The Christian Century

Writer Jon Katz recently said that news coverage of the Internet lurches “from one extreme to the other.” Either the Net is “a dread menace or it’s a Utopian vision.” Journalism, he concluded, “has been asleep at the switches,” because the Net is “not simply a story about technology, but it’s a revolutionary change in the society and culture.” As a result, journalism “is in the sad position of

If you were around any of the years in this chronology you probably didn’t notice—I didn’t—the instant effect of the following:

1944—first automatic, general purpose digital computer;

1951—first commercial use of computer, Univac;

1954—first practical silicon transistors;

1959—Texas Instruments invents Microchip;

Having worked with dozens of congregations and compared many software packages, the Indianapolis Center for Congregations can offer the following suggestions:

Has the advent of the Internet and computer technology led congregations toward the “virtual church,” undermining the face-to-face relationships that have long characterized congregational life? Two recent studies, one supported by the Pew Charitable Trusts, the other by the Indianapolis Center for Congregations, suggest not.