Foster theological, ecclesiological, and missiological reflection on the evolving information culture and its impact on our society.
Identify issues arising out of information culture which impact ministries.
Explore new methodologies in ministry necessary to engage the society that is being produced by the information culture.
Facilitate collaboration in formulating strategic guidelines for the effective use of information technology in ministry.
"Many [Netizens] also value online anonymity so much that they'd rather lie [26%] than share some information on line." from "Web Surfers Keen on Politics and Privacy," USA Today, "Life section, D-1, June 10, 1996 cf. http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/user_surveys.
However, people are more inclined to tell the truth if they know what you will do with the information.
Our Response; Revealed Truth vs. Individualized truth.
Renew your mind... Romans 12: 2
Remember Bob's appeal for faithfulness in personal devotions.
Obedience to the Truth...Romans 12: 2 "do not conform any longer..."
Say with Paul, "I am telling the truth, I am not lying..." I Tim 2:7
God has spoken and given us revealed truth. Postmodernists say that there is no truth except that which comes from you.
We must protect the truth.
Electronic Publishing: USA Today - Wednesday June 5, 1996, p. 4D - "Electronic magazine Stim goes on line with an attitude." by Bruce Haring
"Prodigy, hoping to change its staid image and revive its lagging fortunes by appealing more to Generation X, is placing its bet with a heavy investment in Stim[short for stimulation], an e-zine billed as 'a monthly guide to deviant pop culture.' The slick site is modelled after such increasingly upscale fanzines as Ben Is Dead and Mondo 2000."
[Http://www.stim.com] Front page of the STIM Web site:
"...the more seriously I took the notion of virtual rape, the less seriously I was able to take the notion of freedom of speech, with its tidy division of the world into the symbolic and the real. ...I am not presenting these thoughts as arguments, I offer them, rather, as a picture of the sort of mindset that deep immersion in a virtual world has inspired in me. I offer them also, therefore, as a kind of prophecy. For whatever else these thoughts tell me, I have come to believe that they announce the final stages of our decades-long passage into the Information Age, a paradigm shift that the classic liberal firewall between word and deed...is not like to survive intact." p.256
"Perched on a tightwire between the reasoned deliberation of text and the
emotional immediacy of conversation, online communication sets itself up for a
fall that is constantly realized." p.261
If you think that this is a minor side issue, think again. There are many who are signing up to STIM from the Generation X (18-32 age group).
There has been a case where in a private chat room online two women were 'violated' by the same man. The community reacted as if there had been a physical attack, and spent three months working through the issues.
Pastors need to become aware of Cyberspace in order to provide guidance to their flock.
"Flee youthful lusts" I Tim 5:22
"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how form infancy you have known the holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." II Tim 3:14-15.
There is no one else who can carry this message back to your mission, church, etc. We at ICCM 96 have this responsibility.
"post-modern geographical age" [nullification of time and space]
cf. I Chron 6:54 "These were the locations of their settlements allotted as their territory...
The boundaries which have been established between missions have been removed in Cyberspace. This technology does not take any account of physical boundaries.
Electronic discussions - first in vs. last in
Collective decision making - grassroots involvement, divine control. Cyberspace is changing the chain of command.
cf. Mark. 10:43 "Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant."
Cf. Eph 1:22-23 "And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church. Which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way."
Cyberspace has no high points. There is nobody on top to control those on the bottom. The grass roots have the ability to influence the outcomes. Those who start a discussion lose control almost immediately. Those who speak last have the most influence.
"...There is a sense that we are embarking on an adventure in creating new communities and new forms of community, and that sense is fuelled by two motives: first, that we need new communities and, second, that we can create them technologically p. 14
Virtual communities might be real communities, they might be pseudocommunities, or they might be something entirely new in the realm of social contracts, but I believe they are in part a response to the hunger for community that has followed the disintegration of traditional communities around the world." p. 32
"...But what exactly are we hoping for? The answer to that question is necessarily linked to questions about who we are hoping to be as a society, and that, in turn, is tied to issues of identity and discourse." p. 15.
The church is called to be a community.
A community is characterised by: