Getting Started

I am studying a unit on the church and the internet so it seems fitting that I should use a blog to share some of my thoughts.  I feel that the internet is where a lot of the conversations about God are taking place and many churches are missing out.  I want to find the best way to link our church in.


I am checking out the available literature on the topic.  This is what I have found so far:

1.       Babin, P. & Zukowski, A The Gospel in Cyberspace – nurturing faith in the Internet Age. Chicargo: Loyola Press,  2002.

2.       Frieson, J. D. Netcasters: Using the Internet to Make Fishers of Men. Grand Rapids: B&H Books,2010.

3.       Estes, D. Simchurch: Being the Church in the Virtual World. Zondervan, 2009.

4.       Bailey, B. The Blogging Church: Sharing the Story of Your Church Through Blogs.  Jossey-Bass, 2007.

5.       Rice, J The Church of Facebook: How the Hyperconnected Are Redefining Community. David C. Cook, 2009.

6.       Frieson, J. D. Thy Kingdom Connected: What the Church Can Learn from Facebook, the Internet, and Other Networks. Baker Books, 2009.  

7.    Stephenson, M. M.Web-empower Your Church: Unleashing the Power of Internet Ministry. Abingdon Press, 2006

I have set up a facebook page - St Mary's Kangaroo Flat Anglican Church

I have started a blog and I will start on a web site this week.

The books I have read so far, Thy Kingdom Connected and The Gospel in Cyberspace are very much about the theological and practical reasons why the church needs to be involved with the internet.They give substantial reasons for becoming involved and even find parables in it.

From Thy Kingdom Connected page 81 - The Parable of Google:

Google.com is helping me to understand connective leaders.  Rarely does anyone visit Google.com for the sake of Google itself; rather we connect with Google when we are searching for something or someone, maybe an answer to a question that's plaguing us, or even a better question.... Basically, we go to Google because we've come to trust that Google will consistently link us to what we seek.  Google is a hub, not of information but of links to information; its entire goal is to provide the very best links to the seeking person.  Google is a matchmaker that connects the seeker with the best options being sought.  This networked vision of leadership is vital to understanding who a connective leader is and what relational authority is in a networked vision of the world.  What I am calling, "The parable of Google" can equip us in thinking more biblically about the nature and function of Christian leadership in churches, organizations, businesses, and families.