What is church?

So now it's time to offer a summation of sorts; I've certainly made my opinions known throughout. But here are some personal reflections on what I think about church in general, and online church expressions in particular: As I've worked through this project, I have come to one conclusion: church is more than worship on a screen, or Bible study at any level of participation, or shared prayer concerns. It's more than a place to give charitably or meet people with similar interests, or join a mission team to some faraway clime. Church to me is the incarnated Body of Christ, and I simply can't separate that image from the need for live and in person community, people participating together in worship, in mission, in study, in life together and out in the world...people you can reach out and touch, if you need to. In my second post on the Church of Faith and the Jay Voorhees interviews, i referred to a story about Jesus with skin on. That's what I need for church to be truly church: Jesus with skin on, in the person of people who I live in community with, in the neighborhood, in the same city, going to the same grocery store, with kids in the same schools, and worship, study, play, and work with in mission to one another and the world. I have seen online churches with a missional emphasis. Church on the Net does an excellent job at interpreting Christian concepts and church language for those who do not have a church background, or seek a way to interact with church in a way that places minimal demand on the individual, but invited interested persons into deeper relationship with the church and Christians. Their mission is to be reach out to such people. Other online churches have mission emphases and high missional sensibilities toward others, but most of them seem to be "other" directed. It's hard to be relational online; there is a distance inherent in packaging one's church interface for a mass audience on the scale of the internet. It's easy to say you are open and welcoming to everyone, but much harder to actually pull it off. Liquid Church stands out to me as demonstrating their high value on relationships in the ease with which their website (actually a blog on typepad) is navigated. I was also particularly impressed with their presence in the community. The account of the church's generosity and accepting spirit at the gay pride event demonstrates the relational character of this church, and it comes off in their websites. As I said above, some kind of physical presence is inherent in the notion of incarnational ministry to me. The best of the websites I've reviewed have sought to draw people into relationship with a brick and mortar church, with real people, live and in person. This is the ideal for me. I am not satisfied with the level of interaction with the virtual environments of St. Pixels and Infinite Church. I've described it as clunky, and it is: cartoonish avatars, text-driven interface (sound takes too much bandwidth to really work), slow movement in a poorly animated environment. I was not able to feel connected in any meaningful way. Also, these are primarily worship environments; it's hard to image what kind of real, personal, relational missional relationships can develop in that kind of space. Some of the elements I miss: the very sensory engagement of the sacraments of baptism and communion, and the sacramental moment that is the greeting time. I miss in person prayer; it's powerful actually hearing someone's prayer for you. I'd miss joint participation in the music; live worship music brings something special for me. And in any online church setting, I would miss the "editability" over a cup of coffee that I share now. Digital coffee just doesn't cut it. Nope, guess I just like my church like I like Jesus: with skin on. At the heart of things, I need people. As Len Sweet pointed out in an online discussion several weeks ago, online relationships increase peoples' desire for in person relationships. I hope that's true.