For Christians there is another key relationship - that of being part of the Church. How is this different from other relationships? First we want to say that it is not meant to replace any of the relationships described above. The church is not to be a sectarian community, but a group meeting together in faith but also living in the world. Individual churches are parts of their wider community, rather than forming exclusive communities. So given this, would a cyberspace church be a church?
It is, of course, not the numbers that make the church, but the people. In most churches there is a diversity of ethnic background, age, personality, background and attitude, the like of which is rarely found elsewhere in a society. But a person is not supposed to befriend them all, but to be in 'fellowship' with them. What does this mean? It means mutual acceptance of one another as children of God, as opposed to any other part of society and the community, and so living and working out faith together, hearing and doing the word of God. This requires acceptance, seeking the spiritual growth of others, supporting and working together on each other's faith, dealing with negative feelings. There is no choice about fellowship - the Bible commands love, nourishing, sharing and supporting, and so dependence on others to help each develop what it means to be fully human. We might find some also become friends by choice, but fellowship is a biblical imperative.
Expressing things in words is essential to this process of living in fellowship - without the light of language, we cannot explain what is going on, nor how to extricate ourselves from all the habits and ingrained patterns of thought that make us respond in automatic, unreflective ways, hence the traditional disciplines of confession, praise and encouragement. This set of patterns of thought and behaviour that constitute our worship is what Jesus said needs more than words - it needs the Spirit of God too.
In 1985 a new online church was formed on the Internet in which the organizers claimed that for the first time people could worship in spirit and in truth and not be distracted by others who might be 'fat, short, beautiful or ugly. People are pared down to pure spirit.'
What is wrong with that? There is an immediate reaction by many of insisting on the value of physical presence. But then, one asks, what is it about church that suggests the importance of physical presence? Superficially it might appear that the closest groups to the new online communities are churches - logging in once or twice per week, participating lightly, having surface enquiries about most of life, perhaps one or two short but deep conversations, and then going away again to live an unseen life for the rest of the time.
If we redescribed church as the place of truth, sought both for individuals and also for what is happening in society, then perhaps that might help guide us. It is estimated that 60 per cent of all communication in a face-to-face encounter is listening with our bodies. That is, we listen to the body language of the other person to understand what they are struggling to say, or to conceal. Moreover, the act of participating in Christian worship is itself physical, in movement, speaking and singing, and taking part in Communion.
This is not, however, to dismiss possible roles for cyberspace; cyberspace can, perhaps surprisingly, be helpful in providing other ways of communicating about our faith. For example, at least one theological college has offered the opportunity for people to send in questions by email, which ordinands then seek to answer, with backup advice and guidance from tutors where appropriate.