Thought for today

It's been an interesting week. Last Saturday Ben presided over the funeral of my stepmother, feeling acutely the pressure of ministering to (without offending) my agnostic father and Wiccan stepsister. Today I met with the local Presbyterian and Unitarian ministers, and we talked about our sermons. It's interesting the theological differences we have and don't have, and the varying topics of our sermons. The Unitarian tells us about the topic of her sermon. The Presbyterian is preaching a long series on Hosea and connecting its themes to our times. And I am the faithful lectionary girl, at least for this week. Yet somehow, I know that there will be people in each sanctuary who feel God speaking to them through us. That's pretty good stuff.

Bending space online

We have just started a LOGOS program at our church for children and youth. The program itself is exceptional; it emphasizes building both faith and relationships to help kids feel connected to the church. But here's the really great part. Our Children's Ministry Director just came in to say what a wonderful experience she's been having getting advice and ideas online through a LOGOS online community. Not only does she receive suggestions and support in answer to her questions, but one person (not a staff member of LOGOS or any church, but a volunteer) even snail-mailed her a huge packet of resources from her program at her local church...with a photo of her grandchild and a personal note. Not only is the online community creating "public" relationship space, but that space is extending to the social and personal realm. What a great way to do church!

Preliminary Thoughts on Church of Fools and St. Pixels

(see Interview with Jay Voorhees) I'm not surprised the Church of Fools experiment did not continue. It wasn't really constructed such that results could be tracked, and I'm not sure there were any real clear expectations to begin with. This creates a real disincentive for the funding body to keep paying for the bandwidth it took to run it. However, there are some long term benefits and some positive ideas that have come from Church of Fools. As Jay said, anecdotal evidence suggests that a few people found a connection through COF that hopefully motivated them to seek a relationship with a "real world" church. In addition, in reading the comments on the website, even the current 2D single-user interface has provided some meaningful space for connecting with God through prayer. The 3D St. Pixels environment seems clunky and antiquated compared to Second Life, and no wonder: it's 3 years old, which is centuries in Internet years. Text-based worship experiences there seem forced and a bit hard to follow; on occasion there are more comments than one can make sense of, and sometimes they just don't seem to make sense. I did not feel like a part of the community, but rather like a voyeur with many choices as to who I might be peeping at. In other words, it felt like a group of people each having individual experiences rather than a shared experience. These are churches online in the sense that they are intentional spaces where Christian worship may take place, but there does not seem to be meaningful deeper relationships. Everything that happens appears to happen in public space, making the worship service into an interactive performance rather than an encounter with God and others that has the power to transform lives. There is no meaningful missional emphasis, and I am finding it difficult to imagine how one might form truly incarnational relationships without some flesh-and-blood meetings. On the other hand, they made us of the technology of their time to attempt to reach a new field for evangelism. One could wish for some user data to know whether they were attracting those who were already meaningfully connected to church or those who find themselves somehow alienated from brick and mortar churches.

New Monasticism: Shane Claiborne and the Potter Street Community

This is less an online church than it is a continuing journal of a powerful missional expression of church as the family of God. Shane Claiborne is the face of a movement to new monasticism: a return to simple values lived in intentional Christian community with the goal of being a meaningful incarnational member of the neighborhood in which they are located. The Simple Way is the website dedicated to the Potter Street Community (PSC). In June 2007, a fire in an neighboring abandoned warehouse destroyed the building at 3200 Potter Street where the intentional community was based, as well as damaging or destroying many other homes in the Kensington neighborhood in Philadelphia. In the aftermath of the fire, the PSC has partnered with other groups to continue its work in the community and the small businesses that helped sustain it. PSC members have also created a fund to support their Kensington neighbors as they recover from the fire. The PSC does not engage in overt proclamation, although Shane in particular leads conferences about New Monasticism. It is however, an intentional missional/incarnational community dedicated to forming and growing relationships among people for Christ. While they are not engaged in evangelism as most mainstream Christians might consider it, it cannot be denied that their living within impoverished and challenged communities and working for the benefit of all expresses GodLife values in a way that cannot help but reach people. The Simple Way is in no way an online church, but I do think it demonstrates the values of the PSC in a way that invites, welcomes, and stands with those whom it serves.

Liquid Church: I like it, I like it.

Liquid Church may be the best incarnation of online church I've run across. It's based on a blog platform, is easy to navigate, provides easily accessible and useful information for nearly any question one could ask. Because it's a blog format, items are listed sequentially with the newest item first. There are several widgets that help navigate according to content...tables of contents, basically. Sermons are posted online are are immediately visible on the entry page. The podcast streams with one click (no other download required) and is good quality. In the sermon I watched, the speaker referenced survey information gleaned from worshippers in the three services the previous Sunday and online...so it's easy to engage, and it does both ways. The three weekly worship services are all held on Sunday at a NJ hotel. Parking is readily available and they are quick to point out that it is also free...the church will validate parking stubs. It couldn't be much easier to that. Liquid Church seems to have a focus on relationships and finding meaning in life with Christ. The web interface deals with real life issues, and I think their tagline in the header says it all: come as you are...leave different. I think you could engage with this church easily online and also transition easily into worship attendance in person at this church or at another. The relational focus carries over into their missions efforts: mostly community oriented, with real needs: free water at a gay pride event, deeply discounted gas and free car washes, a free market giving away ice cream, food, and other items to members of the community in need. They are Baptist and consider themselves evangelical...but also had this to say when questioned about their participation in the gay pride festival (Bobbie, a lesbian, had the booth next to Liquid Church's booth):

An amazing moment came in the late afternoon when Bobbie pulled me aside and whispered, “Tim, somebody just told me you were Baptist. Is that true?” She whispered Baptist as if it were a dirty word (which is too often is!) I said, “Actually, Bobbie, yes our church is Baptist.” A forelorn look creased her forehead and she asked nervously, “Just tell me one thing: Are you here to tell us that if we don’t change we’re going to hell?” “No, not at all. I replied. In fact, we’re here because God is changing US--- as Christians, many of us have been pretty judgmental and condemning and even hostile at times to the gay community, and Jesus is changing our hearts. We’ve got a long way to go in making amends, and so we just thought we’d serve today to try and humbly reconcile...” My words were cut-off as I was wrapped up in the arms of this middle-aged lesbian as she cried “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” with tears in her eyes. “Finally, a group of religious people who are treating us like real Christians are supposed to.” I doubt any of us would be foolish enough to deem ourselves "real Christians" (whatever that means)... all the same, it was one of the most encouraging words we've ever received from folks.

Nu Faith Community: Online and in person

Nu Faith Community UMC is a new church plant in northwest Houston, TX, that's starting up in a new way. The church "launched" online well in advance of the "brick and mortar" launch in April 2008. The stated goal is to reach out to those who are not connected to church, to foster diversity in the church, and share the love and relationship with Jesus Christ. The founding pastor and "Launch Team" have created a website that seeks to answer preliminary questions about Nu Faith Community as well as the Christian faith, offered opportunities to become a part of the community through online, telephone (Talkcast) call, or on location Bible study. The pastor is also available via sermon downloads or email contact, and she includes a phone number on the site. She engages with the Houston area with local radio broadcasts, preaching engagements at other UM churches, and joint studies with other churches, in addition to the website. Interaction is available via participation in the Bible studies at any level, a variety on online forms to enable people to make contact with the pastor or to volunteer to take part in missions, in the launch in April, or to assist in other ways. Meetings and information sessions are held in the pastor's home on a regular basis. Multiple efforts are made on the site to make engagement easy. This site is targeted to a particular geographic location, and it does not offer weekly worship. What it does offer are multiple spaces to engage in, from public all the way to intimite, if one chooses to do so. It also emphasizes connection to a brick and mortar church (albeit one that does not yet exist) and does so in a relational, missional, and incarnational way. One criticism I have, however, is that the website's terminology locates it within the "Christian bubble" and may not be as accessible or inviting to those who are not familiar or have a negative opinion of church. By the way, the pastor, Rev. Jacqui King, was originally part of our DMin cohort. When she was appointed to Nu Faith, she deferred for a year.