Flewelling 1

Erin Flewelling
RWS 640
Final Project
Conference Presentation: Columbia University, April 1-3, 2010
“Divining the Message, Mediating the Divine”

Evangelical Christianity Online: Eliciting Material World Responses from the Cyberworld

Today is Good Friday, one of the most significant days in the Christian calendar, a day when

Christians around the world commemorate Jesus‟ death on the cross, and right now, as we speak,

LifeChurch.tv‟s Church Online is gathering for an online global prayer outreach for upcoming

Easter Services. Essentially, individuals from around the world—who can understand each other

through the magic of translation software—are logged onto a chat site and praying together for

friends and family who have not yet begun a relationship with Jesus. Despite the fact most

members of this community have never met in person, they are serious about the role Church

Online plays in fulfilling the mission of God on earth, which is, as they understand it, connecting

men and women to God and to each other. They want to change lives.

Church Online is associated with LifeChurch.tv, a multisite evangelical Christian

congregation that relies heavily on technology to expand its reach from headquarters in

Oklahoma City to thirteen physical locations in Oklahoma, Texas, New York, Tennessee, and

Florida. Although most elements of services at these locations are live, congregants watch the

sermon on video—the same video used in the Church Online worship experience. LifeChurch.tv

was one of the first evangelical Christian churches to venture into the internet campus world with

the launch of services on Easter 2006. Basically, this allowed them to extend their message

anywhere on the planet with an internet connection. There are a total of 43 services every week,

and the goal is to have services going on 24 hours per day. In 2009, LifeChurch.tv estimated that
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approximately 50,000 unique IP addresses log onto services every week, with about one in ten

staying for the entire service.

I get a lot of questions from people in my own faith community when I say I‟m researching

online Christian churches. People want to know if an online church can actually function as a

church. They all agree that the Internet is a great informational tool, but the idea that people can

form spiritual connections over the internet or experience life change seems counterintuitive.

However, the Internet presents enormous opportunity for evangelicals, and we shouldn‟t be

surprised that churches want to take advantage of it. The adoption of any technology, however,

should raise questions about the effect of that technology on the people who use it, and in

Religion Online: Finding Faith on the Internet, Lorne Dawson and Douglas E. Cowan boldly

claim that the internet boldly claim that the “internet is changing the face of religion worldwide”

(1). Heidi Campbell, professor of media studies at Texas A&M observes that “fears have

emerged that online religion [will] cause people to abandon their pews in exchange for worship

via the keyboard and computer screen,” and Brenda Brasher, visiting professor of sociology at

Tulane University, suggests that the “chief worry is that engagement with the Internet could

reconfigure the traditions that technologically adept, spiritually committed people have gone

online to maintain” (xii). Dawson and Cowan are more optimistic, stating, “Cyberspace is not

quite as unusual a place as sometimes predicted. Life in cyberspace is in continuity with so-

called “real life,” and this holds true for religion as well. People are doing online pretty much

what they do offline, but they are doing it differently” (1). Noting that the “consequences for

religion are as yet largely unknown,” they ask, “Will this new way of being religious make a

difference in how religion is conceived and practiced in the future?” (1).

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Morten Høsgaard, of the University of Copenhagen, states the obvious when he says that

religion cannot have an essence or existence independent of human existence, and that “allegedly

pure cyber-religious sites are . . . produced and used by persons who do not live their entire lives

„on the screen.‟” In other words, people who participate in churches like Church Online are real

people living in a real world. This way of thinking is compatible with evangelical Christianity,

which argues against a purely propositional or virtual belief system, stating that faith without

works is dead. If it is real, faith must DO something.

LifeChurch.tv‟s website describes the church as a “group of people from all walks of life

who are being transformed by Jesus Christ,” and its mission is to “lead people to become fully

devoted followers of Christ.” Church Online shares the same description and the same goals,

and in an interview for Leadership Journal, Bobby Gruenewald, Pastor of Innovational

Leadership, stated, “Our desire is to leverage technology to connect people to Christ, to each

other, and to their community” (Hall 48). But can an online church really do that? Can an

online church actually produce life transformation? Can decisions made in the cyberworld

actually change the way individuals live in the material world? Church Online believes that it

can.

In an attempt to fulfill its goals, Church Online has incorporated layers of rhetorical

strategies, designed to take cyberworld responses into the material world. In examining some of

those strategies, we‟ll look at three major elements of Church Online: first, embedded features on

the website; second, the chat feature that is ongoing throughout services, enabling guests to

interact with each other; and finally the actual recorded worship experiences. Next, we‟ll

examine strategies made to extend the message of life transformation from the cyberworld into
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the world in which we all live. We will also discuss the development of ethos and the use of

repetition to effect life transformation.

This short case study is a rhetorical analysis of the rhetoric of LifeChurch.tv‟s Church

Online, using grounded theory methods to look at strategies designed to elicit decisions and

actions in the material world. As part of my research, I transcribed three separate services from a

series entitled Red Letter Day and participated in eighteen different services, looking for these

strategies. In evaluating the rhetoric, it is important to remember that the goals of Church Online

are the same as the goals for LifeChurch.tv‟s physical campuses.

First, the embedded features on the website allow visitors to explore Church Online 24

hours per day, whether a service is going on or not. Guests to the website can link to Church

Online‟s Facebook page, they can “tell their stories” on a form, request additional information or

“Live Prayer” in a private chat setting. They can also access a blog written by Church Online

staff and volunteers, who write about issues relevant to the online community including service

opportunities through Church Online and opportunities to serve in the real world. They read

about the importance of having spiritual community and how to get involved with a Life Group.

The chat component of the Church Online worship experience opens approximately 30 minutes

prior to the service starting and extends for approximately 15 minutes after the service ends. The

forum can be distracting for individuals who want to focus on the sermon without interacting

with others. The chats can seem odd--multiple conversations go on simultaneously, individuals

will log on with their own agendas, their own theologies, or looking for dates. However, after

observing these chats for the last month, I understood that this chat component is a major way

that relationships form at Church Online, and increases the likelihood that participants will

respond to the messages found on the site. The forum is moderated by volunteers who receive
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video training on a password-protected portion of the website. Volunteers greet every guest who

signs into the chat, and from time to time they suggest ways for participants to make the Church

Online worship experience more meaningful, such as turning off the chat or accessing sermon

notes. Volunteers respond to questions, they pray for participants, and engage guests in thinking

about messages communicated through the recorded segments. Frequently, one of the volunteers

will send out Tweets with essential questions asked within the sermon. These Tweets become

part of the chat. For example, during week two of Red Letter Day, volunteers regularly sent out

the statement, “Withholding forgiveness can hold you captive. How can you truly forgive and be

free?” As participants chat, they engage these questions, and as a result the appeals made in the

prerecorded segment are repeated throughout the Church Online experience.

The prerecorded portion includes a variety of segments. Every service begins with a

greeting from a campus pastor in the United States or from one of their global partners. In the

last few weeks participants have been greeted by a pastor from Australia, a pastor from South

Africa, and a Czechoslovakian woman. These greetings connect viewers around the world and

emphasize that although headquarters are in Oklahoma, the church itself has a global presence.

A second greeting comes from Brandon Donaldson, the Church Online Campus Pastor. He

addresses issues unique to the Church Online congregation. The very fact that Church Online

has its own pastor legitimizes the experience and connects the online community to each other.

After this, the worship band sings three songs. This is a highly energetic band, and the music has

broad appeal, featuring acoustic and electric guitars, bass, and drums. The song lyrics emphasize

points that will be communicated during the sermon, and lyrics flash across the screen to

emphasize the message in the songs.

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Topical sermons emphasize practical real world application. In the three sermons I

transcribed, we were urged to trust God during difficult times, we were challenged to forgive,

and we were asked to serve others out of love. Scripture appears on the screen below the

speaker, and guests can access the sermon outline by clicking on an icon. They can take notes on

the outline and if they write in their email address, Church Online staff will send a copy of the

notes. The pastor wears jeans, a T-shirt, maybe a blazer, but never a tie. In fact, you won‟t find a

suit and tie anywhere on this website or during these services. These are real people, living in a

real world, and Church Online participants can identify with them.

Sermons often include video testimony from church members who tell portions of their

life stories to illustrate the sermon points. For example, in Red Letter Day #1, a supplemental

video featured three individuals, each filmed alone, looking directly into the camera, essentially

looking into the eyes of Church Online participants. Each addressed difficult situations when he

or she asked God “why." A woman recounted a miscarriage at 20 weeks; a man told of the loss

of a beloved grandson; another woman was sexually abused by her father. After the pastor

completed his sermon, a follow-up video ensued, and these individuals returned to tell their

stories about how God breathed light into dark situations.

Videos like this one function in a variety of ways. Obviously, there is a pathos appeal as

these individuals tell their stories, as Church Online participants focus on their faces and hear the

pain in their voices. Participants are likely to have experienced something similar, or at least to

know someone who has, and so they identify with these individuals. In addition, these videos

allow participants see the message applied to real life situations, like the ones they experience on

a daily basis, further asking for a real world response.

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The construction of ethos is powerful strategy in developing persuasive rhetoric.

Aristotle writes that if a speaker seems to be a “certain kind of person and . . . his hearers

suppose him to be disposed toward them in a certain way . . .” (112), then the rhetoric will be

more effective in persuading hearers to respond in a particular way. In the case of Church

Online, not only do the various speakers need to develop credibility, but also the website itself

and the various uses of technology must be constructed in such a way as to build trustworthiness.

Aristotle cites “three reasons why speakers . . . are persuasive” and listed “practical wisdom . .

virtue . . . and good will” (112) and certainly these are evidenced in the presentation, as teaching

pastors and lead musicians share personal challenges in living out their marriages, raising

children, or dealing with economic issues. They demonstrate a strong desire to live good lives,

positively impacting and influencing their communities. In the chat, volunteers and participants

demonstrate good will by providing encouragement when someone says he or she is

experiencing a difficult time. Participants pray for each other, often during the services.

In her rhetorical analysis of the websites of congregational churches, Lynne Baab notes

that “high quality photos and graphics” which “demonstrate . . . a tight and coherent design . . .

convey to some audiences a sense of authority and credibility based on quality, increasing their

persuasive appeal” (153). Indeed, this is a professional, quality site. Videos feature multiple

camera angles, lights, effects. This is as good as anything seen on television. All of these

professional qualities convey a sense of credibility that increases the persuasive appeal of the

messages of Church Online

A map of the world identifies all the countries logged onto any service, further

legitimizing the experience, as does the presence of people from various cultures in the chat.

Furthermore, the existence of thirteen physical campuses across five states lends credibility,
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constructing an identity that extends from the cyber world into the physical world. During the

music segment, the cameras primarily focus on the worship band, but from time to time, the

camera pans back, showing the congregation standing, engaged in worship. The effect of these

shots is to connect Church Online participants to real people, engaged in a live service. When

participants worship with Church Online, they get a sense that they are part of something that

extends beyond the Internet. Lives are being changed, decisions are being made, and

communities are being formed as Church Online partners with churches across the United States

and even around the world in building the Kingdom of God.

All of these elements lead to a sense that Church Online can be trusted, that it has the

authority to speak for God. This lays a foundation for other messages, communicated repeatedly

through various means in the sermons, video ads, via the chat, and on the website. The more

times participants hear the same thing, the more likely they are likely to respond, and Church

Online stays on message throughout the one-hour experience.

Repetition is a powerful rhetorical strategy, and the service is filled with invitations to get

involved in life groups, to volunteer with Church Online, to choose to follow Christ, to log on to

the Prayer link. Furthermore, key concepts from the sermon are introduced in the musical

segment and on the chat as well as in the sermon and are illustrated through video testimonies.

As participants watch again and again, they lower their natural defenses and become more open

to the messages of Church Online. During the first sermon in the series Red Letter Day, Pastor

Craig Groeschel addressed his listeners, stating:

If you‟re in a difficult place right now, and you say, Craig, I really do need prayer. I

would love to pray for you. . . . just lift your hands up and say, I need prayer.
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At physical locations, congregants raise their hands; at Church Online, response to this

appeal is signified by clicking on a raised hand, shown on the screen. A box below the screen

acknowledges that the participant has raised a hand and counts the number of hands lifted. A

few minutes later, the Church Online Campus Pastor returns to the screen and urges respondents

to request a “What‟s Next Kit” containing a Bible and other materials that will be mailed to the

respondent. He also urges them to “talk it over” by joining small online Life Group community,

or to click on the prayer link to speak to someone more privately.

Every week the service concluded with a video, “You are called,” says the deep mail

voice, “You were meant for something greater.” This voice was accompanied by faces of men

and women of all ethnicities directly facing the camera. These kinds of images are called a

“demand”; they essentially demand that viewers enter into some kind of imaginary relationship

with the person on the screen. The call is vague and ambiguous—it applies to anything and

everything that has been said during the service, whether on the chat, in various videos, or during

the sermon. The voice continues:

You will restore good back into the broken everywhere

All you need is Christ at the center of everything

Be who he called you to be because who you are is far greater than what you do

You are called.

This video exhorts the participant to do something--perhaps it‟s to forgive, to work on a

marriage, to invite people to Church Online, to make a decision for Christ, to do something

significant for the community.

The first time I logged on to Church Online, I was distracted by the many features on the

website. Despite the fact that I was warmly welcomed by people on the chat, I wondered
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whether or not true spiritual community was possible and questioned whether or not Church

Online could function as a “real church.” After spending the last month transcribing services,

watching people interact on the chat, hearing the message of life transformation over and over, I

am struck by how similar Church Online is to services are in my own faith community, and I feel

very comfortable participating in services. Perhaps it is the sense of community that I get as I

watch, perhaps it is the construction of ethos, or perhaps it is sheer repetition, but I am beginning

to believe that Church Online is a real church, that participants can indeed connect with God and

with each other, experiencing life transformation in the process. However, I am already

amenable to ideas of faith, and perhaps my bias toward faith influences my response. As a

Christian, already involved with a faith community, I am not Church Online‟s intended audience.

I am curious as to their actual audience, a difficult determination due to the anonymity of

the internet. Yet, understanding that audience is important in determining whether or not the

rhetoric of Church Online actually achieves its goals. I want to know: Is Church Online the

primary religious experience for participants, or is it a supplemental experience? How do

participants find Church Online, and what prompts them to stay? What is their religious

background, and how does that background affect their response to the rhetoric?

I‟m also curious as to the actual impact of these services. Church Online Campus Pastor

Brandon Donaldson closes every service, saying: “Remember, whoever finds God finds life.”

Do Church Online participants truly find God and do they find life? What effect do decisions to

begin a relationship with Christ made in the cyberworld make on lives lived in the world outside

the internet? Is there long-term transformation? These and other topics concerning the nature of

online religious community and the effects of technology, at Church Online as well as at other

online churches, offer numerous opportunities for research.

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Works Cited

Aristotle. On Rhetoric: A Theory of Civic Discourse. Trans. George A. Kennedy. New York:

Oxford University Press, 2007. Print.

Baab, Lynne M. “Portraits of the Future Church: A Rhetorical Analysis of Congregational

Websites.” Journal of Communication and Religion 31, November 2008: 143-181. Web.

20 Feb. 2010.

Brasher, Brenda E. Give Me That Online Religion. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 2001. Print.

Campbell, Heidi. Exploring Religious Community Online: We are One in the Network. New

York: Peter Lang Publishing. 2005. Print.

Dawson, Lorne and Douglas E. Cowan, eds. Religion Online: Finding Faith on the Internet.

New York: Routledge. 2004. Print.

Hall, Chad. “Church Virtually.” Leadership Journal Fall 2009: 46-52. Print.

Højsgaard, Morten T. and Margit Warburg, eds. Religion and Cyberspace. New York:

Routledge. 2005.

Websites:

Lifechurch.tv

Live.lifechurch.tv