Spirit Song United Methodist Church

Yesterday I noted that the world had changed from when I first planted a church eleven years ago. For one thing the Internet is much more of a presence in our lives. Where church websites used to be just an electronic billboard where basic information could be posted, now they are much more interactive with opportunities to build what have been called "virtual communities."

Virtual communities are places on-line where people gather to communicate with other people on a personal level. MySpace is one example where people, primarily teenagers and young adults, create webpages that convey their personality through pictures, music, stories. You really get a sense of who they are as they share their lives -- sometimes in great detail.

I think God put within us as a desire to connect with others -- to be in relationship with other people, and with God. Certainly the Internet offers infinite possibilities for connecting in a virtual community. The church also offers real community. In fact, isn't community/communion really what the church is all about? The new Testament descibes the church as the Body of Christ -- each of us unique but each also part of the whole.

What makes the Internet so exciting is that the church can expand its community beyond the physical restraints of building and neighborhood. A pastor of a large church said that many people visit his church's website regularly, reading or listening to sermons, participating in on-line bible studies and discussions, adding their prayers to the on-line prayer list and generally considering that church to be their spiritual home despite the fact that they may live hundreds, even thousands of miles away.

So, I want you, wherever you may be, to feel welcome here at the Spirit Song website. I hope you'll add comments to this blog, participate in our on-line forums, bible studies and other interactive features (as they are added over the next few months), and feel a part of our ministry here. Let us pray for you as you hold us in your prayers. God bless you and yours.

Till next time --

Steve

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 29, 2007 at 11:49 AM and is filed under General. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.