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?
