Tony Campolo had a specific flock in mind as he prepared his first sermon for the 3-D, \u201cvirtual\u201d sanctuary at the online Church of Fools.<\/p>\n\n
Using the lingo of his discipline, the sociologist referred to the typical wired worshippers as \u201creligion-less Christians.\u201d They yearn for \u201cspirituality,\u201d but believe they can do the faith thing on their own, without an institutional church.<\/p>\n\n
Campolo also assumed they spend lots of time wielding a mouse.<\/p>\n\n
So be it.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cIn evangelism, you have to meet people where they are before you try to take them where they need to go,\u201d he said. \u201cThe reality today is that lots of people spend a good part of their lives plugged into computer screens. If that\u2019s where they are, that\u2019s where we have to go meet them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
This is the theory behind outreach work being done in \u201cvirtual churches\u201d such as www.ChurchofFools.com, which is partly sponsored by the Methodist Church of Great Britain. Some sites offer basic chat rooms, while others use interactive graphics, audio and video.<\/p>\n\n
But there are questions. How do people show repentance and commitment in a medium in which users can switch spiritual paths with a click of a mouse? Is online worship possible?<\/p>\n\n
These questions, and more, were asked in Oxford as the Church of England created its first online congregation at www.i-church.org. It is open to anyone, regardless of \u201cfaith position,\u201d politics, sexual orientation, geographical location or membership elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cI remember being taken to one side, early on in the research for i-church, and being told that not only would it not work, but that no one would want to join an online church, and that any kind of Christian community that was not a sacramental community was a deficient community,\u201d said the Rev. Richard Thomas, in the dedication sermon.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cIt depends on how you define sacraments. My own definition suggests that sacraments are those things that make God, or his grace, \u2018visible.\u2019 To that end, we have at the last count around 700 applications for membership. \u2026 These people are willing to commit to Christian discipleship, and to support others on the journey. If that is not sacramental, I don\u2019t know what is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Cyberspace includes millions of seekers and believers. The \u201cFaith Online\u201d project conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life project found that 64 percent of online Americans \u2014 representing 82 million people \u2014 have used the Internet for faith-related reasons. They read religion news, download religious music, explore strange books, forward inspirational messages, share prayer requests and find alternative sanctuaries.<\/p>\n\n
Most practice a specific faith, but many do not. While 54 percent of the online faithful are \u201creligious and spiritual,\u201d 33 percent describe themselves as \u201cspiritual but not religious.\u201d Some use the anonymity of cyberspace as a safe place to research new ways of living and worshipping.<\/p>\n\n
Once in this global marketplace, these seekers are almost sure to find like-minded people who are \u201casking the same questions, searching for the same kind of experiences or even suffering a similar sense of pain or loss,\u201d said Stewart Hoover of the University of Colorado, the study\u2019s lead author. It\u2019s natural for these people to form groups online, based on their needs and interests. The Internet is all about options.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cBut for most of these people, I really don\u2019t see this replacing what they already have in terms of their faith,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s more like a value-added situation. The religion they find on the Web needs to add on to what they are already experiencing somewhere else, with a real group of believers in a real community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
And there is one more question that lurks in the background, especially for those who fund these experimental sites. How can they measure the success of a \u201cvirtual\u201d church?<\/p>\n\n
\u201cWe know that encounters are taking place that are changing lives,\u201d said Stephen Goddard, co-creator of the Church of Fools. \u201cIs that success? We know there have been some amazing intellectual conversations about the faith that have been going on down in the church crypt for weeks. Is that a success?<\/p>\n\n
\u201cWe know that some people say that they are coming back into Christian fold because of this. They are more open to the faith, because of what we\u2019ve done. Is that a success?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tony Campolo had a specific flock in mind as he prepared his first sermon for the 3-D, \u201cvirtual\u201d sanctuary at the online Church of Fools. Using the lingo of his discipline, the sociologist referred to the typical wired worshippers as \u201creligion-less Christians.\u201d They yearn for \u201cspirituality,\u201d but believe they can do the faith thing on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[219,281,342,932],"class_list":["post-1293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-church-of-fools","tag-cyberspace","tag-evangelism","tag-world-wide-web"],"yoast_head":"\n