Leaving Behind In-Person Gatherings for Digital Discipleship

A Call for a New Reformation, Part 8

NOTE: Because this November-December series (“A Call for a New Reformation”) is incredibly important to me, I’ve decided to open it up for free through the end of December 2024. If you want full access to the archives as well as all online community events, please consider supporting the “Religious, Reasonable, & Radical Newsletter & Community” (learn more) by becoming a paid member for a small monthly fee.

In 2004, I joined an online forum community called “Xian Goth dot Net” (XGN). It was my first real experience in a forum community. Their tagline: “Legalism Destroys”. From what I gathered, it was created in response to the tendency for Christian-goth forums to be fundamentalist in nature.

This gathering was quite diverse. For the most part, they considered themselves to be liberal Christians (yeah, back then we said “liberal” rather than “progressive”), if they were Christian at all. And not all of them were. I know of at least one member self-identifying as an “ethical Satanist”. Significantly, this group included people who were straight, gay, bi, and trans. Everyone was welcome…except those who wanted to behave abusively toward other members (mainly by telling them they were going to hell because of their “lifestyle”).

I remember one morning I sat at my keyboard chatting with another member located in Australia. He was going through a spiritual crisis. He didn't really have anyone around him he could talk to about his struggles. We spent quite a bit of time typing back and forth through direct messages.

After I left the forum that day, something struck me. I just had a pastoral conversation with a member of my community in real-time who lived on the other side of the planet.

Think about the significance of that for a moment.

Imagine the possibilities this opened up for me as someone in spiritual leadership.

Right then, I realized that the church's future would not be in localized buildings. Rather, it would be found in online communities.

Resistance

As I told my story to different people in my presbytery, I emphasized that we needed to lean into this new technological development because it was going to be the future of the church. It was an opportunity to move to the cutting edge of ministry before it passed us by.

In response, I consistently heard things like, “They're not ready for that yet”. Or, “online community” isn't “real community”.

Don't get me wrong, I understand where they were coming from. Most people in churches grew up in a time in which people met face-to-face for nearly everything, and that's how they built relationships.

Gathering for a worship experience on Sunday morning wasn't just about worshiping God. It was also about getting together and enjoying each other's presence. Getting together face-to-face and shaking hands was part of the joy of being Christian. So it wasn’t just a matter of “This is how we've always done it.” It was also about the “why” behind doing it that way.

Nonetheless, this resistance became a huge source of frustration. It was like they'd been living in a box for so long that they couldn't even see that they were living in a box.

I agree that there is no substitute for in-person gatherings where you can shake hands. There's something special about being in close proximity to one another. There's a reason people like to gather in the physical presence of others.

On top of that, being in the physical presence of another brings with it a certain level of vulnerability. We have to get used to feeling a little unsafe in the crowd. I would argue that that even adds to the thrill.

So, yes, I do consider in-person gatherings to be special. But, I don't consider online gatherings to be any less special. Anyone who believes that online community isn't “real community” has simply never experienced real online community.

I don't believe that online community is inherently superior to in-person community. And I don't believe in-person community is superior to online community. They are just different ways of connecting as a community. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses.

Part of the resistance to my suggestion was that many older people in the presbytery wouldn’t get it. They would feel excluded from online events. I admit, this concern over “exclusion” baffled me.

If we want to talk about excluding people from events, let's look at in-person events for a moment. Let's take a Sunday morning worship service, for example. Do you really think that someone who lives 3 hours away would feel “included” by an open invitation? Or can we say that the very nature of having a localized event is to exclude those not able to make it to the event due to distance or transportation issues? In-person events are inherently far more exclusive than online events.

Sure, there would be those who need help getting connected to an online event because they don't know what they're doing. And maybe that's where others in their churches can work with them so they can make it.

Nonetheless, the resistance is real. Even today I still hear about how online community isn't “real community”. And what that means to me is…

Online community cannot be experienced as “real community” by them. And that's okay. They shouldn't feel forced to engage in a Christian community that doesn't work for them.

Meanwhile, I write mainly for those who I believe are going to be creating the future of Christianity by participating in a New Reformation. Prioritizing the online platform is integral to the endeavor.

Postmodern culture is experiencing a meaning crisis.

Why have we lost sight of Meaning?
Is there any hope of getting it back?
Better yet, is the loss of Meaning really a bad thing?

If you long for a theological path forward, Drinking from an Empty Glass: Living Out of a Meaningless Spirituality is the book you’re looking for.