One of the developments I covered in my Winterfest presentation on churches and social media is an online Presbyterian church start-up that was announced (hat tip: Lesslie Scanlon) last week by former PC(USA) Moderator Bruce Reyes-Chow. Peoples’ reactions were generally skeptical. Many were downright dismissive.
And for as much as I quote Douglas Rushkoff and talk about how people in churches need to understand the biases of these digital technologies so that they’re using them in helpful ways and not unwittingly giving up their non-digital assets, I’m interested in this. I’m keeping an open mind about it to see what happens.
Why? Because there are some seriously legit people behind it. Reyes-Chow is no Johnny-Come-Lately technophile; he held the highest elected office in a national denomination. And he’s not doing this alone. He’s gathered a team of Presbyterians: men and women, ruling and teaching elders, racially and ethnically diverse. Of that team, I know Mihee Kim-Kort and Steve Salyards (aka @ga_junkie) the best, and anything those two thought was worth their time and effort has immediate credibility in my book.
Read Reyes-Chow’s blog post announcing the church here and explore their Facebook page here.
Who knows what this could be? What are your expectations?
YoRocko! 
I’m also watching with an open mind.
One hope is that the online component might provide a real world connecting point for more of us who interact online but could network geographically.
Yes. I wonder if something like this can work as a primary community for worship and disciplship or if it must be a supplement for its participants.