Saddleback’s Internet Campus

As many of you may know, Saddleback Church (you know, Rick Warren’s church in south Orange County, CA) recently launched its own “Internet campus” last month.  In doing so, they have joined many other churches exploring new ways to reach the next generation of churchgoers.  According to Digital@Leadership Network, as of April 12, 2009, there are 27 churches with an Internet campus (including Saddleback’s). For those of you not familiar with the idea of an Internet campus, they are…

… more than having a live streaming video — it’s adding live interactive features like lobby chat room, message notes, communication card, raise a hand, say a prayer, and even online giving. Some have on-going ministry during the week with attenders by forming small groups or service projects. (description from Digital@LeadershipNetwork).

I have written many times in the past, often critically, of churches trying to fit the square peg of a full church service into the round hole of the Internet.  Instead of re-hashing those arguments here, let me point you to a couple previous blog entries here and here.  You may also want to check out my interview with Shane Hipps, who has written on this topic. The bottom line of those arguments is simply that the complete experience of church (as exemplified in Acts 2) cannot be done online and, more importantly, churches that offer an online experience should have as their goal the integration of all participants into a physical church body, whether their own or another church’s.  Which leads us to Saddleback…

Over two years ago, in early 2007, I met with Eric Busby who was then heading up Saddleback’s web site.  During our time together, he made clear that Rick Warren did not want to have a publicly available online church service. At that time, Saddleback did offer the ability to watch their services live online, but they limited access to those who had registered and had a legitimate reason for not attending church physically.  So, when I heard that Saddleback had launched an Internet campus, I was intrigued.  Eric is no longer part of Saddleback’s Internet team, so I contacted Matt McGill, who is heading up the Internet campus, to find out what had changed.

Matt has been at Saddleback for fourteen years, starting out in youth ministry and now finding his way to leading Saddleback’s effort to do regional ministry through satellite campuses, including the Internet campus.  Matt explained that the change in philosophy about the online campus had a lot to do with Rick Warren’s growing celebrity status. Rick had stated years ago that he did not want to go on TV because he did not want to become a celebrity. This philosophy also led the church to limit the availability of Saddleback’s services online. But with the success of his books and growing prominence, Rick has become a celebrity despite these restrictions.  There had been a growing demand for more availability of the services online during this time, so the decision was made to open up the online service.

Saddleback’s online service is similar to many other churches’: six services streamed live each weekend, running live the entire service, with live chat, sermon notes, and an integrated online Bible (Lifechurch’s YouVersion).   They have also created some companion services, such as a blog and discussion forum.  According to Matt they will not be offering communion online (yes, some online churches do).  See Matt’s description of their online campus here.

As we continued talking, I asked Matt what his vision was for the Internet campus. His vision for the Internet campus is the same as for any of the physical campuses: to fulfill the “5 purposes”.  Saddleback’s five purposes are based on the Great Commission and the Great Commandment: 1. Love the Lord with all your heart- worship, 2. Love your neighbor as yourself- ministry, 3. Go and make disciples- evangelism, 4. Baptizing them- fellowship, and 5. Teaching them to obey- discipleship. To Matt, the Internet campus should be treated like any other campus.

The discussion then turned to the idea of doing church online. I asked him several key questions to try to understand how Saddleback sees the Internet campus in relation to their overall mission:

• Can an Internet campus could provide a true church experience, as exemplified in Acts 2? Much of the true church experience can be done online – but it is not always best facilitated there.
• Many believe that you cannot fully experience church online because it is impossible to have true fellowship through the Internet. Do you agree? Matt pointed out that it is also possible to not have fellowship even when you attend church physically.
• Would he tell someone attending church online that they were not getting a true church experience? No, he would not tell them that.
• Does having church online send the message that a church experience does not require physical presence? The goal is to encourage those experiencing Saddleback’s services online to eventually move into a local body, whether that be one of Saddleback’s other campuses, another Bible-believing church, or some other form of church. Matt was not quite sure at this point what form that encouragement would take.

I appreciated Matt’s frankness in our discussion.  It looks as if Saddleback’s Internet campus will be a place that will foster maturity and growth for those who participate, but also will send the message that to fully experience the Christian life one must get up from behind the computer screen and physically meet with other Christians in fellowship and worship.  I want to encourage Matt and all those involved in Internet campuses to be sure that they continue to think through what messages are being sent to those attending their services online: the medium is the message.  The Saddleback Internet campus is still in its infancy and I’m sure we will see many changes and evolutions over the next few months. Let’s all keep watch on what this influential church does with its Internet campus.

Tags: Matt McGill, online church, Saddleback