web church : tech thoughts

There are a few churches that really seem to be embracing technology as a means to engage culture where they are at, rather than using technology to not be left behind. The problem is, if the only motivation for using new tech is to be like everyone else, you’re already going to be behind where you need to be. Of ministry leaders’ blogs I read, when congregations are polled there are typically at least 50%-60% of new attendees that visited the church website before coming for the first time. Looking at this, a church has two options:

1. Make a website because “I guess we should have something (even if the calendar hasn’t been updated since last September)”;

2.  Create a website that is actually an extensions of the church’s ministry, just as useful and interactive as the other means of ministry and/or marketing

Somewhere in the years past, the church has gone from being the forefront of technology (remember the printing press?) to many being – I’ll say it – too holy for the culture’s technology. As Mark Batterson wrote, “churches need to be redeeming technology and using it for God’s purposes!

Sure, there are some examples, like LifeChurch.tv’s Second Life campus. Instead of having a presence in where the world is, instead the Christian culture has felt the need to create a “holy” alternatives to things like MySpace and YouTube. I’m sure there are good things about these alternative sites – my point isn’t to tear those down. I’m just saying that we can make a better effort as follower of Jesus to engage culture where they’re at in regards to technology, rather than asking the world to come to us.

web church – in the community

a friend from tejas told me this story recently

she and her husband were graduate students in Austin and looking for a church of their home denomination, which they found. over a very short time, both of the pastors at that church left to take other pastoral positions, each time causing a split in the church. by the time the second pastor left, the church had dwindled to about 40 people. literally everyone who attended attended to a need of the church to run sunday morning, and the wednesday night bible study was, well, also everyone. it sounded basically like a house church that happened to have – 3 buildings. a lot for 40 people. that church was also in a declining area of town; no one new was coming because of the growing poor reputation of that area. the church finally ended up shutting its doors.

it’s a situation like that i wonder if a web church – church with a teaching broadcast but still a group meeting together – would be a good option/alternative. certainly many churches that have multiple campuses (campusi?) still rely on a church to have a point pastor and a staff to facilitate the operation of that building. but what if a group of people want to basically star a church for a community but are all working professionals, or have families, etc, that would prevent a team from working full time and being supported by said church. if a web based church was available, all that group would really need are leaders willing to sacrifice a little to a specific area – leading a bible study, or organizing community events, for instance. we’re seeing more and more that while a dedicated building is nice, it’s really optional.

now that we most definitely have the technology to connect people (and groups of people) around the world, why not utilize it? with a little training, even a missionary with a video camera could upload video for a home/supporting church to watch. seriously, we can do better than a slide show. i see a videocast being a huge step toward planting churches in rural/run down/unchurched areas, with the right leadership and organization.

web church – connecting

i’ve been thinking a lot the past weeks about trying to figure out how i feel about ‘the church’ and internet. there are definitely a lot of directions this could go…my thought here has to do with interpersonal connections and relationships. a number of churches, both large and small, are now podcasting sermons; i listen to about 4 different churches throughout the week. then there are some churches that even have ‘internet campuses’. this intrigues me.

one of the biggest (if not the biggest) is lifechurch.tv in OK. this isn’t simply an internet-based church – it is a physical building with real staff interacting with people in the sense of traditional church. but this is different in that in also has campuses around the country, over an internet video feed. so what could something like this mean for the church at large in not just the future, but very much the present?

my first thought/concern is focused on connecting with people. so much of what the church is is fellowship and discipleship, which mean interacting with other people fact to face. could this be lost if not structured properly? absolutely. but i believe one of the reasons that churches like life church and other megachurches have grown so much is that they understand a key principal – as you grow large you must at the same time grow smaller! i don’t think that it is a coincidence that when you look at how some of these multi-thousand member churches began, it’s very similar. newspring church, saddleback, life church.tv; they all began as small groups. read their websites or check wikipedia – it’s there.

so is an internet campus-based church really that different from a large church that has a video feed to a screen up front? i really think not. is it really an issue (problem) if the only thing that really changes is the means and not the message? i don’t think so. but what has to happen is the leadership being intentional about creating an atmosphere of small groups and connectivity. it’s then the responsibility of the church to teach those groups & leaders how to lead, thus empowering the church body to be able to feed it self instead of being founded on anything other than Jesus; not a pastor, not a building.

i’m excited to follow how some of these churches continue to develop and how they effect and meet needs in the community.