Finding God Online

By Robin Mazyck and Cicely Gosier

CBNNews.com

April 28, 2007

CBNNews.com - A Google search of the words Jesus Christ returns more than 33 million hits, perhaps proving that faith has found a place online.

Some surf to enhance their relationship with God, while others blog personal testimonies, participate in online Bible studies, or even watch Sunday services. But no matter what their preference or purpose, more and more people are turning to the Internet for inspiration.

"Sixty-four percent of Americans seek spirituality on the Internet, and as Christians, we need to be there for them," said Craig von Buseck, director of ministries for CBN.com.

Because of this need, a group of individuals have chosen April 29 as Internet Evangelism Day.

"We were wondering how we could communicate the potential of Web evangelism to the wider church," said Tony Whittaker, coordinator for Internet Evangelism Day. "The Web site seeks to encourage groups to mark this day each spring. It also fulfils the purpose of explaining the potential of the Web, with examples and strategies."

According to new research, 82 million Americans seek spiritual or religious information from the Internet - up from 28 million just five years ago.

There are countless Web sites devoted to Christ that have been started by Christians. Two that have recently gained popularity are GodTube.com and MyChurch.org. GodTube.com, similar to the popular site Youtube, is a "video-sharing site for Christians." MyChurch.org is a networking site taking the identity of Myspace.

Dare to be Different

With many looking in less traditional places to establish a spiritual identity, churches are also becoming increasingly creative in their outreach.

Joel Osteen Ministries has seen amazing success with its audio and video podcasts. Since their launch in early 2006, the podcasts have stayed at or near number one in the iTunes inspirational category for more than six months.

"Based on the number of subscribers per day, Joel Osteen is one of the most popular podcasts in the world," Jeana Lawrence, director of Marketing and Communications for Lakewood Church said.

Named "America's most innovative church" in 2006 by Outreach Magazine, LifeChurch.tv has also attracted a large audience online.

Lead by Senior Pastor Greg Groeschel, each of the church's 11 locations are connected every week via satellite for worship. The church launched an Internet campus in 2006, and also streams messages online through Web and podcasts.

"LifeChurch never set out to be a tech-church," Bobby Gruenewald, pastor and innovation leader for the church, said in the magazine. "We were just passionate about reaching people, and God," he added, later telling CBN News that the Internet is now what television was several years ago - a new "tool" for Christians "to use to share the Gospel."

Last August, a group of pastors, including Gruenewald, began MySecret.tv , an online anonymous confession site. Though far from the traditional confessional, the site seemed to fill a void in many people's lives.

A 2005 poll by Georgetown University's Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate revealed that only 14 percent of Catholics received the sacrament once a year and 42 percent didn't receive it at all.

Not just for Catholics, MySecret.tv became popular almost immediately and now has more than 6,000 confessions. A similar site, DailyConfession.com receives hundreds of anonymous confessions as well and over 1 million hits each day, revealing that believers are even using the Internet to repent of their sins.

Although some Christians are critical of the online confessional, MySecret.tv encourages users to not only pray when reading other confessions, but to also make their own confession a prayer.

A Church without Walls

Playing on the debate of what defines an actual church, some have gone beyond brick and mortar to establish churches solely online.

St. Pixels is one example. Through the use of virtual people called avatars, visitors can talk to each other, enter different rooms, take part in worship or Bible study and listen to a sermon illustrated by pictures.

The idea behind the church originally began in 2004 as an experiment by the Methodist Church of Great Britain. After gaining popularity, the test grew into Church of Fools , an online church established for those who may not usually attend worship service, hence its name.

"Christians are increasingly creating churches in many different forms, from traditional ways through to things as yet unimagined," said Rev. Jonathan Kerry, Coordinating Secretary for Worship and Learning in the Methodist Church that sponsors St. Pixels. "St. Pixels is one of these new ways of being church, allowing Christians to gather online to worship God, support each other and pray for the world."

Sharon Wilson, coordinator of blogs and pastoral care at St. Pixels, is a witness to the kindness and love of God in the church.

"I recently went through some serious problems in my family and I could not believe the outpour of friendship and support from the people in the online church," Wilson said.

She received emails, prayers, and gifts from members during the time.

"My mother had brain surgery and six ladies [from the site] knitted her hats and mailed them to my house for her," she said, delighted that people on the site who "you have never met and probably will never meet" are such loving Christians.

Virtual churches have also become popular on Second Life, a non-religious site established for Internet users to build 3-D worlds online. With nearly 6 million registered users, several companies, including Visa, H&R Block, and Nissan, have invested money in Second Life, purchasing and building on virtual land for users to browse, just as they would in real life.

Christian users saw this as an opportunity to build a world of God on the site as well, with at least two dozen virtual churches now built.

"What if the church was no longer bound by walls," thought Gruenewald. "What if geographic limitations were erased [and] the church redeemed technology and used it for the glory of God?"

Gruenewald helped LifeChurch.tv open its virtual church on Second life in March. Now the church holds two services there each Sunday. Just a few weeks ago, the church received more traffic than MTV's Laguna Beach island, the Dell Computer island, and Toyota.

Gruenewald remembers one Second Life user who grew closer to Christ through the church. "The terms he used was that he'd 'imprisoned himself' at his parents house," Gruenewald explained. "He felt like he didn't have any hope."

After viewing a series streamed to the virtual church, Gruenewald says the man "prayed for salvation and has now found relief and freedom in Christ. It's an example of someone who has become a follower of Christ as a result of this effort and that's the entire reason we're there."

Web Pros and Cons

With at least 1.2 billion users online a month, the Web is certainly important to reaching out to people today.

"Christians need to point people in the right direction." von Buseck said. "People who are seeking Christ may only be comfortable searching for God in the privacy of their own home, at the kitchen table or on their mobile phone. We need to be there for them too."

But not all churches have embraced the Internet.

"I think we're really almost to a point where if a church doesn't have a Web site they are really… missing out on opportunities for ministry," said Paul Steinbrueck, CEO/CTO of Ourchurch.com.

For the past 11 years, Ourchurch.com has been helping churches create Web sites.

"Churches have started to grasp how important technology is as far as being on the Web for people who are looking for churches and for communicating internally with their members. Early on it was hard to convince churches that they needed Web sites, but now it's not too hard."

Whittaker agrees, saying, "since people use the Web as their first port of call for any information, a church which does not have a website is going to miss out on potential visitors - either non-Christians in the community, or Christians moving to the area looking for a church."

So what makes a good church Web site?

IED recommends leaders avoid all 'churchy' jargon throughout their site, especially on the homepage, as non-Christians may not understand certain words. Using the phrase "things we do" instead of the word "ministries" is one example they give.

"I think it's important to make church Web sites more accommodating to those who are spiritual seekers and are non-believers," Steinbrueck said.

While the Web can be an excellent tool for Christians and non-Christians alike, there are potential pitfalls.

"There is definitely a lot of controversy regarding whether online elements are adequate replacements for fellowship and worship in a virtual environment," said Steinbrueck. "There are definitely a lot of aspects of church that you can participate in online, but there's definitely some elements - the physical, human aspect - that I think are irreplaceable online."

Wilson, who is a credentialed minister with the Assemblies of God, believes it is important that Christians find balance between what they seek online and what they seek in person.

"I'm very happy in my real life church and I'm very happy in my Internet church," she said, adding that she maintains an active role in both.

Still, anyone seeking God online must do so with caution.

"Obviously there is a lot of info out there and people need to be careful of what they're seeking," said Gruenewald. "Just look for truth."

Click the Play button on our video player above for coverage by CBNNew's Wendy Griffith on Internet evangelism.

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