daniel showed me this online church called "infinite church" that is completely online. it has virtual worship times, cell groups, fellowship, etc. it even had a virtual baptism. i've recently run across the "online youth group" which you pay to have a certain amount of users for a room to chat in. not sure why you would want to do that. why not just use habbo hotel it's free.
john asks about how pastors approach baptism with parents etc. i must say, regardless of how or what people do before and during baptism an online version seems a bad way to 'reach' people. baptism being one of our sacred sacraments should always be done within the context of a real 'live' (live as in living, can get hugs from them) community of people.
i have spoken very highly of the whole "web 2.0" shift and feel that people seeking out community over the internet is here and coming even faster. however, there will and needs to be a break when it comes to the sacraments. oh, did i mention the online church does holy communion.. how does that work?
yes you can talk, yes you can discuss theology, history, church, etc. but you can't evoke the spirit through the internet. if you could God would have struck me down for not claiming Jesus when i didn't forward the 150 emails to my 5 friends for good luck and 10 friends for eternal salvation.
