The Writing Loft

          Spirituality in Cyberspace
                                                                                 by Nora Profit

           Seventh-day Adventist organizations everywhere are taking another took at the way they conduct their outreach. While conventional outreach is important, Adventists are discovering the power of communicating on the Internet.

            While organizations and churches are often constrained in their outreach by small budgets and limited personnel, publishing on the Internet is a way to sidestep the obstacles. Through die Internet, small Adventist organizations can fulfill their desire to conduct outreach programs that were previously beyond the scope of their financial resources. Larger ministries can increase their exposure by reaching audiences previously considered unreachable.

            Three Angels Global Networking (TAGnet) is dedicated to making it feasible for Seventh-day Adventist institutions, churches, schools and supporting ministries to have a presence on the Web regardless of their size or ability to pay. With the contributions and donations of high-tech companies, as well as interested Adventist individuals and organizations, TAGnet has been able to offer Web space without charge. Even if an organization is not sure 10811 how to go about actually getting on the Web, TAGnet volunteers offer advice and expertise without cost.

            Churches on the Internet are a growing phenomenon. Virtually every religious organization maintains a Web site Organizations like the Baptists, Buddhists, Hindus, Mormons and Muslims have all established a presence online. Even newer religions, from the Church of Scientology to UFO-worshiping cults are making their presence known. It is a valid observation that if a philosophical perspective exists, organized or not, one can probably find it on the Web.

            This new religious electronic landscape is filled with cyber-seekers pursuing the age-old search for God and spiritual purpose. If one plugs into any search engine and types in the word ‘God,” more than 3 million matches will come up. Yahoo atone has close to 1,000 categories sorting out tens of thousands of sites devoted to various faiths and practices.

            One has only to peruse the Web to know that a spiritual renaissance is happening online. Internet-active religious organizations are connecting people worldwide with video images, voice and music, making the boundaries of time and space inconsequential.

            If Seventh-clay Adventists intend to reach the millions of cyber-seekers wanting to know God, it is vital that we present our message on the Internet as forcefully as other religious institutions are presenting theirs. It is important to realize that as long as human beings hunger for a spiritual connection, the search tot God will continue, both in the physical world and the virtual one.

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