The Life of the Internet Integrated

Texas A &M Communications Professor Heidi Campbell says, “Ten years ago not everyone had e-mail accounts. Now most of us find it almost impossible to function without the Internet, whether it comes to banking or doing business or keeping up with friends.” She then goes on to suggest that we should expect no different when it comes to our religious lives. How have you found the macrocosm of the internet making its way into the microcosm of your church? Twitter? YouTube? Webcasting? Online campuses? Or, like Jonathan, are you finding it hard to even get your church to use Microsoft Word? How has the internet affected your religious life?

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Contributor: Justin Wise

I am a religious deviant who enjoys coffee, collared shirts, spending time with my wife and son, learning about quantum physics and creatively exploring the riches of the Spirit of Christ. Find more here: JustinWise.me
  • interesting post. at my last church there was some discussion on whether or not email was really a relevant work tool in the church...most of the younger staff were communicating on wikis, Twitter, etc...and the older staff were sending lots of back and forth emails...it was interesting.

    and that's not to stereotype age, it just happens that sometimes you are exposed to certain social media tools quicker in different age demographics...the issue came down more to were we all willing to change, innovate, compromise on some things, etc.
  • I'm the minister of an Anglican church in Sydney, Australia. The internet is destroying the tyranny of distance we can feel here. Now everyone is glocal. I've got your blog on my google reader list and ideas are shared that wouldn't have been before. New relationships and influence come that have no respect for ecclesiastical or geographical borders. We're going back to Babel!
  • G'day Justin (yes we do actually talk like that, although none of us ever would say 'throw a shrimp on the barbie')
    On glocal see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glocalisation
    enjoying your blog
  • @Michael: Dare I say it? "G'DAY MATE!" I couldn't help it. I've got it out of my system. Ah. That felt good.

    Welcome aboard, dear friend! Just so you know, I'm going to steal the term "glocal" and use it in the most awesome ways ever. I'll credit you, of course.

    God bless the power of the Google Reader.
  • The Internet is very integral part of my life, especially my religious life. I've worked for 3 churches, and all of them are bad at the Internet, and so are Christian Education professors at schools. Some of them try, but they are up against an overprotective group of people (especially in the United Methodist Church) who try to tell youth to not have MySpace pages or to visit chatrooms because you can be abducted or raped.

    In the end, I told one person who said that making friends online was dangerous that I didn't know who she was and that she could be a serial killer (she was a middle aged Christian Educator) but I was able to have enough faith and trust that I could have a conversation with her without her disemboweling me, and that the same is true for people one meets on the Internet.
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