"A CHURCH that does not address the issues that matter to the net culture is worse than irrelevant. It is a church that ignores Jesus' instruction to be 'salt' and 'light' in the world and that world must include the realm of cyberspace."
That is the view of Andrew P. Careaga, youth pastor and journalist, in his book eMinistry: Connecting with the Net Generation, published in 2001 by Kregel Publications.
Pastor Careaga's book joins the growing field of literature which explores doing Christian ministry to a generation that came of age with the dawn of the worldwide web phenomenon of the mid-1990s the 'net generation'. He argues strongly, in 216 pages, that it is wake-up time for the Church. For the Church to not have a significant presence in cyberspace, he says, is to default on its Christian responsibilities and to pave the way for people, especially young people, to be influenced by the negatives already on the net, such as online porn, hate groups, cults and the New Age Movement.
Few churches in Jamaica have established a web site. Fewer still have a website that is constantly updated. But thankfully, many do now have an
e-mail address.
SURFING FOR THE SPIRIT
Pastor Careaga cites frequently and approvingly the works of Christian sociologist and pollster, George Barna. He notes that in Mr. Barna's role as futurist, he is of the view that before long millions of persons will never set foot in a physical church building, but will be roaming the Internet for meaningful spiritual experiences. At least one online survey maintains that 38.4 per cent of the persons who use the Internet in the United States identify themselves as Christians. With this in mind, Pastor Careaga stressed, "Church leaders must recognise how ingrained this technology is becoming in the lives of their congregants and welcome the cyber church into the fold. The Internet is here to stay. So, too, are thousands of seekers who feel alienated from the traditional church and are turning elsewhere to find relevance, meaning and spiritual connections."
The Internet allows shy people and others who want to enjoy anonymity to pursue truth online, especially through having their questions answered in Christian chat-rooms.
Pastor Careaga cites a 1999 survey of Christian teens who use the Internet regularly. The survey found that the majority of them feel freer to discuss their faith over the net than in face-to-face conversations. He concludes, "Contrary to the belief that the Internet draws people away from traditional institutions such as the church and family, most of these teens say that they were just as involved in church activities today as they were before getting on the net. In some instances, the teens were even more active in church since they logged onto cyberspace."
In fact, citing Barna, Pastor Careaga says that one in every six church-going teen expects to rely increasingly on the Internet to meet their spiritual needs in the coming years. For example, the book cites Southampton's Community Church's website - sublime.hants.org.uk - where about 150 children from the church find at that Internet address, a meeting place they might otherwise not have found. Nevertheless, many teens still see the need to attend the physical church as a virtual church does not offer hugs and a sufficient level of accountability.
PROMISE FOR EVANGELISM
Because millions of Christians log on each day to satisfy their spiritual needs and also millions of non-Christians use the Internet daily in pursuit of the transcendent, the Internet offers much promise for evangelism and discipleship or maybe e-evangelism and digital discipleship.
Pastor Careaga cites as an example, Campus Crusade for Christ, a parachurch organisation founded by Bill Bright, the internationally renowned speaker, which has broadcast its enormously popular 'Jesus' film on the web in 50 different languages.
The factors making the net a useful tool for Christian ministry, Pastor Careaga says, include:
First, its interactive facility. It allows a preacher's message, for example, to be linked to visuals, video and audio clips - all to complement the
sermon.
Second, the Internet is anti-hierarchical. In this way the pastors and elders in the church are no more the "sole custodians of knowledge and wisdom." Pastor Careaga notes that when Herbert W. Armstrong, the founder and leader of the Worldwide Church of God, died in 1986, his followers, by the mid-1990s, began discussing theology in chat rooms. By the end of the 1990s, these followers severed their association with the teachings of Armstrong and embraced orthodoxy so much so that the Worldwide Church of God was admitted as a member of the National Association of Evangelicals.
Third, the Internet is not fettered by time and space. One can log on any time and in just about any place.
HOT TOPICS
Religion, after porn and e-trading, is the hottest subject in cyberspace, many online surveys concur. Yet, despite the promise of cyberspace, there are perils there too such as was evidenced when, in 1997, a cult called Heaven's Gate, got 39 of its followers to kill themselves in a mass suicide to reach a better level of existence.
Accordingly, Pastor Careaga warns, "If churches won't address the interests and obsessions of real people especially the young - then the cults and the alternative religions will." The 'net generation', he says, are not only faith-surfing but are "identity-surfing", that is, trying to find themselves, experimenting with different personas or aspects of their selves.
The church, says Pastor Careaga, must develop for children, online communities that are safe, loving and biblical. He said: "No reason exists for a church not to be present on the worldwide web. Free web space is available from a plethora of Internet services. But establishing a presence is not enough. Use a church website as a launching pad for the 'net generation'. Create a chat room on the church's site or an electronic mailing list. Establish a web ministry to monitor the chat room and to send out e-mail to the congregation. Involve your church's teens in the process. In fact, why not let the teens lead the project? They're the ones who know the medium best anyway.
"The church must move beyond developing a presence in cyberspace. Christians must populate cybercommunities - chat rooms, web-based communities, online forums, and other models of virtual gathering places - to be the salt and the light that the dark reaches of the net so desperately need."
