Trailblazin Ministries Blog

Ramblings

Web Church?

Written by LaRosa Johnson
Tuesday, 27 November 2007
Filed under: Ramblings, Stuff on the Web

Off and on for a while now, my friend Antoine and I have been discussing the concept and schematics for a church that is built around the Internet and technology, a church without walls shall we say. We have gone back and forth with our thoughts and ideas, bouncing things off each other as we try to figure out the reality of this and to what extent something like this could possibly happen. Well, this morning I was reading an announcement at a Christian forum that I had recently joined, and they made an interesting remark about how they were not, nor intended to be, an online church. Let me quote a portion of their announcement:

...For those of you who consider Bible Forums as your "church/fellowship" then let me be the first to tell you... Get real. This is not a local gathering of believers and that is what we need and it is very much a biblical requirement. We operate in a biblical manner as best as can be done within this medium. We are a gathering of believers. We can talk about the Bible and pray for each other and do many things that are similar to that gathering of believers laid out in the Bible. BUT there are MANY things that we cannot do and it is those many things that discount us as your "church/fellowship."...

On the one hand, I wholeheartedly applauded their statement because they firmly knew what they were trying to do with their forum, and also knew what they didn't want to do; on the other hand, I felt that there were drawing a pretty harsh line in the sand when it comes to the capabilities of the Internet and their use within the Body. Right now, I'm sitting on the fence because I do not know which side I fall on, so let me at least try to explain my current thought processes so you can see where I'm at.

Let me start by telling you why I agree with what this forum wrote. Now, I can only speak for myself, but I must say that there is absolutely no substitute for face-to-face communication and interaction. There is only so much that can be had via an online chat or telephone conversation. Those hugs, handshakes & facial expressions are sorely missed in an online medium. That's not to say that fellowship cannot be had online. For example, my friend Antoine and I talk almost daily (having never physically met), and we have some of the most intimate times of fellowship through our chats where we discuss life, technology, and the Word of God. The fellowship that we have would rival that of the physical fellowship that I have with others.

As far as this whole idea about having church online, it's a tricky subject, as it brings up more questions than answers. Who would be the pastor? Who would be the elders/deacons? How would finances be handled? When would services be? How often would they be held? Who manages the web space? How does counseling work? What about the language barrier? There are just lots of questions. One of the main questions that comes to mind is accountability. How are church members going to be held accountable in this kind of setting? It's very easy to create an identity online without revealing who you really are, so what's to keep people from doing that in a "church" setting; we already know how fake people can be in person, how much more so online?!

I'm not sure where I sit. I love technology, and I even use it to teach the Word of God, as you can clearly see. I'm just don't know the extent that we should be willing to go in terms of trying to be relevant to the culture and maximizing our use of technology. I can see something like that working if done right, but I still cannot see it working without there being local safeguards being setup to keep people fed & grounded outside of the web setting.

Just some questions and food for thought...

Btw, Antoine talked about this on his blog too @ AntoineRJWright.com