One of the amazing people I get to work with on a weekly (sometimes, daily!) basis is Kevin Hendricks. Kevin acts as the editorial director at the Center for Church Communication and is a clever and thoughtful writer.

As you might know, I’ve struggled with book publishers asking me to promote their books. This happens on a weekly basis and I always send my standard form letter. “Thanks for considering me but I only review books that explore the intersection of faith and technology….” Nevertheless, the books keep coming.

Today, I make my only exception for the last year. I simply can’t resist talking about a cause I support (adoption) by an author I respect (Kevin) in a format I love (tweets). Wait! A book written in tweets about adoption – ok, I’m gonna call that the intersection of faith and technology.

Lemme clarify…

Kevin’s newest work, Addition by Adoption: Kids, Causes & 140 Characters, is the Hendricks family’s personal journey of adoption presented as a collection of tweets; you heard me right … a book authored in Twitter.

I just got mine in the mail. You can get yours today at Amazon. And to seal the deal, a good chunk of the proceeds go to charity::water!

Since we are still evaluating the reality & potential of church online the question just keeps coming up: “Of course, [virtual church] is possible. But is it biblical?”

The following is a response to me from Douglas Estes, author of SimChurch regarding his reflections on this post by Drew Goodmanson – Is Online Community real community; Questions about the virtual church?

A virtual church is just as biblical as a Baptist church, a house church, a Lutheran church, a megachurch, a Pentecostal church, a contemporary rock church or a traditional American fundamentalist church. Why? Because the Bible doesn’t prescribe one type of culture or ‘format’ for doing church. Period. I know that most Christians—even pastors and church leaders—will grudgingly admit this in public and not believe it in their hearts though it is the biblical viewpoint. Everyone who is passionate about the church views their version of the church to be the best, most right, most biblical, most blessed, and closest-to-the-New-Testament version of church as possible. This is not wrong but it does become a problem when we try to say that other people don’t have biblical churches (with the exception of churches whose theology/practice fall outside of historic orthodoxy). We can group current criticisms of online church into 2 main areas—and the first area, rightfully labeled, is denominationalism. This may seem kind of funny because I don’t mean that online churches are a new denomination; I mean that some people are reacting to them through the same lens (not our way = different = not biblical). Let’s consider the second area in more detail.

One important part of writing SimChurch was my starting point: I did not start with virtual churches. I started with the Bible and church history. A critical part of the research was investigating both with discernment to see if there would be anything to prevent an online church. The answer is no. And this is not an argument from silence (like those folks who say it’s okay to do drugs because they Bible doesn’t directly say we can’t), this is a ‘no’ from a close reading of the Bible and church history. In fact, anyone who has studied church history understands that God moves the church in seemingly radical directions at times. So far, most of the arguments against online church are the same types of arguments as those leveled at every new Christian group that has come along since Jesus left us.

Many of the criticisms I read seem to be written by people who are using the internet circa 1999. They forget that even older technologies such as Skype allow for a great deal of interaction, except fully physical (there is some physical because you can see the other person, wave, make faces, laugh, etc). More specifically, Drew (and others) cite verses in the Bible that deal with community and then argue that this community must be rooted in physical proximity (but not the SecondLife or Skype kind). I don’t want to (mis)characterize Drew’s argument here; and to be fair, Drew listed a few verses in a 200 word post whereas I wrote a whole book on this issue. Still, I need to point out a few serious problems with arguments like Drew and others use. SimChurch goes into much more detail, but let’s briefly look at the issues:

First, Drew lists 27 verses (all from the New Testament) that allude to community, or more specifically, what he calls “one-anothering.” These verses include loving one another (1 John 3:11) and the holy kiss one (1 Peter 5:14). In SimChurch, I defined a church as “a localized assembly of the people of God dwelling in a meaningful community with the task of building up the Kingdom.” Now, some people may tweak this but overall I feel it is a solid definition of church from a biblical and church-historical perspective (within a Protestant tradition such I come from). I think we can agree that church must be both local and a meaningful community. The problem comes in when we try to take the verses Drew cited and decide the physical extension of them. As with most of the Bible, these verses are communicating spiritual truth more so than physical truths. When the Bible tells me to love someone else, hugging is probably included in this but it is not the central meaning of the verse at hand (it is greeting). I can prove this: We don’t literally greet people with a holy kiss (at least I’ve never attended any church anywhere that does) at church. Why? Because we understand that the spiritual reality of greeting and loving another follower of Jesus is so much bigger than the physical expression. This is not to say the physical expression is not important; it’s just to say that certain physical expressions are just one aspect of it. Please note that I am also not trying to over-spiritualize this issue; I’m neither downplaying nor disregarding the physical aspect just pointing that it is only one part of what it means to have community. Again, consider people riding the NY subway to work—if you’ve ever done this, you know you unwittingly touch a lot of people due to the crowdedness of the train, but no one would consider a subway car (real) community!

Truthfully, none of the verses Drew lists speak to whether a church should meet in a building (been there), under a banana tree in a jungle (done that), or in synthetic space over the internet. In fact, as Drew admitted in his post, and any honest Christian will admit, we don’t get the type of community that the Bible describes in some/many/most/all ‘regular’ brick and mortar churches to begin with! But just because no one seems to love each other (or greet each other with a holy kiss) at First Baptist doesn’t mean we should declare it unbiblical or not a church.

Since this is a blogpost not a book, let me wrap up by saying that Drew is correct in his conclusion—we need to focus on creating biblical community. Chapters 2–4 in SimChurch go into great detail (for a non-academic book) on what church and biblical community is and how Western Civilization has so influenced this discussion as to make everything about community be tied to the physical where the Bible (primarily, but not only) ties it to the spiritual. In fact, it is the radically-skeptical Western worldview of Descartes and others that has shaped the definition of community for the average Western Christian far more than the Bible has (protests aside). In fact, we could say that if many of the virtual-church skeptics are correct—that to have real community with someone we must be in close, physical proximity with that person—then we cannot have community with God here on Earth because we can’t touch him either. Biblical community, and true presence, is far more nuanced than our materialistic, Western sensibilities can sometimes grasp.

Douglas Estes

Comments?

I get sent 4 or 5 books a week.  I have form letters both for authors & publishers saying “unfortunately, I cannot review your book because this space is reserved for discussions about the Church & media technologies”.   Sadly, there haven’t been many publications that fit well in this zone.   But recently, Zondervan sent me the book SimChurch by Douglas Estes.  I sped through it marking up every page, and realized how helpful it was to have a new set of observations about online church.   Now there’s a blog tour and a bit further into this post I’ve listed some of the blogs Zondervan invited to review / discuss / celebrate the release of this timely book.

Douglas Estes is a New Testament scholar and teaching pastor and he authored SimChurch to explore the (sometimes controversial) world of online churches.  As people (thus the Church) migrate online, we are forced to review our theology and re-assess some of our postmodern assumptions in light of our digital world.

Today I’m posting pointers to the SimChurch site, a list of the selected bloggers who are evaluating the book and a brief video clip from Douglas.  Tomorrow, I’ll be posting his analysis of a post previously put of by my friend & colleague, Pastor Drew Goodmanson at his site. (see: http://www.goodmanson.com/church-technology/is-online-community-real-community-questions-about-the-virtual-church/).  [Drew & I will be presenting together next week in Chicago at the Story Conference - come join the discussion.]

Here are the SimChurch bloggers:

• Church Relevance
• BibleDude.net
• Returned Sheep
• The Digital Sanctuary
• Lessons from Babel
• Mark D. Roberts
• Tall Skinny Kiwi
• Captain’s Blog

Now here’s a video clip to introduce you to Douglas Estes and SimChurch.  Come back tomorrow for his lengthy response to my “virtual church” question.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I’m just guessing you may not know who this is.   Let me introduce you to Peter Thourson, the guy who’s just basically responsible for streaming live church services on the iPhone.   You heard me right.    Peter works at New Hope in Hawaii along side the church’s Technology and Innovations Director, Michael Sharpe.   In case you’re unfamiliar with New Hope, maybe you’re heard of Pastor Wayne Cordeiro, the congregation’s Lead Pastor.  I’ve blogged my church attendance at New Hope before because they’re in my Foursquare family.

I interviewed Peter recently since they’re a good 6 weeks into mobile streaming their services.  Here’s Peter’s take on a couple of the questions Christian leaders find themselves wrestling with these days:

Here’s an excerpt from the Echo Conference blog to celebrate Echo Conference ‘09….

One of the things we’re most excited about for this year’s Echo experience is our panel discussion featuring Bobby Gruenewald, Carlos Whittaker, Conway Edwards, Cynthia Ware, and Scott Hodge.  The panel will be a free-flowing conversation that covers current and future trends in the intersection of media, technology, and the Church.  Each of these leaders has a unique and valuable perspective to share, and we’re looking forward to hearing what they have to say.  The panel will be moderated by Scott McClellan from COLLIDE Magazine (but he promises to stay out of the way and let the panel do most of the talking).

If you have questions for our panel, you can dm me by adding me on twitter @ http://twitter.com/cynthiaware.

Over the past year I’ve been sent literally dozens and dozens of great books to read & review.  Unfortunately for me, I’ve run out of time to get to all of them – and my office is overflowing.   Furthermore, my reading is diluting this blog’s emphasis – the use of media technologies within the church.

So, this is the last book recommendation I’ll make for a while (although I’m indemnifying myself in case I decide to blog Phil Cooke’s The Last TV Evangelist in a few weeks!)

From Eternity to Here is the newest Frank Viola book.  Here’s a link where Parable.com is offering From Eternity to Here at a substantial discount online this month (March).  Frank was kind enough to send me a copy and I can wholeheartedly say it’s worth the read, a big picture, sweeping saga of the point and purpose of the gospel.

Tomorrow marks the beginning of the Blog Tour for a new book entitled The Monkey and the Fish.  The book, authored by Newsong Pastor, Dave Gibbons, was a refreshing read and Dave is an increasingly respected as a global thinker with insightful ideas about Christian leadership.

To celebrate the tour, I will be participating in blogging some questions Dave recently answered for me and will post that interview tomorrow.  Obviously, for the focus of this blog, I ask Dave to make some connections between globalization/technology/Christianity.  Until tomorrow, you can ponder the parable the book derives it’s title from.

A typhoon stranded a monkey on an island. In a protected place on the shore, while waiting for the raging waters to recede, he spotted a fish swimming against the current. It seemed to the monkey that the fish was struggling and needed assistance. Being of kind heart, the monkey resolved to help the fish. A tree leaned precariously over the spot where the fish seemed to be struggling. At considerable risk to himself, the monkey moved far out on a limb, reached down, and snatched the fish from the waters. Scurrying back to the safety of his shelter, he carefully laid the fish on dry ground. For a few moments, the fish showed excitement but soon settled into a peaceful rest.

And you can check out some of the other bloggers who will cover the book tomorrow also:

* Deadly Viper (Mike Foster)
* On the Journey (Brad Lomenick)
* Catablog (Jesse Phillips)
* Less Clutter & Noise (Kem Meyer)
* DJChuang.com
* Leadership Network Book Blog
* Monday Morning Insight (Todd Rhoades)
* The Digital Sanctuary (yours truly)
* ScottHodge.org
* BibleDude.net (Dan King)
* MarkDRoberts.com
* DaveIngland.com
* JasonHicks.org
* Mom Helen (Helen Lee)

Just a reminder that there are three more Church 2.0 Local Forums happening across the United States this fall in October and November.  Check out the details below.

In each city, we have discovered that far more people attend than register (so it’s not mandatory), but you can register if you wish through some of the available links.

Church 2.0 Local Forums happening over the next two months include:

Boston, MA  (10/17), Grace Chapel

• Register for Boston on Facebook HERE.
• Not on Facebook?  Register HERE.
• Sponsors for Boston are: LifeWay Threads, National Cine Media, SermonSpice, CircleBuilder, Planning Center Online, EasyWorship, 360Hubs, ReelWorship, FreeFoto.com, COLLIDE Magazine and Unifyer.

Tulsa. OK  (10/24), The Church at BattleCreek

• Register for Tulsa on Facebook HERE.
• Not on Facebook?  Register HERE.
• Sponsors for Tulsa are: Fellowship Technologies,  EasyWorship, CircleBuilder, National Cine Media, Planning Center Online, Unifyer and SermonSpice.

Portland, OR  (11/7), Portland Foursquare Church

• Register for Portland on Facebook HERE.
• Not on Facebook?  Register HERE.
• Sponsors for Portland are: Planning Center Online, National Cine Media, SermonSpice, CircleBuilder, 360Hubs, LifeWay Threads, Unifyer and EasyWorship.

For more details on the Church 2.0 Local Forums you can check out the website or Greg Atkinson’s Church Video Ideas.

Greg has been busy during the past year or so in hosting Local Forums all over the United States.  There are more Local Forums in 2009 and there are plans for the same process on an international level for a Global Church 2.0 edition.

At these meetups, Greg’s connected church leaders with one another and uncovered stories of creativity and innovation among innovative Christians.  From social ministries to internet technologies, the Church is innovating and many of these stories will be captured in the forthcoming book designed to spotlight ministry innovations and creative endeavor within the Church at large.

Church 2.0 Local Forums are where church pastors, staff and layleaders gather together to meet, network, discuss innovation, leadership, technology and share stories of what God is doing in ministries across the U.S.  The meetups are interdenominational, inspiring and informative.

I realize this is an entirely personal opinion, but if you had to reference the single most innovative ministy event, endeavor, or process that you’ve heard of in recent months, what would you say?

LifeShare Challenge from Cynthia Ware on Vimeo.

Be there.  To find out how you can “Share your Space” participate in LifeShare by visiting the LifeChurch.tv Internet Campus Blog and RagamuffinSoul.com for more information.

Although, I’m getting to be a regular microblogger, I often forget to status update on a larger scale and post on the projects I’m working on.   September could be a skimpy blogging month and here’s a brief update on why in case I forget to give you the details.

Currently, I’m writing presentations for my breakout sessions at the Group Life Conference (Willow Creek) and the Internet Ministry Conference (Prince Conference Center/Grand Rapids).  This is no small task as Seth Godin has raised the bar for all presentations.   Both are in October and my acceptance of these conferences caused me to have to forgo Catalyst.   Ouch!  But, it will all be worth it and I’m happy to get the chance to speak at both these events. (Plus, I know that Catalyst is coming to the West Coast next year).

Additionally, I am still hoping to attend at least one day of GodblogCon in Las Vegas at Blog World & New Media Expo.   I declined their speaking offer because I just felt it would stretch my month beyond what my family could sustain – and there’s always next year (Dustin you are good to me).  I’m particularly interested in going just to see my dear friend Rhett Smith talk about his chapter in the new book, The New Media Frontier.  We’ve been waiting for this one for what seems like forever.

Additionally, there are several other speakers worth checking out there including John Mark Roberts, Hugh Hewitt and Tall Skinny Kiwi (aka Andrew Jones) who I got the privilege of interviewing a few weeks ago broadcast via podcast from The Scriptorium (btw – sorry for the sound quality of that interview).

Of course you will still find me posting here and at Digital (the Leadership Network blog) and several of you have asked about the writing projects.  I am working on 4 chapters for a spring book (more on that and the publisher later) and two magazine articles that should come out before the year’s end.

Lastly, it looks like the Church TechCamp for the Los Angeles area is coming together soon.  As the final confirmation comes in, I’ll give you all the details and invite you to come be my guests.