The Virtual Church

Who says people have to worship in a building? Today more and more people are pointing and clicking their way to God from a home computer.

Samuel scott loves going to church. He has a comfortable seat, stays focused on the sermon and enjoys the fellowship. But he doesn’t have to leave his home computer desk. Like so many believers and seekers worldwide, he attends church on the Internet.

For Samuel and many others, Internet church–or virtual, Web or cyber church–is the real thing. Virtual church maybe in its infancy and largely experimental, but some believe the Internet has the potential of being at the forefront of church growth in the next decade.

Will the “virtual experience” spark a new wave of interest in church? Could this even become the church of the future? The church as a whole has never been eager to embrace changes, sometimes for good reasons. The idea of worship and fellowship online is enough to cause some, especially those grounded in traditional styles, to crash their spiritual hard drives.

All Eyes on i-Church

In its rawest form, Internet church is a webcast of a service, a Christian chat forum or an online prayer board. At its most innovative, it’s a fully interactive experience.

“All churches need to have a strategy for the Internet because people’s spiritual needs do not fall into a neat slot,” suggests Alyson Leslie, former pastor of i-Church (http://i-church.org), a Web congregation based in the United Kingdom.

I-Church was set up as an experimental forum for 20-50 people to study the Bible and pray together online. But within weeks the church, fueled by publicity, mushroomed to 900 core members and 1,000 “inquirers” from around the globe. Evangelicals, charismatics, Anglicans and Roman Catholics all took part. Leslie was overwhelmed. She advised the project’s sponsor, the Anglican Church, to overhaul its Internet strategy so i-Church could cope with the response.

At a time when attendance is falling in many churches in Europe, North America and Asia i-Church appears to be achieving what the traditional church at large has failed to do. It is opening the lines of communication and drawing the unchurched into a welcoming environment.

“Every time there is publicity about i-Church, it brings an avalanche of interest,” Leslie explains. “People come with their questions, spiritual needs and hurts–all of them looking to the church for answers. We should see the Internet, in spiritual terms, as a continent that needs to be evangelized.”

But is it really possible to have church online? It depends, Leslie suggests, on how “church” is defined. “If you see ‘church’ as a building with programs at set times of the week, then Internet church is going to make you feel uneasy,” she concedes. “But if you see church as people, then it really does not matter where they meet and interact. Church, in my opinion, is about community, and i-Church offers people the chance to join a Christian community. “Fellowship online is often deep and dynamic, Leslie adds.

“People quickly get past the social niceties and into deep spiritual conversations, sharing their spiritual longings and struggles,” she says. “You find that people are actually very quickly ministering to one another … giving of themselves to address each other’s hurts and questions about faith. I-Church has been a true blessing to hundreds.”

Much further afield, Web church is opening doors for the gospel in the Islamic world.

“The Holy Spirit is at work,” says the leader of an Arabic virtual-church project in the Middle

In a region where persecution is reality, Web church provides a place of refuge for Christians to meet and worship together in safety. “You could call [Internet church] the church of the 21st century,” the leader told Charisma. He adds that it also provides an anonymous forum for Muslims to explore the Christian faith.

Cyber Saints, Virtual Visitors

In Western culture, however, do Internet churches pander to those who won’t make the effort to attend the traditional church?

“I don’t see it as a cop-out,” responds Stephen Goddard, co-editor of U.K.-based webzine Ship of Fools, which launched the world’s first 3-D, interactive virtual church, called Church of Fools (http://churchoffools.com).

“We’re concerned that many of the people coming to Church of Fools are not [finding] meaningful church offline,” Goddard says.

Lack of funding caused Church of Fools to suspend its interactive services in September 2004, though logging on and visiting the church is still possible. Its pilot run, however, attracted thousands of visitors from around the globe. Guest preachers included well-known U.S. evangelical Tony Campolo. At its peak, Church of Fools drew 41,000 visitors during a 24-hour period.

According to Goddard, more than 50 percent of Church of Fools’ visitors are under age 30, and 60 percent are male–a significant statistic, considering that young men are among the least likely to attend traditional churches. Describing itself as “an attempt to create holy ground on the Net,” Church of Fools incorporates groundbreaking technology.

Each visitor controls his or her own 3-D animated character. Characters occupy pews, kneel to pray, raise their hands, sit, stand, move around, introduce themselves to others, shout “Amen!” and interact in other ways.

Church “wardens” monitor services and “smite,” or log out, unruly visitors. One was hastily removed after he logged on as Satan and invaded the pulpit.

Wardens, however, are sensitive toward those unfamiliar with church etiquette. Most visitors seek a worshipful experience, says Church of Fools leader Simon Jenkins.

“At first, many people thought the idea sounded ridiculous,” Jenkins told Charisma. “But when people visited the church, they were surprised by how reverent and authentic the experience is.

“The first time I entered Church of Fools, I thought, Wow, this really is church,” Jenkins recalls. “Someone nudged my character and said, ‘We should pray.’ People form circles to pray with one another. The Holy Spirit is right there.”

Regular attendees were clearly disappointed when soaring costs forced Church of Fools’ high-tech worship services offline.

“This is the kind of inspiration we need to bring the message of the gospel to a generation that is often wounded by and suspicious of the traditional church,” wrote Hugh from Augusta, Georgia, on the church’s Web site.

“In today’s world, the hardest thing for Christianity is getting people into its churches,” commented Nik from the United Kingdom. “Here you offer people the chance to sample a little of the feeling of tranquility and peace … [upon] entering a place of worship.”

Goddard–who says he is hopeful services will be back online soon–acknowledged that the site would need “significant investment to make it happen.”

The funding dilemma raises an important question: Is Internet church financially viable and sustainable?

It cost tens of thousands of dollars to launch Church of Fools and operate it for the three-month trial period (sponsored by the U.K. Methodist Church).

“At some point, I expect it to be a lot more affordable,” Jenkins says. “But right now the latest interactive technology is very expensive.”

Upgrading Web Worship

Several well-known charismatic preachers in the United States also are experimenting with Web church. T.D. Jakes beams live webcasts of services via his ministry’s Web site (www.thepottershouse.org/webcast.html) and averages 3,480 viewers per month, according to his ministry, The Potter’s House.

“This is more than a fad. Our Web services are here to stay,” insists Tanisha Pace, a spokesperson for the ministry.

Since April 2003, Argentinean evangelist Sergio Scataglini, who is based in Indiana, has pastored a Spanish-speaking Web congregation of 100 international members. Congregants log on from as far away as Argentina, Spain, Peru, Uruguay and Mexico.

“It is notabout staring at a static computer screen,” Scataglini explains. “Everything about Internet church is built on relationships. Church is the fellowship of believers, and relationships take priority over distance.”

Scataglini’s virtual church, ComunioNet (www.comunionet.com/English), is well-organized. It includes 24 cell groups, the leaders of which are trained in discipleship. The groups meet regularly online. Some of them also convene in person.

“This is real church,” Scataglini told Charisma. “Every step of the church can be fulfilled through the Internet. We baptize believers and take communion together.”

Baptism through the Internet? Scataglini presided over an actual online baptism as church members on another continent immersed the candidate. He believes Internet church is “the next natural step.”

I-Church’s Leslie agrees.

“God will use any and every means to reach people,” she says, “and the Internet can reach millions in their own homes. The Holy Spirit is present at Internet church–and He will do something wondrous.”

Workplace Faith

One day as Jesus was walking along the shore beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers — Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew — fishing with a net, for they were commercial fishermen. Jesus called out to them, “Come, be my disciples, and I will show you how to fish for people!” And they left their nets at once and went with him. A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, mending their nets. And he called them to come, too. They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind. (Matthew 4:18-22 NLT)

When God became flesh as Jesus of Nazareth, he wasn’t born to a family of priests. He didn’t come as “clergy.” He didn’t have reserved parking near the door of a church building. He was born to a working-class family. He grew up learning a practical trade. And the teaching stories he later used came from the workplace of his day — fishing, construction, farming, accounting, and the like.

Then, when he was ready to expand his work, he didn’t choose a single clergyman to be part of the group. He chose people who ranged from four men who were partners in a fishing business to an IRS agent.

So where did we ever get the idea that the heart of the work of God in the world today rests with Bible scholars and preachers? That the church is mainly a place for people to go, sit, observe, and critique professional religionists? For that matter, that church is a “place” at all? Or that anybody can be a “professional” at religion? If those ideas are right, wouldn’t Jesus have done things differently?

Since about the fourth century, church has been place more than people and Christianity more cultural movement than way of life. Evangelism has been a strategy of inviting people to come where we are and worship a cluster of activity that tends either to confuse or to tire the uninitiated who occasionally do show up. There is a better way that looks more like Jesus’ original method.

Christians are people whose love for and faith in Jesus Christ have moved them to become apprentices to him and his way of reading the world, to begin imitating his love for his Father and his commitment to making life better for human beings of whatever background or lifestyle. Their strategy is not to isolate from others but to know, befriend, and affirm their dignity. The plan is not to permit those people to come where they are but to go among them as leaven.

God must be weary of us Christians who see our task as railing against and alienating people who don’t know him! By that strategy, we give non-Christians a wrong impression of God. If we let Jesus define our terms and be the example for our lives, though, we would be befriending and protecting people. Enhancing and “flavoring” life. Receiving and including the world’s marginal people.

The arena where all these things are best and most naturally done is the workplace. It is the most neglected mission field of all! But what if you were to go to work every day as a missional person whose task is to represent Jesus?

Sunday meetings are not the best index to your faith. Your workplace is.

Work hard and cheerfully at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and the Master you are serving is Christ. (Colossians 3:23-24 NLT)

God can do the unexpected!

Salvation is God seeking men, not men seeking God. But, don’t determine what God is about to do solely from past experience or what appears to be “the norm.” God has a reputation for doing the unexpected.

In John 4:35, Jesus instructs the disciples, “Say not ye, there are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” The clue in understanding that verse is the culture and the context. The agricultural year was divided into six two-month periods – seed-time, winter, spring, harvest, summer, and the time of extreme heat. Therefore, anywhere from four to six months elapsed from the time a seek was dropped in the ground till the time that same seed was harvested. A wearisome time of sowing was often followed by a trying time of waiting. But, the point Jesus is making is that what does not happen in the natural realm does happen in the spiritual realm. The time between sowing and reaping can be so short that hardly any interval seems to separate them. The proof of this was the people of Samaria. Even though He had been there only two days, performed no miracles, and was with those the Jews regarded as enemies, the response was overwhelming. As verse 39 records it, “Many of the Samaritans of that city believed . . . ” Therefore, as He looked at the crowds rushing about Him, He said, the fields “are white already to harvest.”

Some years ago, I was speaking in the Midwest. A young lady who was not convinced there was a God came to the service. After the service, guess who trusted Christ? Upon doing so, she told my wife, “I came to this service not really convinced there was a God. The longer your husband spoke, the more God convinced me He was real.” In talking with the pastor a year ago, I found out she is still growing in Christ.

Remember, God can do the unexpected. With some, He’ll work in two years or more. With others, He’ll work in twenty minutes or less!

The Empty Chair

A man’s daughter asked the local pastor to come to their home and pray with her father. When the pastor arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows and an empty chair beside his bed. The pastor assumed that the old fellow had been informed of his visit.

“I guess you were expecting me,” he said. “No, who are you?”

“I’m the new associate at your local church,” the pastor replied.

“When I saw the empty chair, I figured you knew I was going to show up.”

“Oh yeah, the chair,” said the bedridden man.

“Would you mind closing the door?”

Puzzled, the pastor shut the door.

“I’ve never told anyone this, not even my daughter,” said the man. “But all of my life I have never known how to pray. At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it always went right over my head.”

“I abandoned any attempt at prayer,” the old man continued, “until one day about four years ago my best friend said to me, ‘Joe, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Here is what I suggest. Sit down on a chair, place an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus on the chair. It’s not spooky because he promised, ‘I’ll be with you always.’ Then just speak to him and listen in the same way that you’re doing with me right now.”

“So, I tried it, and I’ve liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day. I’m careful, though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she’d either have a nervous breakdown, or send me off to the funny farm.

The pastor was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old man to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with him, and returned to the church.

Two nights later the daughter called to tell the pastor that her daddy had died that afternoon.

“Did he seem to die in peace?” he asked.

“Yes, when I left the house around two o’clock, he called me over to his bedside, told me one of his corny jokes, and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back from the store an hour later, I found him dead. But there was something strange, in fact, beyond strange…kinda weird. Apparently, just before he died, he leaned over and rested his head on a chair beside the bed.”