The least of the bloggers
25/09/07
Bishop of London's address at the Christian Bloggers Awards Ceremony, St Stephen Walbrook, the City of London, 21 September 2007.
"I come here with proper humility as the least of the bloggers in the Kingdom. Mine appeared at lunchtime today at bishopoflondon.org but at least I have started".
When I made my debut at St Paul’s well over 11 years ago, I was searching for the right sounding title for the event. “Enthronement” sounds too lordly. “Installation” suits a fridge, so I said the service was to mark “the bishop going online”. It has taken some time, but I can today say in this distinguished company that I am indeed online.
The Church is in many ways a communications system. It is not good having abstruse debates about ecclesiology and the character of Christian unity without recognising the evident fact that our real networks of communication these days are greatly influenced by the sites we regularly visit and the online conversations in which we are involved. Even while we are still theoretically attached to a particular religious body we can easily secede and find our inspiration elsewhere. This is not something to lament merely to note and address.
The new possibilities of communication can of course be misused and only today new government guidelines on cyber-bullying have been issued. But just as the gospel was very quickly preached beginning in Jerusalem to the ends of the earth so today it is a Christian responsibility to explore and be present in the new dimension of cyber communication.
It has already brought so many benefits. During the Kosovo crisis an entirely new way of supporting and communicating with fellow Christians was opened by Father Sava, the cyber-monk of Decani monastery. He reported on the crisis as it developed in a way that balanced some of the biased reporting from the usual media.
I have tried in a very amateur way to support pioneers in the field. I particularly enjoyed participating in the services of the Church of Fools launched at The Christian Resources Exhibition in 2004. I was able to preach a simple sermon through an avatar while people from all over the world were able to log in and use various figures to navigate the site. Inevitably, some visitors were intent on mischief, and by the end of the experiment, which attracted over 40,000 people on one particular day, the cyber-wardens were using “smite buttons” to expunge disruptive characters.
The numbers that can be touched by these new ways of communicating are astonishing. Even in its pre-pubescent stage, Night Prayers from the London Internet Church, which is based here, has attracted a regular participation of 3,000. The site is now up and running and soon it will be possible to download the Night Prayers to one’s iPod.
My hope and expectation is that the London Internet Church will be an appropriate development of our mission on this global crossroads, with an “electrical” roll composed of Christians and people of goodwill from Singkiang to Wangaratta. Hats off to Peter Elvy and Peter Delaney, who have turned a dream into reality here at St Stephen’s.
In all this the alliance and friendship of Premier Media has been crucial. The faith and pioneering of Peter Kerridge and his team have been a gift to the whole Christian community. The new challenge which they have put before us is an example of the way to advance Christian unity which grows as we face a common opportunity and look in the same direction, rather than at pictures of one another as we were the day before yesterday.