‘Lynda’ has been cited in the press and online as being a success story. St Pixels is one of the web churches which is now firmly established on the internet. Lynda joined the online community. A Mormon by background Lynda asked questions in the discussion area and a non judgemental conversation continued. It led to her discovering a new faith in Christ and she now leads virtual worship on the St Pixels site.
This was one story relayed in the recent meeting of the web church hosts, but they were not triumphalistic. Indeed one said ‘I bear the battle scars’ of managing a web church’, relating to various experiences, one of which was when someone wanted to post pornographic links and insisted, ‘it is a free society’. Others spoke of critical Christians who had 'caused such a commotion' that discussion boards had to be taken down and reconstructed. Another host of a virtual church spoke of the enquiry called for when decisions had been made by the administrators without consulting the online community. He said, ‘it sounds just like offline church doesn’t it?’
So, it is clear that virtual Christian communities have been established, but are they worth the effort? Certainly the hosts who met together displayed continuing enthusiasm and commitment for the ministry they offer, nearly all in a voluntary capacity, and consuming many hours of commitment. Several said they felt a call and a vocation to reach out in this way, and though often understood, they were happy to help people on their spiritual path.
Apparently, the first web churches did not set out to be 'web churches' at all. They wanted to explore spirituality on the internet and found people wanted to come together in community. One of the first anticipated 30/40 people joining a discussion group, but 1000 soon became involved. Most projects started out as one thing and became another, which was observed as a 'hall mark of both the internet and of a community'.
In one sense ‘nearly everyone belongs to a virtual community’ as most have access and use the internet in the UK. It is used for information and social networks which are two key aspects of church and community. If the web helps people to pray and read the Bible, how can it not be seen as a means by which church can be created? ‘It depends what you mean by church?’ of course, but that question has been with us for many generations and comes up in many other conversations so is not just a question for the web church.
The 80th anniversary of the BBC Daily Service shows that virtual communities are not new. For many of the older generation, the daily broadcast on the radio is church, especially for the infirm and remote who cannot get to a building on Sunday. In the same way, and not exclusively for a younger generation, the internet provides another means of achieving the same sense of ‘church, but not as we know it’.
