Do Online Gatherings Have a Place in the Life and Worship of the Church?

By Robin G. Jordan

In article on Anglican Ink, "Virtual Christianity Will Not Do," Julian Mann asks how can an online gathering be the body of Christ? The he goes on to answer his own question without realizing it. He quotes 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, "For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free: and we have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many.” The answer to his question is found in the same passage: “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free: and we have been all made to drink into one Spirit."

What unites us as the body of Christ, to Jesus and to each other is the Holy Spirit. The body of Christ transcends both time and space. We are united to those believers who went before us and those believers who will come after us as well as to other believers around the world.

The assembly of the local church, when it gathers in the same room, is an outward expression of an inward spiritual reality. The local church's assembly points to that reality. However, we should not confuse that reality's outward expression with the reality itself.

Online gatherings may be an imperfect expression of the body of Christ. But when Christians gather online to do what the church does--to worship God, to hear God's word, to pray for God's world, to encourage each other, and to celebrate the Lord's Supper, it is the body of Christ even though its members are seated in separate rooms in front of a screen.

The Holy Spirit is not tied to our physical reality. He not only dwells in the inner most being of the believer but he also dwells outside of time and space. He manifests himself when we gather together in one room and when we are physically separated from each other. He is present when we gather online as he is present when we gather in person. We do not need to share the same physical space for the Holy Spirit to be present.

Like the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper, the assembly of the local church points to a spiritual reality, as I noted earlier in this article. It, however, is not the spiritual reality itself. A gathering of believers online, while they may not share the same physical space, also points to the same reality. Like the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper, the local church’s assembly is a means of grace. So is a gathering of believers online. We do not need to be physically present in the same room to experience God’s kindness and good will toward us or to feel his influence in ourselves and our lives.

In-person gatherings have historically been the norm of the Church and should in my opinion continue to be its norm. However, online gatherings have a place in the life and worship of the Church. They are, while imperfect in a number of ways, an expression of the body of Christ.