Why bother with the internet? Isn’t Christian faith about real people experiencing a real God in real life? So writes Gareth Squire, Director of the Christian Enquiry Agency in this months Church of England Reader Magazine.
Gareth goes on to answer those critics that see the Internet as either irrelevant or a force for evil. The internet is neutral and can be used for god or bad and there are many reasons why Christians should bother with it.
Two of the reasons Gareth gives are:
- The internet is an increasingly significant aspect of everyday life and that access to it has been described as a human right.
- Television and the internet are rapidly merging. When the BBC renames television as ‘Vision’ you realise something is afoot’ , he says
Gareth’s argument is that for the Church to communicate the good news it needs to be on top of these seismic changes which are taking place in communication. This includes the latest technology in mobile phones.
Much of the article is then taken up with examining some of the best of Christian websites over the last couple of years; (too many to mention here)
But one part that really grabbed my attention was the section entitled Cyber Chaplaincy. There are those who visit our sites who will be undergoing some personal or spiritual crisis; some may have questions of faith which they would like to talk through with someone else. What does our website offer such people?
Gareth gives some good advice. Make sure your website focuses on what an outsider may need. To do this we need to ask those outside of the Church walls. How we do that may vary from parish to parish, but without doing so we miss an opportunity to be really effective. Websites become a one way conversation and not the interactive dialogue they 
have the potential to be.
The internet has some huge advantages for Christians over other ways of operating… as a means of prayer and spirituality, as a means of building community, as a means of educating people and as a tool for mission
USEFUL RESOURCES
Christian Enquiry Agency Blog
Hope Info
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Life 4 Seekers
Tags: Church, Communication, Electronic Resources, internet