Comments on: Virtual Church Membership?

By: Show and Tell: Favorite Links for Week of 9/27/09 | thejakers

Show and Tell: Favorite Links for Week of 9/27/09 | thejakers — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:44:44 +0000

[...] church membership. Is it legit? Church Crunch discusses here. Ties in with my series on the internet and ministry [...]

By: Friday Three « Neil's Blog

Friday Three « Neil's Blog — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 19:03:33 +0000

[...] weeks about how churches will count attendance for online campuses. John opens up the discussion here. [...]

By: @jameseaton

@jameseaton — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:58:44 +0000

Most churches have online giving, so tithing is not that difficult. Most churches with web campuses have pastors and volunteers, so they would get connected just like anyone else would that wanted to get involved locally.
They would be held accountable just like anyone else. I know people who's accountability person is connected through email, every time they meet they get all the sites the other person has been too (XXX church has a free program like this).

I don't think that online is the only way, but I do think that we should not overlook it because it is different. I totally agree that quality is where it's at. But the beauty of internet is you can get quality and quantity together, but it does/will take some time to figure out, just like the mode of discipleship we have now took time (and is still being tweaked)

By: Mary

Mary — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:43:48 +0000

While a virtual church can reach many people for Christ how will they then connect to the body of believers? To whom do they then give an account ? How will they grow spiritually and who will know the accuracy of what they will teach others? Where then do they tythe? How will this effect their walk and their talk on and off line? human Interaction is essential. Sometimes more is just more…Consider growth in terms of quality of relationship not quantity…

By: Kevin Cooper

Kevin Cooper — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:11:01 +0000

One of the great things about attending church in-person is the ability to have live human interaction. Now, I absolutely love the interwebs and what NP & Lifechurch are doing in the online space–so don’t get me wrong. But I think online interaction isn’t a REPLACEMENT for in-person interaction but an ENHANCEMENT to relationships & community. “Virtual” or online churches are a great way to peer into where your physical campuses can add other locations–then you can count them

By: @jameseaton

@jameseaton — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:49:00 +0000

I don't see why you could not have virtual members. I know people that attend "online church" that are more involved than physical members. While they may not always be part of the "physical" community, they are part of an online community, and the gap between these two is getting smaller every day. Younger generations do not see the divide, they just see their life that is lived on and off line. There are small groups that meet online; they spend time with each other, pray for each other, and keep in touch as they study the bible.

So, I think Godsmac is right when he said we need to define membership better. And, figure out what being a virtual member means in relation to being a physical member.

By: Jay

Jay — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:26:41 +0000

As much much good as I think the virtual church can do, I do not think it can ever become a true "church" in the sense that a brick and mortar one can. The church is a body of people. Real people. Not virtual people.

That being said, there is a place for the virtual church. I know that I have taken advantage of it over the last month and a half because I've been traveling to Tampa each weekend to be with my mother. As such, I haven't been able to attend my own church so I've been checking out Lifechurch.tv or North Point Online.

The biggest question is this: How is it possible to take the virtual church outside? One of the things the church strives (should be striving to do anyway) is to take the church outside the walls of the building and attempting to fulfill The Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). How does one accomplish that with the virtual church?

By: human3rror

human3rror — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:35:05 +0000

ah, interesting connection. good point kyle.

By: klreed189

klreed189 — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:59:29 +0000

I guess they could count it like blogs count visitors.
I still think it could be a little skewed, but in all honesty church attendance numbers are skewed as well.
I go to a church that says it has 3500 members, but in all reality have about 2700.
I think the same can be said about visitors to blogs. Do you count the regular readers or someone who stops by one time and never returns?

By: stephenbateman

stephenbateman — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:57:41 +0000

There are obviously hugely varying philosophies on how to count members.
@ my old church there were 1500 on the roll and 600 showed up.
@ my new church there are 400 "on roll" and 900 show up.

So even once we decide whether they *should* count, there's the question of *how* to count them. But ultimately I think there could be an effective method to count regular attenders.