at Church.
The alliance of popular culture and evangelism is challenging churches much as bingo games did in the 1960s. And the question fits into a rich debate about how far churches should go to reach young people.
Far from being defensive, church leaders who support Halo  despite its “thou shalt kill†credo  celebrate it as a modern and sometimes singularly effective tool. It is crucial, they say, to reach the elusive audience of boys and young men…
Once they come for the games, Gregg Barbour, the youth minister of the church said, they will stay for his Christian message. “We want to make it hard for teenagers to go to hell,†Mr. Barbour wrote in a letter to parents at the church.
Various bloggers have highlighted the article and given their own opinions (try here, here, and here for examples). I have to admit, I’d not really given it much thought as we don’t use video games in any of our regular activities but there are compelling arguments for and against the use of these games in ministry. Whatever you views on using the game as a ministry tool, I still would have thought it prudent to stick to the legal age limit (15 in the UK) which the churches in the article were not doing.
4 responses to “The Halo Effect”
I’m sure I remember seeing a game where you take the role of a super-priest, running around various environments, saving sinners… Could just be making it up though!
Bet it was rubbish!
I’m sure I remember seeing a game where you take the role of a super-priest, running around various environments, saving sinners… Could just be making it up though!
Bet it was rubbish!
There was a game many years ago called “Captain Bible” where you ran around battling space aliens by telling them Bible verses…but yeh…it was rubbish!
I think the topic is actually something up for debate…but defo agree about staying to the age limit!
There was a game many years ago called “Captain Bible” where you ran around battling space aliens by telling them Bible verses…but yeh…it was rubbish!
I think the topic is actually something up for debate…but defo agree about staying to the age limit!