(tweaked for coherency and links fixed 6/7/06, also when I first wrote this for some reason I couldn't open Cheryl's blog, but it's cool, and her presentation at the conference was great, but she should have been given more time to speak!
Firstly, apologies. It is surprisingly hard to get to the internet when at a church conference centre in suburban Melbourne. I will blog more about the rest of Melbourne soon, with photos, but here’s some thoughts I have been working on for the St Andy’s news.
I’ll start by saying I really hope I haven’t mixed up the speakers, I can’t read my own notes, even the ones I typed, which I seem to have done in 3 different documents, all called “Virtual Church” but saved in different folders. If you were there, please point out any mistakes I’ve made, or fill in any blanks!
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After the women’s conference the guys joined in for a one day conference on “Virtual Church.” As someone who is equally at home on and offline, I found it interesting that most people seemed to have a lot of prejudices about online life. People talked about Virtual Churches in opposition to “Real” churches, as though online communities aren’t real. Online relationships were seen less meaningful or permanent. One of the speakers, Phil McCredden, said that “Virtual Church is a poor reflection of real life church simply because in the virtual world relationships can be fake and superficial”. In my personal experience, however, online relationships are no more or less superficial than offline relationships. Sure, the interactions in certain chatrooms can be fairly superficial, but the conversation in certain “real life” pubs and bars isn’t very stimulating either. Hey, that's just my experience. Still, I found myself getting offended and frustrated when people listed the pitfalls of online churches, without acknowledging that many of the problems were just as common offline. The internet is not separate from the “real” world. It intersects with our everyday lives. Virtual Church extends that which already exists in the offline Church. I don’t think it’s helpful to think it terms of “Real” and “Unreal/Virtual” Church. There’s just the one church. We may be Catholic or Protestant, we may meet online or face to face, but we are all one church.
It was also interesting to realise that when people thought of “Virtual Church” they pictured something like the Church of Fools or virtualchurch a simulated experience of walking into a traditional church building. It’s true, there are a lot of Virtual Churches that try to mimic offline Churches, creating a “building” where people can meet, or worship alone, and read from service sheets that follow the same format as our paper orders of service. But what is the Church? Is it archways and pillars, service sheets and hymnbooks? Isn't it also about people, sharing a vision, supporting each other as we learn and grow in faith?
Don’t get me wrong, I think Church of Fools is fun. I just worry that it’s limiting our ideas about Virtual Church. For a start, only a few people can be virtually incarnated at once. For another, the more complicated the technology, the more things can go wrong. Check out the BBC review where the Virtual Minister crashes. Most of all, I worry that by mimicking the traditional offline church, with the minister preaching up the front, everyone reading along with the words, etc, we are missing the greatest opportunity the internet brings us; a chance to imagine entirely new ways of being Church.
The successful Virtual Churches that I have been a part of have not tried to mimic existing structures. They have been communities of people who have utilised the full potential of the medium they exist in. They have been rich and dynamic communities, using blogs, newsgroups, and chatrooms to meet, discuss, learn, change, pray, worship and commune together.
The first speaker, Alistair Macrae started by defining what “Church” went. He thought that the church is distinguished by three characteristics; it must be incarnational, communal, and sacramental.
The first of these is certainly possibly in the Virtual realm. If the Church is the continuation of Christ’s presence on earth, and comes alive whenever two or more are gathered, it shouldn’t matter whether they are connecting in a physical space, or cyberspace. Virtual church is made of real, embodied people, gathering in new ways.
The second, communal, is also part of Virtual Church. It is in communities that we have the best chance of growing closer to God, and the internet is creating new ways of meeting and interacting communally. For some people, who are geographically isolated or housebound, or in countries with no religious freedom, Virtual Church may be the only church they can be a part of. For others, Virtual Church provides an opportunity to commune with people in other parts of the world. For some who are grieving after being hurt by the traditional Church, Virtual Church is a way of maintaining some connection to a Church community, but without taking the risks of venturing back into a face-to-face congregation. I fitted into this latter category for a few years. But now St Andrew’s is meeting my needs. Not because it is face-to-face, but because it is alive with discussion, debate, and other people asking the same questions that I am.
It is the third characteristic, that the church must be sacramental, that is hardest to imagine in the Virtual realm. How can people be baptised, or receive communion, over the internet? At Alpha Church you can have your own food and drink blessed over the net, while listening to a communion service. But I don’t think this is the best solution. Sacraments are symbols of a deeper meaning. If we stop thinking about the concrete symbols (water, bread, wine) and remember the meaning behind them (being part of the community of the church) I’m sure we can imagine ways to convey these meanings through virtual symbols. We may not have Virtual touch or smell (yet!) but we have images, words and sounds.
Another guest at the conference, Paul Teusner, spoke about the forms that Virtual Church currently takes.
There are Virtual Churches that focus on evangelism; the website works as a shopfront and religion is on sale. Smile International is one of countless examples of this kind.
Others seek to create a space within cyberspace, a geographic, or cybergraphic location. (Church of Fools is an example of this kind).
Still others treat the internet as a spiritual medium, a way of connecting to other people of faith. Through blogs, newsgroups and chatrooms these Virtual Churches are abuzz with discussion. Many define themselves as “Emerging Church”. Believing that the traditional modernist structures of church have failed, Emerging Churches seek to create structureless, organic and revolutionary communities. Some examples of this kind are Ship of Fools(created by the same people who made the Church of Fools, but the ship is filled with discussion boards and chatrooms of all kinds), i-church (Church of England, offers a life chat chapel, prayer meetings, and study groups) and countless networks of blogs, including Signposts. In the comments section of Signposts there is a lot of debate about whether Virtual Church can replace or compliment offline Church, but there are several people who say that Signposts is the only church they take part in.
Do we have a Virtual Church? I think the PCANZ website has the potential to be, with it’s “e-minister”. But our own website is a static page, and not interactive. It’s no more a Church than the noticeboards we have out the front.
I think it would be great to have a St Andrew’s blog. It would be much easier to keep updated than our current static webpage. A blog is a great media for encouraging discussion and debate, as anyone can participate. We could have conversations about what we’ve been engaging in, such as the issues raised in Living the Questions, and provide a forum for contributions from other communities around the world. The strength of St Andrew's is its discussion, debates and questioning, activities that are well suited to an online environment. A virtual church?
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I’ll keep you posted on whether we start a St Andrew’s Virtual Church. Meanwhile, if you found Jesus Dress Up offensive, do not follow the following links...
From Ship of Fools, these brilliant Gadgets for God:
Ten Plagues Finger Puppets
Faith Mountain
The Bible Bar
Creditcard Rosary http://ship-of-fools.com/Gadgets/Devotional/030.html
and The Jesus Pan
Ship of Fools also have a delightful caption contest. My favourite is this one.
If you haven't already discovered the Brick Testament, you must.
Then there’s the Jesus of the Week. Some highlights include
Balloon Jesus
Football Jesus
Shrink-rapped Jesus
Virtual Church of the Blind Chihuahua offers “The Courage to be Ridiculous Before God” and has a page of Canned Theology, as well as a blog, forum, gift shop, and more.
Finally, absolutely definitely do NOT click on this link if you are easily offended. Or even not so easily. If you've felt even the slightest twinge of discomfort at any of the links above, do not even think about clicking this one.
I warned you.
