…[An idea from a crazy former Moderator of the PCUSA General Assembly…has gotten me interested and involved. (And for the record, he has accepted the title of “crazy” for this and other things.) In case you have not heard the Very Reverend* Bruce Reyes-Chow has too much time on his hands and to give him something to do he has proposed planting “a church online.”

“But that means they won’t have to come to church.”

I wonder if Johannes Gutenberg heard that?

What happened after Gutenberg goes and prints up a bunch of Bibles using moveable type? How many people come back to him and wonder about what will happen to the church now that more copies of the Bible are available and can be distributed more widely? Did anyone fear that the church was threatened? Was there a concern that this was not how you “did church?”

I do realize that this is significantly simplifying the story. On one level I’m not sure there was much concern about losing “control” – whatever that might have been – because literacy levels were not high enough and costs were not low enough that a common person would be able to read or afford having a complete Bible in their home. In addition, Gutenberg had his own problems and his equipment was seized by creditors pretty quickly as well.

But my point is that rather than being a threat to the church the printing of Bibles and other religious literature was actually a boon and is one of the factors cited in the spread of the Reformation.

I’m not going to do a comprehensive search or discussion of the church and technology, but suffice it to say that with the advancement of technology the church found ways to put it to use and advance its causes as well. Faster and easier travel, advances in printing, radio and television broadcast technology — all brought benefits to the advance of religion.

Which brings us to current events — a crazy former Moderator of the General Assembly and an idea that has gotten me interested and involved. (And for the record, he has accepted the title of “crazy” for this and other things.)

In case you have not heard the Very Reverend* Bruce Reyes-Chow has too much time on his hands and to give him something to do he has proposed planting “a church online.” You can check out more in his introduction, and articles from the Outlook and the Layman. And yes, if you look down to the list of names of co-conspirators you will find mine. And it is starting to get rolling over on Facebook (but don’t expect it to stay there).

So what the heck is going on here?

There is a lot I could say about this, and as it advances I probably will, but let me discuss four specific points that represent the critical areas that addressed my theological concerns and got me interested. (And as I discuss these please be clear that I am only speaking for myself but that I have sensed agreement with others on these ideas.)

1) A church that meets online – not an online church. From the beginning Bruce made it clear that this church plant was not going to be a stereotype online church. I have not done an extensive survey, but there are a lot of web sites that will provide various models and views of on-line religious practice. If you want a worship service made up of components randomly chosen from a collection there is the Virtual Church which offers “No two VirtualChurch.com services are the same. Over 365 Billion possibilities!” (The thought of that probably sends shivers down the spine of other Reformed theologians like it does to me.) On the other end is the First Presbyterian Church of Second Life. This is an established and on-going community that is exploring one approach to being a faith community online.

In this new endeavor I, and the rest of the initial group, see the online component as only one manifestation of our faith life together. Which brings me to my second point…

2) Where two or three are gathered – From the onset of discussions this has been the make-or-break issue for me. This church must not be about turning on your computer, attending worship, and then surfing on to something else not to return for another seven days. In my study and thinking the Christian Church is about incarnation. Jesus was incarnate as a human being. We are called to be the Body of Christ and therefore must be incarnate to each other and the world.

So what does this mean in the context on a church online? I’m not sure I fully know the answer and that is why I am so looking forward to this journey ahead. In my current thinking there are a number of ways that this might be developed. In urban regions with a number of individuals affiliated with the church there would be regular opportunities to gather for local worship, the study of scripture, table fellowship and/or mission and service. On a regional basis less-frequent but regular gatherings for these sorts of things would be a possibility. For those in isolated situations – and I mean that in multiple senses of the word – ways should be found to provide support in a physical sense as well as in a virtual sense.

The other component of gathering in Christ’s name is that I have yet to find a theologically satisfying way to explain not being present face-to-face for the sacraments. This does not mean that we are all together in one place. But it does mean that to the extent possible when the community gathers for Baptism and the Lord’s Supper we find ways to gather in a real sense to share the mystery of these means of Grace. It may be small groups around the globe forming a larger community, but we need to think about how to share the presence of Christ in the water and the elements in a real sense.

The bottom line to me is that the members of this community must be present to each other and the world in both virtual and real ways as we show the love of Christ.

3) Reformed – I am excited about this opportunity to think anew about what it means to be the church in today’s technological environment against the existing framework of our Reformed faith. That may not be the starting point everyone wants and I have no problem with that. But in beginning this project we have agreed to be Presbyterian about it. I am waiting to see what sort of balance of ardor and order we strike.

4) This manifestation probably can not be all things to all people – I know that Paul talked about being all things to all people, but the church long ago figured out that a particular church has trouble doing that. This community will have a particular ethos that some people will not agree with. For that matter, the whole idea of doing this with an online component is a problem for many.

So be it — we accept that as diversity and not competition and move on. While I expect the community we are forming to be welcoming I also expect it to have a particular “look and feel” that will not be what everyone is looking for. If someone does not feel comfortable with this way of “doing church” I would hope that we encourage and help them find another faith community where the Word is preached, the Sacraments administered, discipline is uprightly practiced, and they do feel comfortable.

Finally, I would comment that there is no target audience – we want the group to develop organically and see where it goes. With this in mind I am very curious to see what will develop. There are any number of reasons someone might be interested in this community — people could be isolated by geography, theology, economics, society, schedule, culture. All of these are valid and possible reasons for seeking out a virtual community. But in doing so my hope for this journey is that the virtual community is the beginning and not the end. That a church online is a place that face-to-face fellowship can develop. That the Church Virtual is not just a virtual church.

Those are my thoughts and dreams for this crazy idea. Where this journey will go I don’t know — but I am looking forward to it.

Steve Salyards is a Ruling Elder at La Verne Heights Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) in the Angeles Foothills. Steve blogs at The GA Junkie where this article first appeared; it is used with permission.

[Editor’s note: Original URLs (links) referenced in this article are no longer valid, so the links have been removed.]