Sorry for the gap (pun intended)

I was shocked to see that it has been seven weeks since my last posting. Not that I was being lazy during that time, it's just that 3 business trips, my dissertation defense, and the Thanksgiving holiday were a bigger priority.

A colleague forwarded a call for papers to me on the topic of "The Internet as an Ethical Challenge for Religions" and I am giving some thought to a proposal. While conducting my research, I was amazed at the vast number of sermons that published online. On one hand, this could be an extension of outreach ministries to folks unable to attend worship services with their local congregation. Much like tape recordings of the worship service that are delivered to shut-ins, but then shut-ins might not have Internet access. Perhaps this is a ministry to folks who are geographically removed from the local congregation for one reason or another, but then those folks could be sent an email with the sermon as an attachment instead of being asked to go to a web site to read or print the sermon.

Could the reason for posting so many sermons to the web be an effort to reach a global audience? If so, for what purpose? One finding from my research was an understanding of the sermon preparation process as collaboration with the Holy Spirit. The clergy member has a responsibility to thoroughly research the selected Scripture text and then wait for the guidance of the Holy Spirit to prepare a sermon based on the needs of the congregation served by the clergy member. Such an understanding helps to explain the many different interpretations that can be given to the same Scripture text by many different clergy members.

Does posting a sermon to the Web carry with it at least some degree of assuming that here is a message that the whole world could use? Is there at least some degree of presumption on the part of the clergy member of possessing a particular "truth" that everyone needs to hear? Of course, much of this depends on the nature of the message being posted to the Web and I certainly would not want to deny anyone the use of this wonderful tool for self-expression, especially since there are probably more bloggers than there are clergy members posting sermons.

Anyway, I would appreciate any thoughts, feedback, or suggestions. I am working on a survey of congregations that have web sites and those who do not, which I hope to conduct in the next few weeks. Stayed posted.