Drawing on recent advances in mediatisation theory, the article presents a
theoretical framework for understanding the increased interplay between
religion and media. The media have become an important, if not primary,
source of information about religious issues, and religious information and
experiences become moulded according to the demands of popular media
genres. As a cultural and social environment, the media have taken over
many of the cultural and social functions of the institutionalised religions and
provide spiritual guidance, moral orientation, ritual passages and a sense of
community and belonging. Furthermore, the article considers the relationship
between mediatisation and secularisation at three levels: society,
organisation and individual. At the level of society, mediatisation is an
integral part of secularisation. At the level of organisation and the individual,
mediatisation may both encourage secular practices and beliefs and invite
religious imaginations typically of a more subjectivised nature.