NicCharalambous's Comments

gordon marcy : NewSpring Ending Online Church A Catalyst For Progress

Sat, 3 Apr 2010 23:40:25 +0000

I'm glad you agree with me that there is great power in the web for potentially gathering the scattered church in these post-Christian times (at least in the west) and to help church planters with such a difficult task. If you think about geolocation features on practically all our online interactions, it can get pretty exciting, pretty fast :) Be blessed in your efforts to proclaim the glory of God and advance his kingdom. I hope you'll keep in touch, brother

gordon marcy : NewSpring Ending Online Church A Catalyst For Progress

Sat, 3 Apr 2010 23:40:15 +0000

Thanks so much for such a thoughtful summary of our journey here at NewSpring. I was particularly glad you were clear with your readers that the final decision was by no means a "retreat" from the online world, but purely a matter of ensuring that we are staying true as a church to the vision God gave Perry for NewSpring.

Christian Web Trends Blog by OurChurch.Com : ChristianityToday Weights in on Online Churches

Sat, 9 Jan 2010 04:14:54 +0000

As the web pastor for NewSpring Church, I believe our position is very close to Brandon's: We do not advocate our "web service" as a replacement for church, but a pathway of discipleship toward full, physical communion. I think it's the wisest stance from a practical and a theological one given the current state of technology and ecclesiology that has only just begun to wrestle with living in a hyper-connected world where the line between the virtual and the real is increasingly blurred.

Reaching The Online Generation : The Grossest Misconception of Church Online

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 02:22:13 +0000

Preach it brother! Online church is an extension of how we incarnate the gospel in the world. We cross paths where people are. Simple as that. It's no less living for jesus than knocking on doors in your neighborhood ... or giving your neighbors a cup of sugar. People live in the real world as well as online. If there wasn't some overlap between the two, I'd be more worried!

Reaching The Online Generation : Baptism and Church Online

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:18:08 +0000

Right on the money again!

Reaching The Online Generation : Baptism and Church Online

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:07:55 +0000

This is the money quote: "I think the best approach is to observe the fruit of church online and baptism online." I'm comfortable letting results judge ultimately. The only issue of course is whether the church has EVER had a good way of evaluating the "success" of discipling its congregations?

ChurchCrunch : Confessions of an Internet Campus Pastor - Online Church From the Ground Up

Mon, 7 Sep 2009 03:51:33 +0000

Vince: this is the million dollar question. But it's going to take a brave church to pour lots of resources into creating a completely separate experience when there's no proven audience. If evangelism is the key -- and not serving church members -- we HAVE to explore this from the creative standpoint AND the message, but it feels like this may be an uphill battle for a while.

ChurchCrunch : Confessions of an Internet Campus Pastor - Online Church From the Ground Up

Mon, 7 Sep 2009 03:46:22 +0000

What a great and much needed set of points about the shortcomings of most church web strategies. more power to you.

Reaching The Online Generation : Narcissism and the Online Generation

Fri, 4 Sep 2009 02:00:38 +0000

Great post, paul. Totally agreed. We definitely agree that narcissm is a danger. What frightens me is that if you take a representative slice of the Christian twittering world, it's just as self-promoting and just as message-blasting as the world. We need to figure out how to come up with a praxis that dials that down ... but I've struggled to figure it out, and I haven't seen any good examples. Have you?

ChurchCrunch : Online Church - Heresy or Helpful, Opportunity or Obscene?

Thu, 3 Sep 2009 19:42:55 +0000

JohnD :)

ChurchCrunch : Online Church - Heresy or Helpful, Opportunity or Obscene?

Thu, 3 Sep 2009 19:01:09 +0000

John: incisive comments as usual, and I particularly like the fact that you pointed out the 800-pound gorilla of how so much of the criticisms of online church center on community, which is hands down the weakest aspect of modern (megachurch) evangelicalism. At NewSpring, we think it's best to move boldly but humbly and cautiously in this new area of ministry because all of us believe passionately that we please the heart of God by trying to reach people with his love who aren't being reached right now. Ministry is always dangerous. As you say, we shouldn't let it stop us.

ChurchCrunch : Online Church - Heresy or Helpful, Opportunity or Obscene?

Thu, 3 Sep 2009 18:56:59 +0000

For sure. That's exactly the strategy that we at NewSpring are now wholly committed to pursuing. We want to see people enter an online church experience as a way of hearing the good news for the first time or reconnecting after a long absence and then disciple them into a local, physical community of faith.

ChurchCrunch : Online Church - Heresy or Helpful, Opportunity or Obscene?

Thu, 3 Sep 2009 18:54:56 +0000

Amen, Cliff. As a "producer" of online church here at NewSpring, we never set out to replace physical attendance and membership of a local body of believers. We set out to be a pathway to it.

Reaching The Online Generation : Staying Healthy While Ministering Online

Thu, 3 Sep 2009 13:18:52 +0000

Awesome, paul. I think physical health is a massive part of endurance in the faith, since, as you say, we are physical creatures that are carrying the treasure of God. You want to physically have the ability to do so for as long as it is humanly possible and divinely ordained. Two things: First: As someone who recently lost 26 pounds (and will hopefully continue to lose weight) most every fitness expert would likely recommend that you eat MORE between meals, not less. Training your body to be consuming and burning calories instead of storing them is huge. I would incorporate strength training into your routines also, since the metabolic work of maintaining and building muscles helps "flatten" calorie processing. Second, i think the apostle paul's use of physical training metaphors in the life of faith is also about providing a concrete method of spiritual discipline, of "self-control." That's what i was hoping to re-confirm for myself when I decided to recommit to physical fitness after a two-year "break," and the Lord has very graciously showed me (yet again) that spiritual discipline flows out of and into physical discipline. The two just can't be separated.

gordon marcy : Digital Missions: The Planetâs Last Unexplored Mission Field

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:21:36 +0000

Thanks so much for drawing attention to our efforts. I think we're definitely making strides in how to do digital missions, but we're just at the beginning of exploring this. The more churches, such as North Point, and the more individuals, such as yourself, experimenting and beating a path, the more success is likely.

ChurchCrunch : How Internet Campuses Can Change Lives

Thu, 9 Jul 2009 15:58:01 +0000

John, we've had several really interesting stories. One of my favorites is of a family that decided to view the Web Campus in their living room -- and one of them came to Christ. You can read the blog post here. http://www.newspring.cc/webcampus/blog/when-your-...

Rhett Smith : If You Use Social Media, Then You Have to Be Willing to Give Up Some Control

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 13:11:55 +0000

The tension between freedom and control is huge for any institution, and I think that churches are basically not really thinking about the issue right now, basically because the social media focus is largely revolving around pastor blogs and pre-packaged media. We're still in the early stages of using the social media tools we have to aid in discipleship and community-building, and my guess is that when we start to see growth there, we'll find out really quickly what the squeak points are. Great post.

ChurchCrunch : Does Success for a Web Campus Mean a Customized Experience?

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:51:09 +0000

Totally! I think we are talking past each other ... intrinsic motivation is what leads to growth, and sometimes, you have to put in place the right environment for that to flourish.

ChurchCrunch : Does Success for a Web Campus Mean a Customized Experience?

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:49:49 +0000

I have definitely had enough contact with web campus attenders to wholeheartedly agree that there's a huge danger in people using customization as a way to avoid "being the church." Or seeing church as something different than a body of believers' working for each other's good for the advancement of the kingdom. My whole ecclesiology/theology puts a lot of weight in the importance of creating one "body of believers," but i'm not sure that denying the reality of the "economy of choice" (great phrase, John) will mean that people will buy into the "one body" concept. I think it's about casting vision, and giving people multiple avenues to integration.

LifeChurch.tv Church Online Blog : You Are Global

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:21:56 +0000

Amen! We're definitely at the practice stage, rather than the vision stage of developing our online ministries.

NicCharalambous's Comments

gordon marcy : NewSpring Ending Online Church A Catalyst For Progress

gordon marcy : NewSpring Ending Online Church A Catalyst For Progress

Christian Web Trends Blog by OurChurch.Com : ChristianityToday Weights in on Online Churches

Reaching The Online Generation : The Grossest Misconception of Church Online

Reaching The Online Generation : Baptism and Church Online

Reaching The Online Generation : Baptism and Church Online

ChurchCrunch : Confessions of an Internet Campus Pastor - Online Church From the Ground Up

ChurchCrunch : Confessions of an Internet Campus Pastor - Online Church From the Ground Up

Reaching The Online Generation : Narcissism and the Online Generation

ChurchCrunch : Online Church - Heresy or Helpful, Opportunity or Obscene?

ChurchCrunch : Online Church - Heresy or Helpful, Opportunity or Obscene?

ChurchCrunch : Online Church - Heresy or Helpful, Opportunity or Obscene?

ChurchCrunch : Online Church - Heresy or Helpful, Opportunity or Obscene?

Reaching The Online Generation : Staying Healthy While Ministering Online

gordon marcy : Digital Missions: The Planetâs Last Unexplored Mission Field

ChurchCrunch : How Internet Campuses Can Change Lives

Rhett Smith : If You Use Social Media, Then You Have to Be Willing to Give Up Some Control

ChurchCrunch : Does Success for a Web Campus Mean a Customized Experience?

ChurchCrunch : Does Success for a Web Campus Mean a Customized Experience?

LifeChurch.tv Church Online Blog : You Are Global

gordon marcy : Digital Missions: The Planetâs Last Unexplored Mission Field