I thought this statement was pretty amazing – I just experienced exactly that this past Sunday when I watched the live Northpoint broadcast Subday evening on my iPhone while at a friends house. It was a serious mindmeld. Technology is changing at an amazing pace and it’s awesome to see it being leveraged for the kingdom.

I love the idea of the "mobile church" to spread the Gospel, but with a few thoughts. How does the mobile church (media from the church) play into building relationships, how does it help us to personally touch people with the love of Christ and how are we able to keep people accountable in ways that can only be done by building a relationship? If we are to pursue and use the concept of the mobile church, I think it's important to keep everything in perspective, knowing it's for a few specific situations, but not a fix all for furthering the Gospel. But, by using it as another tool to gather / encourage people to become integrated into the local church, I think then it becomes a powerful medium.

To me the point would seem to be, have people that are being reached been in church previously? If many or most are not being stolen from another church but are new evangelism then what is wrong with reaching out to people that are not currently being reached. And if people are not currently being reached then it will likely take something new to reach them. It is rare to reach someone that is currently unreached with something that we have already been doing and hasn't worked.

Stephen, I think that's a great question that I'm not sure anyone has answered. I'm not sure it can be answered. For what % of people who connect with a church online does it spur them towards engagement and what % of people does it spur disengagement by perpetuating the myth that's all there is to being a part of the body of Christ?

I also think that being a member of God’s Kingdom requires much more than the consumption of the spiritual buffet to be found at churches and online campuses. Every member must take personal responsibility for their growth and spiritual health. That includes time in prayer, meditation on scriptures and personal (as opposed to corporate) worship.

I’m not ready to say that a healthy Christian MUST have real-world, “meatspace” relationships. While there is no doubt that such relationships are far better than those restricted to Twitter, chat rooms and email, the way that human behavior (and the church with it) has evolved over the years leads me to think that eventually these types of relationships will be held in the same regard as “real” ones.

By the way (I hope this is okay), I wrote a post a few months ago about churches and iPhone apps. It relates to this post in that it presents several scenarios where an iPhone or mobile app could enhance a physical church service. http://churchtechdump.com/post/81434786/do-churches-really-need-their-own-iphone-apps

@stephenbateman: Could that 95% be 95% of the people you know and not an actual representation of the viewpoints of lost people in the world?

If you disagree with the points above, it’s okay. You can. Just know that you are not who the online/mobile church is trying to reach.

Isn't online (or mobile or holographic haha) church just a stop on the spiritual journey? and for 95% of people not the destination. Eventually real physical community is necessary, if available.