Having recently entered the world of Facebook I joined a group that states, 'The purpose of this group is to prove that church does not need to be in a building, and its time to wake up to post Christendom!' Clearly the feeling of those who set up the group is that a group of people in an online 'community' can be just as much a 'church', as a group of people who meet in a building on a Sunday morning each week.
Whilst I was prepared to join this group and have entered into a number of discussions I am now convinced that there is no way that this kind of 'group' qualifies for the title church in any way, shape or form. That is not to say that it is not a valid exercise and will be beneficial, encouraging, helpful etc to some. I am also not saying that every group that meets together in a 'church' building qualifies for the title church.
I guess the deeper question is about what it means to be church and what are the minimum requirements for something to be called church. I would argue that one of the markers of a Christian church is that the believers come together to celebrate communion/breaking of bread/eucharist regularly. Obviously an online 'community' can't do that.
But that's enough from me. Get your coffee and join the conversation. What makes church 'church'? Can you have an online church?
3 comments:
Would online communication, even when interactive, be roughly equivalent to ink-on-paper communication, and with similar limitations? Letters were of course used effectively by the original apostles when too far away for face-to-face contact. You mentioned communion. Baptism is another aspect of church life which I can't imagine happening online!
The apostles used letters to communicate with churches that were already established - many of them by the apostles who were then writing. Local leaders were left in charge of these congregations but there were times when it was necessary for the apostles to write - and often that was a stop gap measure until they could visit in person.
I dont think you can have a facebook church. Face to face interaction is important. I dont think you have the same sense of unity on facebook that you have when meeting together. It may sound harsh, but I think for some members, its laziness bred by the interactive age we live in. Why bother leaving the house to go to church when I can sit at home and do church whilst at the same time,I can do umpteen other things? Why bother hanging with people I may not be able to stand when I can interact with the ones I like and ignore the ones I dont. Maybe I have got the concept all wrong?
Did you see dispatches yesterday?
It was on persecuted christians in the U.K. I blogged on it.
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