A WIRED online article, Living Life in Virtual Reality, does a surface skim on the topic of finding the real in the “virtual”, a topic thatis near and dear to me, since I am constantly insisting that there is much REAL to be discovered in the virtual world; and this REAL stuff is not exactly being called forth in abundance by what I would call an “overhyped” face to face reality, particularly in the Churches. I mean, I GO TO CHURCH often, and nearly EVERY TIME, I come away without a sense that I have been heard, known, helped, understood, etc. etc. I come away empty, except for what growth I can muster from my own inner reflections on what’s mising and what i would do different. The problem, as it often is, is that there is no “structural support” for two way communication. The Church has become almost exclusively and completely an “event” in a “time slot”.

The Church is all “PUSH” — the treasures within, buried in the conversations that people are having “elsewhere” or “inside, desiring to come out into the open”, are being missed. The Cluetrain Manifesto calls businesses to “wake up” and “connect” to the market that is conversation. The Church needs to wake up and begin to straegize about how it can “HEAR” (John asks the Churches in Revelation: “Whoever has ears to hear. let them hear” ).

As Internet bubbles burst, detractors of virtual community are also boisterous, slinging “I told you sos” everywhere. Maybe the Internet turned out to be less than adverised by the most utopian hype. But, in the same veign, Face to face hasn’t been what it’s cracked up to be. It is an alternative “reality” that is also sorely lacking as a “response”.

It seems to me that Churches HAVE to be scambling to “capture” conversation and do some acting to “channel it” and “encourage” it, but they’re not. People are largely anonymous. Granted, opening up message boards and blogs will not provide an outlet for EVERYONE, but it’s an untapped potential resorvoir for many who would joyfully partake of it and contribute to it if given the opportunity.