It affects the lives of nearly every person on earth. Some see the Internet as the chance of a lifetime to start a new business. Many hope to get in on opportunities for making money. Every day, someone comes up with a new idea, seeks capital to fund a new business online, and seeks to claim a place on the World Wide Web as a legitimate e-business. The church, too, has been racing to make its place on the Internet.
Many congregations have web pages.
Some have put their worship services online. Almost every denominational and parachurch resource organization, including the General Board of Discipleship, has not only a web page, but also one or more e-commerce businesses offering goods or services. Since we are forced to adapt as we learn to use the new tool, we are brought back to asking about our purpose for using the Internet. Then we will ask how all the tools we have can best be used. As I sat in church on Easter Sunday morning this year and saw hundreds of people crowding in, I could not help but wonder why they had come.