Virtual Faith Project
I stumbled upon a post yesterday at Living Room about a guy named Nathan who is starting up something he calls My Virtual Faith Project. It was inspired by Living Room's Holy Huddle Blogging II post from a couple of weeks back.
Nathan says this:
"Through my journey of coming to know Christ and the Christian faith I used the Internet as my main source of research. This was mainly as I felt to intimidated to walk into a Church without knowing what I was 'getting into' or whether all this stuff was really 'believable'. I had to feel a bit more secure about these ideas before I could take that confronting 'step of faith'. I felt there was a real need on the Internet for a site or group of sites directed at seeking un-believers that both packaged the Gospel in a modern and relevant way for presentation on the Internet while making logical, encouraging and modern points about why Christianity is relevant & real and not all about 'religion' but about 'relationship' with God."
Nathan states he registered his domain "as I felt the Lord really wanted me to use my knowledge of and passion for the Internet & web site development to create a site to help bring more people who were searching the Internet for answers into the Kingdom of God." He ran a blog type site there and posted articles about different topics relating to Christianity... but did not feel satisfied. Reading Darren's article helped him to see that he had been focusing the site on Christians and not much on seeking un-believers.
As part of a class project, Nathan is working on myvirtualfaith.com and turning it into an educational site. "Just as a match ignites with a single spark, I believe the heart of an unbeliever can burn deeply for God with a single spark as well. The task is simply discovering this spark! The 'spark' that did it for me isn't going to be the same for everyone so to make this site as relevant & powerful as possible I wanted to seek input from people who are believers and see what they had to say and what their thoughts were on Christianity. That is the My Virtual Faith Project."
Nathan's looking for input, so head on over to The My Virtual Faith Project to find out more.
Part of the research I stumbled upon for my paper on blogging suggested that more than two-thirds of Americans indicated that they were likely to engage in specific types of religious experience via the internet as the current decade progresses (see Barna Research Group, More Americans are Seeking Net-Based Faith Experiences). In a 2003 study by the same group, 5% of Americans "said they would definitely use the Internet for personal faith experience and expression, and another 18% indicated they would probably do so" (see Americans Embrace Technologies that Bring Control to Their Lives).
Andrew Careaga, in "The Internet's Impact on Kids' Faith," in the September-October 2000 issue of Group Magazine, page 94 said that many teens are choosing to supplement their faith with online interactions that strengthen their offline faith.
Like Nathan stated in different words, the internet gives people a safe place to discuss matters of faith. In Careaga's research, he found that 62% of teens feel freer to discuss their faith over the Internet than in face-to-face conversations.
I am excited to see where the My Virtual Faith Project ends up going. I think that it could end up being a valuable piece of the puzzle for searching people.
But I'm also concerned. So much of the exploration on these topics is being done as part of school studies. My project was undertaken as an educational endeavour, but it was also something I am very passionate about. I still think blogging can be a valuable tool of incarnational and relational ministry. Maybe my concern shouldn't be though. I think God is using these school projects for good. In our busy world would the work get done any other way? May He use it to His glory.
I stumbled upon a post yesterday at Living Room about a guy named Nathan who is starting up something he calls My Virtual Faith Project. It was inspired by Living Room's Holy Huddle Blogging II post from a couple of weeks back.
Nathan says this:
"Through my journey of coming to know Christ and the Christian faith I used the Internet as my main source of research. This was mainly as I felt to intimidated to walk into a Church without knowing what I was 'getting into' or whether all this stuff was really 'believable'. I had to feel a bit more secure about these ideas before I could take that confronting 'step of faith'. I felt there was a real need on the Internet for a site or group of sites directed at seeking un-believers that both packaged the Gospel in a modern and relevant way for presentation on the Internet while making logical, encouraging and modern points about why Christianity is relevant & real and not all about 'religion' but about 'relationship' with God."
Nathan states he registered his domain "as I felt the Lord really wanted me to use my knowledge of and passion for the Internet & web site development to create a site to help bring more people who were searching the Internet for answers into the Kingdom of God." He ran a blog type site there and posted articles about different topics relating to Christianity... but did not feel satisfied. Reading Darren's article helped him to see that he had been focusing the site on Christians and not much on seeking un-believers.
As part of a class project, Nathan is working on myvirtualfaith.com and turning it into an educational site. "Just as a match ignites with a single spark, I believe the heart of an unbeliever can burn deeply for God with a single spark as well. The task is simply discovering this spark! The 'spark' that did it for me isn't going to be the same for everyone so to make this site as relevant & powerful as possible I wanted to seek input from people who are believers and see what they had to say and what their thoughts were on Christianity. That is the My Virtual Faith Project."
Nathan's looking for input, so head on over to The My Virtual Faith Project to find out more.
Part of the research I stumbled upon for my paper on blogging suggested that more than two-thirds of Americans indicated that they were likely to engage in specific types of religious experience via the internet as the current decade progresses (see Barna Research Group, More Americans are Seeking Net-Based Faith Experiences). In a 2003 study by the same group, 5% of Americans "said they would definitely use the Internet for personal faith experience and expression, and another 18% indicated they would probably do so" (see Americans Embrace Technologies that Bring Control to Their Lives).
Andrew Careaga, in "The Internet's Impact on Kids' Faith," in the September-October 2000 issue of Group Magazine, page 94 said that many teens are choosing to supplement their faith with online interactions that strengthen their offline faith.
Like Nathan stated in different words, the internet gives people a safe place to discuss matters of faith. In Careaga's research, he found that 62% of teens feel freer to discuss their faith over the Internet than in face-to-face conversations.
I am excited to see where the My Virtual Faith Project ends up going. I think that it could end up being a valuable piece of the puzzle for searching people.
But I'm also concerned. So much of the exploration on these topics is being done as part of school studies. My project was undertaken as an educational endeavour, but it was also something I am very passionate about. I still think blogging can be a valuable tool of incarnational and relational ministry. Maybe my concern shouldn't be though. I think God is using these school projects for good. In our busy world would the work get done any other way? May He use it to His glory.
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