Rev Pam Smith is vicar of i-church. I use i-church, which is forum and chat room based internet church, to interact with a number of people I have got to know over time. Newbies drop in often and if you have a question that is hard to phrase in real life this is a place where it can be aired without causing undue offence. Rev Pam recently wrote a piece for the Bible Society magazine about why people use online churches instead of, or as well as, brick and mortar varieties. I found it a well-considered article.
You can read it here: 'Meaningful Communities: the Growth of Digital Churches' http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/uploads/content/bible_in_transmission/files/2016_spring/BiT_Spring_2016_Smith.pdf
Traditional Church Format
The weekly sermon is a barrier to me attending Holy Trinity from time to time, depending upon how resilient I'm feeling and what else is going on in my life. I used online churches, or internet campuses of real churches from 2008 till 2015, almost exclusively, with the occasional foray into a brick and mortar church to take the local temperature.
The conflicts I was experiencing in 2008 remain today. They are expressed differently because the internet has changed and those involved with keeping the conflict running have changed too. One effect of the weekly sermon at Holy Trinity is it has been extremely difficult to put the narrative I have crafted over time aside and let it be, because it is juxtaposed with the exposition by the, or a (often retired) vicar, every week. Our sermons in Llandudno often use anecdotes from the preacher's own experience, and it seems it may be appropriate to reflect upon local themes and troubles.
Teaching Versus Preaching
I don't know to what extent vicars in the Church of Wales can chose their messages. I understand there is a performance aspect to the sermon in the Anglican church and that the impact should be felt while sitting in the pews. Unfortunately I am occasionally overstimulated to the point I have to bring attention to the material in a conversation afterward. I try to deal with any objections I have as swiftly as I can in order that resentment does not build.
One example that grieved me was the homily preached on Good Friday about for whom Jesus died. The raped and the rapist, victim and perpetrator, could share in the cancelled debts wrought by Jesus on the cross. This is certainly true, although I found it strange that after speaking on a stirring theme there was no alter call (there is never one). No-where to go for prayer afterwards. No-one to go to should you have been seriously sexually assaulted or had a crime committed against you (and for at least one person this was the case).
Or, alternatively, there was no absolution if you had injured a person in this respect; or had any question around rights and wrongs of consent or sexual purity at all.
It seems the liturgy will work deeply by our vicar's rubric, but it does leave me doubtful who will be empowered to change following this ritual, impersonal experience of set-prayer; and perhaps goes some way to explain why I am grappling, still, with what kept me out of the nave and the choir stalls for seven years.
I'm in no doubt the priests themselves are committed to spiritual change, using their time honored methods and the prayer book. Not everyone I have met within 'Christian' environs behaves like a priest, however. And a few, like myself, will doubt.
How Online Church Boosts My Faith
It does online church a great credit that there are spaces for confession, sometimes secure or anonymous. I believe 'churches' like i-church greatly enhance the body of Christ. Internet churches and campuses have certainly changed my expectations over the years regarding what church should or should not be, based my knowledge of the character of God, gleaned from followers of Jesus who have been prepared to open their lives and hearts to me in a consistent and structured format, revealing themselves piece meal, week by week. Or perhaps more casually they have been there when I have needed them.
My Thanks
I reserve a special gratitude for spaces like i-church and am grateful to Rev Pam Smith for enlarging the conversation and engaging with readers who may be otherwise oblivious to the spiritual blessings online religious life can bring.