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World Council of Churches - Feature
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For immediate release - 15/12/2005

HOW FAR CAN CHURCHES GO ONLINE?

By Sheila Jacobs (*)

      Stories of transformation
      Feature series towards the WCC 9th Assembly
      More articles and free photos in
      www.wcc-assembly.info

The Internet is a revolutionary new communications space of fascinating
diversity. It reflects the richness of real life, with some of its truths
but many of its half-truths (and untruths!) too. As a virtual place, it
poses a particular conundrum to churches and the extent to which "church"
can happen within a virtual world.

It all depends on how one defines "church". Christians would probably
describe it as the collective body of Christ, gathering together to praise
God, taking part in the sacraments and the form of service enjoyed in
their chosen fellowship. So, can that reality be extended to a "virtual"
community in cyber-space?

In this age of the Internet, many churches advertise their services and
events "online". That is pretty normal and church webpages have become the
current equivalent of posters in public spaces. But, what about complete
Christian communities that exist only online; can these truly be called
"church"? Could it be that the church is transforming itself so that whole
communities, linked only in cyber-space, will be the new denominations of
the twenty-first century? After all, we bank online, we shop online. Can
we effectively "do church" online too? Or is church different?

Part of being involved in a local church is the personal interaction,
friendship and support of like-minded people. It could be argued that
cyber-churches are seeking to provide this for both those who have no
experience of church - or the gospel - and for those who are disillusioned
with organized Christianity.

For whatever reason, there are numerous people for whom traditional church
no longer seems relevant; many of them feel more comfortable surfing the
net than they would if invited to visit their local place of worship. So,
is church transforming itself to meet a need? Is cyber-church an effective
substitute, or replacement for the traditional community? Or is it an
"extra"?

> So what's out there?

The Church of England has set up www.i-church.org, under the auspices of
the diocese of Oxford. The goal is to "provide a Christian community for
people who want to explore Christian discipleship but are not able to
belong to a local congregation". The approach seeks to create an online
community which is adapted to those who travel or require more support
than they receive from their own worshipping community. Online communities
"can be loving and generous and supportive," says Alyson Leslie, a lay
pastor appointed to run the project.

Church of Fools must be one of the most ingenious ideas for cyber-church.
A 3D "virtual church" where visitors can take on a cartoon form, walk
about, sit in pews, explore and so on, Church of Fools is an extension of
www.shipoffools.com, "the magazine of Christian unrest". Running from
May-August 2004 as a three-months experiment, it gathered an online
congregation from around the world. Although the site is operational
today, it is currently only up and running on a sole visitor basis; the
multi-user basis is expected in due course - funds permitting. Visitors
can kneel, cross themselves, and do a "hallelujah" - both hands raised
high, head thrown back. They also can visit a bulletin board and pray for
each other.

Many cyber-church sites seem to offer an approximation of what church
does. Based in the United States, www.cyber-church.com says "our mission
is to bring Jesus Christ to the Internet and to unashamedly present His
Gospel of Love and Grace to all that visit here". It claims it can never
replace fellowship in one's local church, but that it can be one's "home
away from home" church. The site promises true Christian fellowship, and
offers all manner of things including Bible teachings, discussion and
"PalTalk".

Another US-based site, www.alphachurch.org, claims to be "a full on-line
Christian global church". There are Bible studies and prayer groups and
discussions, and visitors can email the pastor for confession and
absolution. Worship services are provided, with sound. One can even take
holy communion, receive baptism and be married! For taking online
communion the visitor is invited to get something to drink as well as
something to eat, to listen to a recorded communion service during which
the elements are blessed, and finally to eat and drink them...

> A good second-best?

The Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) recently held a symposium entitled
"e-Commerce, e-Bay and e-God?" a reflection of growing interest in online
communications within church communities. Tom Brok, the organizer of the
event, commented that in future there might well be a new kind of
"membership" of churches in Germany, a special web congregation where
people could keep in contact with each other and share their problems or
discuss their personal aims.

Matt Rich, from the Internet Mission, believes that cyber-church is "a
good second-best" and has positive aspects. But in his opinion, one of the
disadvantages must be that although the cyber-Christian can be involved in
quite a few elements of church life, the community aspect is limited;
church is about serving others, giving and receiving, being challenged and
challenging - and that's hard to do "virtually".

Stephen Goddard, co-editor of Church of Fools - whose official lead
sponsor is the Methodist Church in the United Kingdom - quotes Rev.
Jonathan Kerry, the church's coordinating secretary for worship and
learning: "Methodism's 18th century founder, John Wesley said: 'The world
is my parish' and 300 years later that parish includes cyber-space as
well". For Kerry, "visiting and worshipping in the Church of Fools has
been challenging and uplifting and made us think again about what are the
essentials of being a church. Bricks and mortar churches will continue,
but now supplemented by online Christian communities."

Internet "can be of tremendous benefit to churches in their difficult
mission at the dawn of the 21st century," affirm Jean-Nicholas Bazin and
Jérôme Cottin in their book Virtual Christianity [1]. Churches must be
able to have a presence on the net, "at the very least to make this new
space for social dialogue into a place where authentically human exchanges
are encouraged in an ethically fair manner," they say. The churches'
response to the Internet challenge is based on the conviction that "the
visibility of God is ahead of us and is not within our control".

> Changing

People are changing, their lives and perceptions are different, and
virtual church may be seen as an unthreatening way for them to start to
explore the spiritual dimension to life. To meet their need, church is
transforming so that it can present the good news of Jesus Christ to those
who would never attend church in a building. But it's questionable as to
whether those needs can be met purely online.

Although they may sometimes seem to be complete communities, cyber-churches may perhaps provide a stepping-stone or bridge; an introduction to
Christianity that ends in "proper" fellowship in a local place of worship.
I feel that few would claim they were a substitute for the "real thing".

Discussion forums, Bible studies, pastor's messages, reflections, stories,
testimonies and ideas, sharing your faith with those around the world* but
can believers and seekers have an experience of true, meaningful church
online? To that question, Stephen Goddard offers this reply: "We're more
concerned about the fact that many of the people coming to Church of Fools
are not getting true, meaningful church offline."

That is surely food for thought.

[1219 words]

(*) Sheila Jacobs is an award-winning Christian author. Her latest novel
is Watchers (Authentic Lifestyle, UK). She attends an Elim Pentecostal
church in Braintree, Essex, England.

Note
[1] Jean-Nicolas Bazin and Jérôme Cottin: Virtual Christianity.
Potential and Challenge for the Churches; Geneva, 2004, WCC Publications.

[Sidebar text]

9th WCC Assembly: Praying for a transformed world

The 9th assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) will be held in
Porto Alegre, Brazil, from 14-23 February 2006. Its theme is a prayer:
"God, in your grace, transform the world".

The first WCC assembly of the 21st century, it will gather up to 3,000
church leaders and ecumenical representatives from nearly every Christian
tradition around the world. As such, it will be one of the broadest global
gatherings of its kind.

WCC assemblies are often turning points in the life of the World Council,
and this one is expected to leave its mark on ecumenical history.
Deliberations will focus on issues such as the future of the ecumenical
movement, the churches' commitment to economic justice as well as their
witness to overcoming violence, and the challenges faced in the midst of
religious plurality.

In Porto Alegre, members of the ecumenical family will be able to gather
around the assembly at a Mutirão, a Portuguese word that means coming
together for a common purpose. Made up of workshops, exhibitions and
cultural celebrations, this part of the assembly programme will offer
opportunities for members of the wider ecumenical movement to gather,
reflect and celebrate together.

This is the first WCC assembly to be held in Latin America, and it is
being hosted by the National Council of Christian Churches in Brazil
(CONIC) on behalf of churches throughout the region. Pre-assembly events
for youth and for women will be held from 11-13 February.

Assembly website: www.wcc-assembly.info

[246 words]

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Stories of transformation - feature series towards the WCC 9th Assembly
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The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 347, in
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