The Internet in Mission and Ecumenism ... - Reformiert online

Evangelische Landeskirche Evangelisches Missionswerk 

Baden in Südwestdeutschland 

Consultation Meeting on 

"The Internet in Mission and Ecumenism – 

Mission and Ecumenism in the Internet" 

Stuttgart, 11 and 12 November 2003

Table of Contents 

Page 

1. Program of the Consultation 3 

2. Introduction to the Consultation and Objectives by Rev. 

Susanne Labsch 

3. Input 1: “Implementing Multicultural Learning and 

Knowledge Communities in Multinational Organizations” 

by Sven Fröhlich-Archangelo 

4. Input 2: “The Internet in the Ecumenical and Mission Work 

of Churches in India“ by Rev. Dr. Joshva Raja 

5. Input 3: “Intercultural Communication and Information 

Exemplified by the Internet Information System ‘Reformed 

Online’" by Christoph Fasse 

6. Working Groups on the Three Inputs 31 

6.1 Results of Working Group 1 31 





7. Task for the Working Groups 34 






8. Working Groups 40 

8.1 Results of Working Group 1: EMS Secretariat 40 

8.2 Results of Working Group 2: Easy access to the internet 40 

8.3 Results of Working Group 3: Difficult access to the internet 41 

Annexes 42 

Power Point Presentations 

- Input Sven Fröhlich-Archangelo 

- Input Dr. Raja 

List of Participants 

Mission Statement of EMS 

4 

7 

8 

26 

2

1. Program of the Consultation 

"Mission and Ecumenism in the Internet – The Internet in Mission and Ecumenism" 

November 11 and 12, 2003, in the Diakonissen Mutterhaus Stuttgart 

Tuesday, November 11, 2003 

14:00 Arrival of Participants and Coffee 

14:30 Greetings and Introduction to Theme 

15:00 Intercultural Communication via Internet 

by Sven Fröhlich-Archangelo, Institute for Intercultural Communication, 

University of Munich 

Discussion of the Input in Buzz Groups 

16:00 Break 

16:30 Internet in the Ecumenical and Mission Work of Churches in India 

by Dr. Joshva Raja, United Theological College Bangalore/India 


17:45 Presentation of Reformed-Online as a Communications' Platform 

for Mission and Ecumenics, by Christoph Fasse, Johannes a 

Lasco-Library Foundation in Emden. 


19:00 Dinner 

20:00 Preparation of the presentation of the Buzz Groups’ results 

20:30 Presentation of Buzz Groups’ results in the plenary 

21:30 Informal Fellowship 

Wednesday, November 12, 2003 

8:30 Impulse for the Day 

8:45 Evaluation of the first day. Open questions and subjects 

Formulation of tasks for working groups 

9:30 Work in Groups - Integrated Coffee Break 

circa 12:00 Reports from the Groups, Suggestions to the Churches 

Working Instructions for the Team from Reformed Online 

Evaluation of the Consultation 

13:00 Lunch 

14:30 Coffee break 

After lunch opportunity for setting dates with representatives of Reformed 

Online, and representatives of the partner churches, and/or from FAKT 

Departure 

3

2. Introduction to the Consultation and Objectives 

by Rev. Susanne Labsch 

Rev. Susanne Labsch, Head of the Department for Mission and Ecumenism of the 

Protestant Church of Baden 

Dear participants, dear sisters and brothers, 

“We are born for the dialogue” – this sentence is nearly 500 years old. 

“We are born for the dialogue “ – was said by the Reformer Phillip Melanchthon. 

We are gathered here to have an intense dialogue, a consultation on “Mission and 

Ecumenism in the Internet – Internet in Mission and Ecumenism”. We want to analyse 

and develop the communication via Internet within the EMS fellowship and we want to 

develop a communication system where all partners can participate actively and on equal 

terms. 

The EMS is a mission society in which six Churches in Germany and 17 Churches 

mainly from Asia and Africa are bound together. We try to develop from a mission society 

to an ecumenical international fellowship of 23 churches spread over three continents. 

The International Mission Council of the EMS who gathered in july of this year took 

important decisions in this direction: 

The first is a new Theological Framework on our common mission and vision 

(see also the Mission Statement in the Annex). 

The second decision was to adopt a new “Policy framework” with three common tasks: 

1. We want to share life concerns between our 23 churches. Therefore we need quick 

and reliable information. It must be possible for partner churches for example in 

Indonesia to give direct information to the other members of the fellowship without having 

to wait for the activity of a liason desk in Germany, at Stuttgart. In order to achieve this, 

we have to study how to get and to share reliable information among us. 

2. We want to focus our activities on a bi-annual program developed and sustained by all 

the churches within the fellowship. For the year 2003 and 2004 this program has the title 

and aim: peace-building. As a common project, the EMS fellow churches will sustain 

together the Medical Service of the Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza. This bi-annual program 

planned and developed with different churches on different continents needs a good 

communication tool via internet. 

3. “Sharing through cross-cultural witness and service” is the third core task. 

This means the continuous exchange of ideas and persons like ecumenical learning as 

ecumenical volunteer or coworker, theological exchange, study possibilities and others. 

We are for example managing an Ecumenical Volonteer Program where young persons 

can come and go for some time to one of the churches in Germany, Ghana or India. 

These young people are still using the Internet as their instrument of cross-cultural 

4

communication and learning – and we may even learn from them. 

The women’s network of the EMS too wants to communicate via Internet – but the 

question of equal access to the means of communication for women and men has not yet 

been resolved everywhere. 

We will discuss these aspects regarding communication as well as these aims and 

questions today and tomorrow. And we are happy that we could win you all as resource 

persons. We are glad that you all are present as persons from different churches, 

mission societies and interested organisations from various regions and countries and 

can contribute your experiences, questions and ideas to this consultation. 

Sven Fröhlich-Archangelo will work with us on the question of cross-cultural 

communication and learning via Internet. 

Dr. Raja came from India to this consultation. He is a teacher at the United Theological 

College of Bangalore and will present us the possibilities and the use of the internet for 

the mission of the Church of South India. 

Christoph Fasse is responsible for the internet platform “Reformed Online” that seeks to 

enable equal and reliable information and possibilities of communication between 

protestant churches all over the world. He will introduce us to this platform. We shall 

discuss the possibilities of collaboration between the EMS and “Reformed Online.” 

Then we shall work in changing groups and we shall be guided in this process by 

Susanne Friess and Bernward Causemann from FAKT. 

We hope that this consultation will lead us to some concrete steps for the improvement of 

the communication system within the EMS as an ecumenical international fellowship. 

I am personally convinced that internet communication will not function without personal 

contacts and relations, without life interaction of people who know and appreciate each 

other. 

“We are born for the dialogue” therefore let us start now to hear and to discuss how to 

improve our internet communication in mission and ecumenism. 

5

Aims of the Consultation in short 

��To come to a shared understanding of a communication model in the EMS community 

��To clarify which contribution "reformed-online" can make 

��To clarify which other instruments are needed to implement the EMS communication 

model 

6

3. Input 1: “Implementing Multicultural Learning and 

Knowledge Communities in Multinational Organizations” 

by Sven Fröhlich-Archangelo 

Sven Fröhlich-Archangelo, Institut für Interkulturelle Kommunikation, Universität München 

One of the most important characteristics of international organisations is, that their 

resources are globally distributed and that their members have differing cultural 

backgrounds. This situation is a specific challenge for these organisations with respect to 

implementing successful collaboration. 

First, we will exemplary present two aspects of collaboration in multinational organisations. 

One aspect is the collaboration in worldwide distributed teams or networks, the other the 

expatriation and the exchange of members within the global organisation. We will portray 

the prevalent problems in these areas and show how new media and e-learning may 

contribute to their solution. 

Second, we are going to talk about possible pitfalls of e-learning. Besides technical 

problems and lack of acceptance we are especially focussing on cultural aspects, which 

have to be taken in account when developing international learning environments. 

Third, we present a concept of several modules for a net-based multicultural learning and 

knowledge community with respect to the above mentioned difficulties. Furthermore, we 

show, how individual modules of the concept can be adapted to the specific situation of the 

EMS. 

��Please see also Power Point Presentation in the Annex 

7

4. Input 2: “The Internet in the Ecumenical and Mission Work 

of Churches in India“ by Rev. Dr. Joshva Raja 

Rev. Dr. Joshva Raja, United Theological College Bangalore/ India 

1. Introduction 

Being a student of Electronics and of the Theology I have often tried to explore the common 

ground between the two. In 2001 I organised a conference on the ‘Perceptions of Islam in the 

Media’ for the mass media practitioners at the United Theological College, Bangalore. Many 

journalists, reporters, editors and other communication scholars were present and made this 

programme a successful one. The participants proposed forming a network to bring more 

awareness of the false perceptions in the media about our friends from different religions. They 

asked me whether I could create an e-group that would bring them together. This led to ‘interfaith 

interaction’ a yahoo e-group with twenty members (mainly media personnel) in 2002 January. As 

we began to engage in this interaction more people expressed their willingness to join the group. 

Now, we have 200 members from all over the world. 

a. Net and Action 

We continued to discuss issues relating to interfaith issues. As we began discussing the 

issues our vision widened to include all the issues of religious dialogue and human concern. 

Religious leaders and scholars from all over the world received the email. I wish to give an 

example of the impact of our e-group on one person’s life. Mr Ian Stillman is a disabled British 

charity worker who was working in India among the disabled people since 1974. During his stay in 

India, he was arrested and was given a ten-year sentence in India on charges of possessing 20 kg 

cannabis, a charge he refuted. When he was arrested on 24 th June 2002 one of our members 

placed this information in our group asking people to help his release. As the different religious 

leaders received this mail from around the world some of our members tried their best to get Mr Ian 

Stillman released. Mainly the Hindu groups such as Rashtria Sweyamsevak Sangh and Visva 

Hindu Parisad (fundamentalists groups) requested the government to release him. Even church 

leaders in UK brought the matter to the British Government and kept the public informed about 

him. Thus with a lot of pressure from all sides Mr Ian Stillman was released on December 7 th 2002. 

By networking people, institutions and churches with the help of the technology of convergence, 

we can carry out the tasks of Christian mission and ecumenism in the new ways that was not 

possible before. I have a few more success stories in using technology that brought changes in the 

life of individuals and communities. 

b. Net and Dialogue 

Through this group we have conducted a number of major programmes of dialogue 

between different religious leaders (for example RSS-Christian dialogue at the UTC on 22nd March 

2002). We carried out peace marches in many parts of India and held a few major ecumenical and 

interreligious discussions between church leaders and other religious groups in August 2003 (after 

the recent violence in Gujarat – a state in India). I have established a website separately for this 

group which will slowly be developed (www.interfaithinteraction.org). As an individual who still 

explores the possibility of bringing about changes through information communication technology, I 

am planning other explorative websites to see how far the Internet can bring about changes in 

people’s perceptions and attitudes. My exploration of using the Internet for Interfaith has given me 

an experiential knowledge in this field. I have also worked as a missionary among Tribal 

communities in Kerala. I will be reflecting on the use of Internet in the area of mission and 

ecumenism from these two different experiences. While highlighting a few examples I am also 

conscious of the limitations of the Net. Now I would like point out the areas of mission and 

ecumenism in which the Internet can play a major role. Before I identify the role of the Internet in 

this area, I like to explain the concept of mission and ecumenism from different perspectives. 

8

2. Mission and Ecumenism 

The words, ‘mission’ and ‘ecumenism’ are understood in a number of ways. In an Indian context 

the word mission is often understood in terms of evangelisation of the masses by the established 

churches. As many of you know we have a number of indigenous as well as foreign supported 

Christian missionary institutions in India. Their prime purpose is to send missionaries to those 

areas where the Gospel is not proclaimed. Most of the churches in India support evangelising 

efforts and send missionaries to work in other parts of India (CSI and CNI). However the word 

‘mission’ is often understood among some Christian seminarians, leaders and intellectuals in terms 

of liberative praxis, solidarity and dialogue with other religious communities. This is also broadly 

identified as ecumenical mission which refers to mission as the struggle for economic justice, 

political freedom and cultural renewal of the world 1 . 

a. Tension in Mission 

The tension between the evangelical and ecumenical groups is reflected even in the WCC’s 

Assemblies and also in the Conferences Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) 

held at different parts of the world 2 . In 1982 the participants of the WCC’s Central Committee 

(Nairobi) stated, “There is a growing awareness among the churches today of the inextricable 

relationship between Christian unity and missionary calling, between ecumenism and 

evangelisation” 3 . Though a complete consensus is yet to be achieved between the so called 

evangelical churches and those who engage in the liberative and dialogic praxis, the mission 

conferences arranged by the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism in 1989 at San 

Antonio (USA) in 2000 brought people from different groups to a closer position. 

b. Plurality of Mission 

For me mission and ecumenism are not two different contradicting concepts or words. The 

churches are called to do mission which clearly means communicating the gospel to all people, 

making people disciples and baptising them in the name of the triune God 4 . Our mission is also 

guided by Jesus’ other sayings and deeds. Jesus’ mission was to show his care for the fullness of 

the people which also includes liberating them from evil spirits and physical sickness. There is a 

triangular method of his mission which are communicating the message of the kingdom; caring for 

the people at the margins such as sinners and tax collectors; and holding a dialogue with his 

opponents. In this sense Jesus used different methods of mission in different contexts and so we 

need a new approach known as ‘Plurality of Mission’. This means various dimensions of mission 

need to be held together and thus bring the churches closer together. It demands mission agencies 

to accept each other’s mission. Such an acceptance of the other is possible in the context of Net 

and its users. While accepting the churches’ methods of evangelisation as part of mission, there is 

a need to enable the churches also to recognise the issues of justice, development and dialogue 

as other dimensions of mission. The churches need to work together with other traditions in 

mission. One may have to accept the other way of doing mission as part of Our Lord’s mission and 

thereby come together in order to share the diverse experience and correct each other’s 

weaknesses and mistakes, thus perfecting in mission. 

1 

The Ecumenical Movement. An Anthology of Key Texts and Voices. Edited by Michale Kinnamon and Brian 

E Cope, WCC Publications, Geneva, 1997, p.356-358. 

2 

Andreas Gross, A Brief Survey of Mission Discussions and Its Importance for the Theme, in New Horizons 

in Christian Mission: A Theological Exploration edited by Victor Premsagar, Chennai: Gurukul Lutheren 

Theological College, 2000 - 106. 

3 

(37) Scherer James A and Bevans Stephen B ed, New Directions in Mission and Evangelisation 1 Basic 

Documents. New York: Orbis, 1992. 

4 

Matthew 28:18-20: And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in 

heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the 

Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with 

you always, even to the end of the age." 

9

c. Seven ways of doing Mission 

In this sense mission can be understood in multiple ways. First the churches’ mission today 

needs to be prophetic in terms of being present in the public space, recognising the signs, of the 

time and being critical of the social and political structures wherever it needs to be. Secondly the 

mission should be liberative in its praxis liberating people from exploitation and the forces of 

hegemony. In this sense the churches and the Christian institutions should show solidarity with 

communities at the margins who are affected by the dominant groups. Thirdly mission needs to 

nourish and strengthen the culture of the people. Christian mission and the process of 

modernisation have gone together in many parts of the developing world where local aspects of 

culture were identified as evil, and the converts were asked to give up their cultural practices 

without question and testing. Fourthly the main task of mission today is to rebuild communities that 

are broken by communal violence and religious hatred. It needs a reconciliatory approach towards 

communities which means to listen and encourage people to come together regardless of religious, 

ethnic and racial differences. This demands dialogue and interaction between communities. Fifthly 

mission also includes communicating the gospel to all people. This means we are called to witness 

and share what God has done in our lives in Jesus Christ. We can engage with others in search for 

meanings of Christ and of God without making any exclusive claims. Sixthly our mission needs to 

be development-oriented in which we show our care for the other, particularly the sick and the 

sidelined. Finally our mission should be participatory. We need to open ourselves that others can 

discover Christ in us while we need to engage with other in their search for meanings of God and 

of life where we will discover God in their activities. It is essential that we engage in each other’s 

search for meanings in order to nourish each other’s faith and knowledge. These are seven 

dimensions with which the interaction between Mission, Ecumenism and Internet will be studied in 

the following sections. The churches’ involvement in the media is being influenced to some extent 

by a traditional understanding of mission in which evangelisation and providing information about 

Christianity to the non-Christians are often seen as main tasks. It is essential to look at the way the 

churches use the media in their mission and to critically examine it from the standpoint of Jesus’ 

methods of communication. 

3. Media, Mission and Ecumenism 

a. Instrumental Use 

Very often the churches tend to use the media as instruments of communication in order to 

expand their sphere of influence. It is known as the extension of the pulpit through which the 

church attempts to reach out to a wider audience through sermons and worship programmes. Such 

an attitude can be seen in the statements of World Council of Churches Assembly statements as, 

“Evangelically, the churches must resist the temptation to use the media in ways which 

violate people’s dignity and manipulate them, but rather (the church) should proclaim with 

humility and conviction the truth entrusted to it” [Gill 1983:107]. 

Most of the churches use the net as an instrument to provide information about their churches and 

their programs. The underlying belief behind such an understanding of media and mission is that, 

God is seen as a fixed sender of the gospel message which is reflected in one of their statements 

as, “God speaks, the church proclaims… In Jesus Christ God revealed himself to man and made 

communion with him possible…The (this message) must be preached ….to modern man.” [Goodall 

1968:394-5]. Since 1983 many theological views as well as the perception of the churches towards 

the media have undergone changes and so there is a development in thought in terms of 

communication of the Gospel to others. Nevertheless one cannot see any changes overall in their 

engagement with the media in general appropriating other concepts of mission. 

10

Critique 

In such an instrumental perspective, Christian communication is seen as an equivalent of 

passing on information about God and Jesus to all people on earth. Having received the message 

faithfully from God through Jesus the churches are called to send it to all. The media are seen as 

mere instruments to carry the gospel from the communicator to the audience. This widens the gap 

between the communicator and the audience and places the communicator in a superior position 

than to the audience. The cultural aspects of the media and their hermeneutic role have been 

neglected. The receiving role of the audience is given more importance than other perspectives. 

The audience plays a major role in the construction of the meanings of the gospel whereas the 

above view devalues the persons in favour of the message [Weber 1992]. It emphasises the 

powerlessness of the receiver. This traditional model of sender-message-receiver dominated in the 

understanding of the use of the media in mission. 

b. Effect-Centred Perspective 

The churches and other institutions also express concern over the media’s impact on 

people and particularly on Christians. The churches tend to address the ethical and social issues 

raised by the effect of the media on people. In this effect-centred approach the media are seen as 

very powerful in reaching the masses with their values and even divides people economically. This 

is reflected in the Canberra Assembly (1991) where it states, “Means of Communication are 

powerful tools of hidden control…. The truth is not told and we cannot exercise free judgement. 

The mass media are a means of cultural imperialism” [Kinnamon 1991:83]. Even in the Harare 

Statement media are seen as technological systems that promote consumerist values and widens 

gap between rich and poor, powerful and powerless [WCC Web 1999:25]. 

Critique 

The effect-centred perspective has a strong assumption that there is a correlation between 

some social problems and the effect of the media on the audience. This perspective also predicts 

continuation and changes in the present economic 5 , political 6 and cultural 7 systems. By denying 

access and dividing people into ‘have’s’ and ‘have not’s’ such technology is seen as widening the 

existing gap between the rich and the poor. Being a critic of this view Hamelink argues that it is not 

possible to predict the future social impact of any technology and so social choices about the future 

can be made under conditions of uncertainty 8 . One needs to recognise certain variables that are 

involved in the interaction between the media and the audience. It means the observations in one 

context cannot be generalised to all situations. The media alone cannot be blamed for widening the 

divisions between the poor and the rich or for the increase in violence in a society. 

5 A perpetuation of the capitalist mode of production, with a further refinement of managerial control over the 

production processes which results massive job displacement and de-skilling. 

6 A pseudo-democracy will emerge, allowing people to participate in marginal decisions only. ICTs will 

enable to exercise surveillance over their citizens more effectively than before. The proliferation of ICTs in 

the home will individualise information consumption to a degree that makes the formation of a democratic, 

public opinion no more than an illusion. 

7 There are tendencies of forceful cultural “globalization” for example Macdonaldization and aggressive 

cultural tribalization – fragmentation of cultural communities into fundamentalist cells with little or no 

understanding of different tribes. 

8 Cees Hamelink, “ICTs AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT: THE GLOBAL POLICY CONTEXT”, Papers 

presented at the UNRISD Conference on Information Technologies and Social Development. Geneva, 22-23 

June 1998, http://www.unrisd.org/infotech/conferen/icts/toc.htm. P.6 

11

c. Jesus’ Communication 

After analysing these perspectives, I would like to highlight the way Jesus communicated to 

his audience. In order to have a credible and ideal communication, he accepted his listeners ‘as 

they were’ 9 . Communication as a process can occur between two equal beings. He went to the 

place where they are. He engaged in the listeners’ communication process. That means, most of 

the times he used parables, stories and other types of communication that are familiar to his 

hearers which also reflected their contemporary context. At times his communication began by 

listening to his opponents or his hearers and thereby engaging along with them in their search for 

meanings of life and of God rather than simply asking them to comply with his own search for 

meanings of God and of life. Thereby Jesus engaged in the public communication in the way 

people expected presenting his meanings among a wide range of meanings that were available to 

his hearers. Jesus used different methods, means and forms of communication in his mission. It is 

essential to recognise a model that offers such a diverse mission models in Jesus’ teachings and 

practice. 

I would like to start from these principles of Jesus Christ when setting out to do mission and 

ecumenism in and through the Internet. I would like to ask a few questions such as: what kind of 

public space or cultural interaction has the Internet created among the Netizens? In what way do 

people engage in the Internet? what are they searching for? what are the technological facilities 

that a website or net offers to people? how can we engage in different forms of mission? how do 

we provide network link for people and churches? Based on these questions I would like to 

highlight some ways in which the churches can get involved in mission and ecumenism in and 

through the Internet. 

4. Internet Scenario in India 

a. Internet Availability 

The number of people using the Internet in India is expected to rise to 23 million by 2003. At 

present, it is estimated that about four million people use the Internet in India (2000 July) 10 . There 

is a large number (more than ten million) of temporary net users in the cafes which is often not 

counted. At the same time India’s two percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) comes through 

the IT Software and Services Industry in India 11 . When I came to Bangalore in March 2000 there 

was only one Web café near UTC whereas now there are no fewer than six Internet Surfing 

Centres around UTC. In my experience in many of India’s semi-urban cities people know more 

about fibre optics than underground drainage. That is why The Hindu newspaper says on Sunday, 

December 31, 2000, 

We are in serious danger of becoming a nation where cable and optics fibre will reach most urban 

homes long before potable water and drainage, and where children in remote areas will have 

easier access to movies than to schooling. 

The price of computers is cheaper than some of the household equipment such as a washing 

machine. From 2,000 knowledge IT workers in 1986, the number increased to 222,090 web 

professionals in early 2002 12 . There are 18 Software Technology Parks in India. Bangalore is 

supposed to be the silicon valley of India. National Informatics Centre (NIC) provides computer 

support to governments both at central and at state level, thereby networking the government 

9 I have highlighted these principles of Jesus’ communication in my book, ‘Facing the Reality of 

Communication: Culture, Church and Communication’. New Delhi: ISPCK, 2001. 

10 BBC News South Asia India net users set to soar… 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/848832.stm 

11 Research, Reference and Training Division ed, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of 

India, India, ‘Information Technology’ 2002, New Delhi: Quick Printers, p.160, 

12 http://stylusinc.com/internet_potential_india.htm 

Internet Potential in India - Sharon Colaco - India's Webspertise 

12

offices and improving the services to the people 13 . For example, the government provides 

computer kiosks for the farmers to print out their land records by paying 15 Rupees (10 cents) 

rather than going to a local government office and paying 500-1000 Rupees (10 US$ to 20 US$) as 

a bribe. To some extent this has enabled the government to reduce the bureaucracy and bribing 

practices in their offices. Nevertheless the majority of the billion people in India does not have 

access to the Internet and cannot afford to have a computer for a few decades to come. Only a 

small percentage of the Indian population uses the net and this is mainly urban based. The 

divisions between the rich and the poor and between urban and rural are explicit in India. One third 

of Indian people are below the poverty line. To some extent one can argue that this technology has 

widened the gap between the ‘information rich and information poor’ in a developing nation like 

India. Because of these factors there is a dilemma for anyone who intends to attempt to use 

Internet for mission. 

b. Net and Reality 

Some NGOs explore the possibilities of using the Information Communication Technology 

(ICT) for the development of the people 14 . We provide training and skills for the schoolteachers to 

use computers in their schools for education. Most of our urban Christian schools provide 

computer training for their pupils. Access to the Internet in a city is faster and cheaper than in a 

village, though the government is trying to ensure that villages also get access at the same speed 

and cost. Some of the urban churches are using computers for different purposes in their ministry. 

The number of users in India is increasing at enormous speed, but accessibility, affordability and 

availability of the technology to all is still a long way from becoming reality. The question of doing 

mission and ecumenism via the Internet in India needs to be seen from a different perspective as 

compared to some of the developed countries. My question remains: to what extent can the 

Internet be useful to the churches in doing mission? While recognising these issues we also need 

identify the fact that our use of the Net for mission and ecumenism does not require all the people 

to have personal access to the Net. This is where the technology of convergence, connectivity and 

networking can make the Net accessible for whole groups of people both within and outside the 

churches. 

c. Church Net 

There are a variety of ways that the churches in India use the Internet for their mission and 

ministry. The Churches in India basically provide a website which gives basic information about 

their institutions, doctrines and activities 15 . Many of them have their own websites 16 . The following 

sites provide best examples for the above argument. 

The Church of South India’s website - http://www.cnisynod.org/ 

National Council of Churches in India - http://www.nccindia.org/ 

Othodox Churches - http://www.otsindia.org 

13 

Research, Reference and Training Division ed, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of 

India, India, ‘Information Technology’ 2002, New Delhi: Quick Printers, p.165, 

14 

M. S. Swaminathan project which attempts to provide useful information to fisher communities. 

http://poverty.worldbank.org/files/14654_MSSRF-web.pdf 

http://www.mssrf.res.in/ 

Voices,a Bangalore based organisation is trying to help disabled children to use computers. 

15 

The Church of South India provides basic information about the churches and their activities. 

http://www.csisynod.org/ 

In the same way the United Evangelical Churches in India too provide a good website with a lot of 

information about their activities. 

http://www.uelcindia.org/index.html 

To see a specific diocese please visit http://www.csitirunelveli.org/csi_td.asp 

16 

Marthoma Church http://www.marthomachurch.com/Heritage-Mission/15thcentury-story.htm 

The Assemblies of God church - http://business.vsnl.com/zion/ 

Indian Pentecostal church - http://www.angelfire.com/al3/ipcpallipad/ipc.html 

Independent Baptist Churches’ directory - http://www.baptistinfo.com/States/INDIA/INDIA.HTM 

A bit about CBCNEI http://www.wfn.org/2000/04/msg00025.html 

13

The United Evangelical Lutheran Church - http://www.uelci.org/ 

The churches use the website as a means to inform the public. One needs to appreciate some of 

the churches who are developing these websites and exploring new ways of communicating to the 

people within and outside the church. As Christians we need to communicate the gospel through 

all means without hurting or competing with other religious followers. We need to provide certain 

information such as that we are not forcefully converting any other religious followers using money 

or any other inducements? This is the first step in our mission which is providing a proper 

information about Christians and the churches to the public through the net. Majority of the rural 

churches and dioceses do not have a website and do not have access to net as well. 

d. Netizens and Missionary Organisations 

We need to identify the kind of information that is being sought by people on the net. It 

means that our website should be open for people to add their suggestions. It should provide a 

space for people to ask questions, and indicate how and where the netizens can meet up with the 

churches. Some of the missionary organisations 17 and individuals provide information and publicity 

about their activities in order to raise support for them (http://www.iemoutreach.org/). They do not 

create any space for interaction for the people in the web. Some of them have even developed 

online donation forms 18 . There are not many websites that present the gospel in the people’s own 

languages (regional languages) and also in an interactive way. This is one of the major tasks 

facing the churches today; to make the gospel message accessible to local people in their own 

language. Email is a very good way to reach people who, for a number of reasons, may be living 

away from home enabling them to form a virtual community. 

e. Christian Institutions 

Theological seminaries also have their own websites, as do missionary organisations and 

other Christian institutions.(www.utcbangalore.com). They provide basic information about their 

institutions and courses that they offer 19 . I have begun to see that the institutions are not in a 

position to provide an interactive website because of their effect-centred approaches. Many of 

them are told that the Internet is part of globalisation and will widen the gap between the rich and 

the poor. They fear that some of the information available will destroy the values of the society, and 

that children, and other vulnerable people, might have access to pornography or other undesirable 

material. Some of this could be true, but not all use the Internet for these purposes. Even those 

who are against this technology in public use it when it becomes essential for them. Such views 

have made the Christian institutions sceptical about the use of technology. Also, an unwarranted 

fear is being created by a few, who do not know the technology or of ways to protect the system, 

that people can intrude into their computer using their websites and infect their computers with 

viruses. Frequently, institutions have no clear idea about the copyright of documents and files, and 

this creates more uncertainty and confusion in providing online archives and libraries to the web 

public. 

17 

There are number of missionary organisations that send missionaries but do have websites - Diocesan 

Missionary Band -http://www.dmpb.org/ 

Radio Viswavani - www.vishwavani.org & http://www.gospelcom.net/twr/ 

Voice of Hope - http://www.radiovoiceofhope.net/ 

Adventist Radio asia - http://www.awr.org/awr-asia/ 

Other organisations are Friends Missionary Prayer Band, Indian Missionary Society, National Missionary 

Society, GEMS, Indian Church Growth Mission (an Indigenous one) 

18 

http://www.indiaevangelical.org/contrib.html 

19 

http://hbi.gospelcom.net/home.asp 

This is Hindustan Bible Institute’s website. 

Serampore College - http://www.wmcarey.edu/carey/serampore/serampore.htm 

Orthodox Seminary - http://www.otsindia.org/seminary/ 

http://www.otsindia.org 

Gurukul http://www.gltc.edu/history.htm 

UTC – www.utcbangalore.com 

14

A few years ago one of our visiting professors, Prof. Fore started a website – Religion 

Online. He asked me whether I could help him in collecting files which I did for him. 

(http://www.religion-online.org/). The purpose was to provide a number of books and articles on the 

website for the sake of the students, and other researchers from the developing nations, who 

cannot afford to buy the expensive books from the West. Today it is one of the top most visited 

websites in the area of religion. 

Some individuals use websites for different purposes which are often ecumenical and 

dialogical, though limited in service, and not representative of their churches’ or institutions’ views. 

Some are doing mission in the sense of social networking: development, oriented websites and 

religious dialogue programmes which are helpful to communities at large 20 . Among them only a few 

are aware of the advanced technological capabilities, and culture of interaction and communication 

which is rapidly developing through the net. This knowledge would have enabled them to be more 

interactive, effective and participatory in their mission. 

f. Yahoo groups 

Besides an e-group for the interfaith dialogue, I maintain a network of NGOs who are working 

among Refugees and a group for the communication scholars at South Asian level to share our 

theories and concepts. A few others have email lists for other interested groups and members. 

These groups are seen as interactive groups where people express their views freely. Through our 

efforts we have created our own space for communication. At times through these networks we, 

the members, feel that we are doing something for the development of others such as refugees 

and poor people. Recently we have started an e-group for the pastors who are interested in 

HIV/AIDs awareness and for theologians who are interested in ecological issues. The messages 

are made available for anyone to have access. 

Even though these e-groups help us to organise major conferences, seminars, dialogue 

and other projects, I do not receive any financial support to run these groups. Some of the 

international organisations have asked me whether they could run similar e-groups. I have given 

them guidance regarding these groups. The Government of India has blocked some of e-groups 

and so I have started constructing websites for these e-groups. My e-groups on interfaith 

interaction is under construction and the address is www.interfaithinteraction.org. We plan to have 

an interactive page on this website, as the e-groups were blocked only recently after a major 

International conference in Bangalore in August 2003. The problem with all the above methods is 

that we have not yet explored the other ways of doing mission. There are other e-groups who 

network Christians, Churches and NGOs from all over the world. We need to network those who 

are engaged in this networking ministry 21 . Those who are interested in doing mission have not 

come to grasp the culture of the net. We are accustomed to send and receive mail by air or sea 

which takes days and at times months. 

20 http://www.cmai.org/memb-mp.htm 

This is a website of Christian Medical Association of India. This website has lots of information about medical 

work in India. Who is the audience? In what way does it attract the audience? What are the ways of 

interaction with their promotional work on awareness and networking? These are a few questions that one 

needs to ask about this website. More people from abroad would have visited this page than many Indians. 

http://www.hmiindia.com/academic_04.htm 

This is the website of Henry Martin Institute which also provides information about their programmes and 

activities. 

21 Some examples of other groups can be seen in these websites which are mainly for Indian Christians 

http://asiapacificuniverse.com/asia_pacific/messages30/358.html 

http://www.ayrookuzhiyil.bravepages.com/links.html 

15

5. Grasping the technology and culture of the Net 

The technology of the web has introduced a new culture – a culture of communicating at 

high speed, a culture of interactivity and a culture of hypertexts, a culture of ‘wandering self’, and a 

new religious culture. It is a mediated communication – which one can identify as e-communication 

or Web Mediated Communication (WMC). Those who engage in such communication have 

allowed themselves to be influenced by the culture of net. At first the WMC influences people’s 

perceptions, attitude, faith and worldview and enables each person to discover one’s self in one’s 

own way. Secondly it makes an impact on the relationship between persons – at interpersonal 

level and enhances the relationship to grow at the speed of the light or break it at the same speed. 

Through such interpersonal relationship people discover a virtual friendship, relationship and also 

communities with which they can affiliate themselves. Thirdly WMC influences the social, 

economical, political status of the people. The following section will highlight a few issues in the 

culture of Internet which needs to be recognised before we consider some of the efforts of mission 

and ecumenism in and through the Net. 

In the culture of interaction people began to look at the way the religion itself begin to 

change. People from different religious communities use net for different purposes. Their religious 

faith is also being influenced by the Net. Fabio Pasqualetti 22 argues that the new Internet culture is 

challenging the global and local discrimination of the people. It has moved the users from their 

institutional affiliation of a religion to seekers of personal spirituality. The Net users changed their 

affiliation from believing traditions to affiliation of meanings. They are seekers of subjective truth 

rather than objective truth. Their language is of a cultural language rather than of a technocratic 

language. Thus net users form their own relationship with others. They search for God and for 

meanings in their own way. God is the one of the most popular searched subject of the Internet 23 . 

The culture that has emerged in the net is a complex as well as post modern type of culture. 

a. High Speed and exchange of information 

In the interaction between human beings and the Internet we need to identify the way the 

new technology differs from the old media technology. People often emphasise the high speed with 

which they can access enormous quantities of information. With telephone facilities we speak with 

other person or send faxes, which depend on the availability of the other person. But here we can 

send any texts with nearly the speed of the light to the other person. We write and receive the reply 

at high speed. It brings people closer in terms of sharing information, resources and opinions. 

Through email and e-groups people interact with each other at a great speed (chat mails are 

banned in some countries). At times major decisions are taken and many programmes are 

broadcast using fast interactive services. The communicators feel the presence of the other in the 

net, but virtually. Using the File Transfer Protocol, one can change any text of their website at any 

place of the world if one has the username and password of the site. I can also have access to my 

e-group from any part of the world and moderate the discussions. 

b. Interactive Net 

Mail can be sent in seconds from one part of the world to another. It will include material of all 

kinds: information, pictures, educational material, entertainment programmes, knowledge banks, 

along with junk mail. It is proving difficult to screen or control unwanted or unsolicited information. 

One can ‘post’ useful information on the websites. Instantaneously one can have access to any 

government or non-government website and send mail to ministers about any issue. Because both 

the communicator and receiver can play an alternative role of sending and receiving, a new culture 

has evolved in the use of Internet which is interactive in its nature. In such an interactive culture the 

22 

Fabio Pasqualetti, Characteristics of Digital Culture – A Challenge For Education 

http://www.jmcommunications.com/english/DigitalCulture.html 

23 

The search engine Google has 32,500,000 sites talking about God. 

16

gap between sender and receiver is reduced 24 . In this interactive culture there is a high speed 

sending, sharing, and transfer of information and data to each other. This interactivity encourages 

people to participate and to interact with each other in an easy manner and enables them to 

establish a new democratic and equal relationship 25 . 

c. Convergence and hypertext 

The digital convergent technology brings together many other analogical media operations 

into a digital language and is enabled, thereby, to converge the applications. For example this 

digital technology is useful in bringing together audio-visual, written and 3-D texts and in linking up 

the operations of a radio, video and short message service. Digital Technology is able to transcend 

some of the limitations of previous technologies. “In cyberspace we can construct worlds that have 

no connection with physical reality 26 ”. Because of the availability of hypertext the exploration is 

made possible according to one’s own interest. Communication is not simply making sense but 

being there to recognise and accept the other being present in the net. In the net culture there is a 

choice for the users to continue to search as they wish through hypertexts. There is no ‘start’ and 

‘end’ point in one’s search. The person becomes a ‘wandering self’ in the wilderness of 

information. 

d. Digital world and Virtual Self 

The Internet provides a self-identity for many users. It helps the individuals to form their real 

and virtual self with an interaction through and with the net. The Internet provides a multiplicity of 

the self – by projecting oneself into a web and seeing a self without reflecting the self itself 27 

[Turkle 1997]. At times there is a gap between the projected self and the real self - highlighting the 

diversity of the character of the person. The Internet not only provides a space for social relations 

to occur, but provides the tools needed to enter that space [Jones 1995]. The net creates a desire 

for more interaction and information about anything and everything, virtual community and virtual 

presence. Digital technology removes us from the physical experience of the other and from 

contact with the physical reality. There is an absence of physical language 28 . On the net, one surfs. 

This passage from one point to the other on the net is reflected sometimes, in this style of life, as 

the passage from one experience to another, but in its more positive and mature form it is 

experienced as a culture of separation, of non-affiliation to something specific. It favours the spirit 

of search. It is a culture that offers and is generous, although it can also be a place of abuse and 

embezzlement 29 . The user often tends to float the ‘self’ with strange identities and establish 

relationship within what he or she has created about herself or himself. Elizabeth M. Reid 

describes “the formation of a new society out of Internet Relay Chat (IRC)” 30 . The users of IRC 

24 

This new technology is directing communities towards a new type of society where they become principle 

organisers [Kellner 1995:2]. The Multi-User Dungeons (MUDs) provide unlimited access to anything on the 

Net – converging the texts into audio-visual-written- graphic multimedia texts. There is an open access to 

anyone to create his or her own website. Information is fragmented [Heather Campbell, Cultural Implications 

of the Internet & Postmodernity, pp39-47, in Interactions: Theology Meets Film,TV and the Internet. Edited 

by Heidi Campbell and Jolyon Mitchell Edinburgh: CTPI, 1999]. 

25 

"We are seeing a revitalization of society. The frameworks are being redesigned from the bottom up. A 

new more democratic world is becoming possible. ... The Net seems to open a new lease on life for people. 

Social connections which were never before possible, or which were relatively hard to achieve, are now 

facilitated by the Net. Geography and time are no longer boundaries. Social limitations and conventions no 

longer prevent potential friendships or partnerships. In this manner netizens are meeting other netizens from 

far-away and close by that they might never have met without the Net." 

Stanely Hauerwas, A Community of Character, (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame, 1981), 44. 

26 

David Lochhead, Shifting Realities: Information Technology and the Church. Geneva: WCC, 1997, p.68. 

27 

Turkle,S. Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet, London: Phoenix-Orion Books,Ltd 1997. 

28 

David Lochhead, Shifting Realities: Information Technology and the Church. Geneva: WCC, 1997. 

29 

Jones, S ed Cybersociety, London: Sage 1995. 

30 

Reid, Electropolis: Communication and Community on the Internet Relay Chat, 1991. For more valuable 

reading on cultural issues in cyberspace, see Elizabeth M. Reid, Cultural Formations in Text-Based Virtual 

17

choose to join a channel and select a ‘nickname’ under which to interact. The users have created a 

whole set of written symbols that enable them to express feelings in a written form. The 

widespread use of ‘Emoticons’ is strong indication of the important role affections have on the 

Internet. Users of IRC often develop strong friendships with a sense of responsibility to their 

fellows, and regard their electronic world with a great deal of seriousness. By detaching the virtual 

self from the real self often the user finds it to communicate the way he wanted to. With the use of 

nickname, Emoticons and non-affliation there is a communication without transfer of any meanings 

from one person to the other but the presence of both in the net is what matters. 

e. God and I in the Net 

There is also a need to recognise the individuals’ and communities’ search for meanings of 

life and of God in the net. The second most subject searched in the net is God. There is a kind of 

spirituality in the Net in which the netizen wishes to search for meanings of God and of life in their 

own ways. They search for recognition of the people and those who engage with them in their 

search, at times in a funny way, at times in a serious manner and at times in a manipulative 

manner. They allow their ‘I’s to be floated. An affiliation to a free Hotmail/Yahoo email service 

means to have an access to the Net address from any part of the world. Others send their mails to 

this box even if I am not there. I can have access to this site from any part of the world. It seems 

like a wandering self which immediately changes into another self or disappears in the net. Even 

the communities are engaged in search for meanings of life and of God. We need to recognise and 

engage in this search for meanings, providing our own meanings without condemning other 

meanings that are available to them. 

f. The Other side of the Web 

In this culture there is also a problem of spreading a virtual hatred about other religious or 

minority communities. In this interactive culture such ‘hate’ texts should be identified and raised 

with the people concerned – moderators, hosts, or countries so that such texts will no longer be 

available to the public. Online pornography is one of the major problems and most of the net-café 

users misuse the net for this purpose. This has evolved into a culture of viewing porns, and both 

parents and teachers need to instruct the children to avoid it. The intruders are often big problems 

in many of our nets 31 . While recognising the positive elements of the Internet culture we need to 

identify the way the digital divide is made between the rich and the poor. The discrimination is not 

explicit in the net but the access is easier to an urbanised middle class youth than a rural poor 

person. I find it difficult to argue against the fact that technology has widened the division between 

rich and poor. Yet, while recognising this critically I find that there is a possibility of engaging in a 

positive way, in mission and ecumenical activities through the Internet. 

Realities, M.A. Thesis at University of Melbourne, Australia, Department of History, 1994. Available from 

http://www.ee.mu.oz.au/papers/emr/cv.html 

31 David Lochhead, Shifting Realities: Information Technology and the Church. Geneva: WCC, 1997 

18

6. Internet and Mission: Possibilities 

There are various ways with which the churches can engage in the Net culture. In this context 

they can consider engaging with the innovative technological means, the interactive way of 

communication and the virtual communities. The mainline church institutions should find ways of 

providing a web server in order to host some of their websites by themselves. For this they need 

the Public Internet Protocol- PIP address. They also need to participate e-groups, e-communities, 

and online newspapers/newsletters, email connections, Development oriented, liberative, 

advocacy related and Interactive sites. This would enhance on the one hand the ongoing 

communication process within the churches and between the churches and those who are outside 

the churches and also on the other hand the public communication in which other religious 

communities are also involved. In this section I am highlighting certain possibilities of taking part in 

the culture of internet and discover new ways of doing mission and ecumenism. 

a. Sharing the Gospel 

The digital technology, culture, space and virtual communities of Internet provided a 

platform for us many challenges for our mission. There are diverse ways of doing mission in and 

through the Internet. One of the best ways is to engage with individuals who are seeking meanings 

of the gospel through the net. Through our websites we can establish contact with those who 

searching for the meanings of the gospel. At times we have to establish different types of websites 

for Christians and non-Christians and also cater to individual’s questions as well as non-Christians. 

Our website should provide a simple message of the gospel. There is a need to develop websites 

for different audiences. For Children a Christian education oriented, animated Bible stories and 

games can be developed in regional language. Our websites should present the churches’ 

doctrines and other dogmas in a simple manner to the readers. 

The charismatic and evangelical groups have recognised the potential power of the net and 

have already started placing their video on demand, their sermons (both text and audio files) 

besides providing any other information that the users want. Some of these groups provide 

misinformation about Christians and Christianity by emphasising the number of converts through 

their mission, by popularising the prosperity gospel and by highlighting their links to certain 

fundamentalist Christians in other parts of the world 32 . This creates a bad image for Christianity, 

and Christians, and is one of the main reasons for attacks on churches. Our first task of mission is 

to provide moderate information about the gospel to all people through the net. We need to make 

our doctrines, tradition and gospel clear to the net users. As I mentioned already the National 

Council of Churches or the main church offices can provide a Web Server which can host member 

churches’ websites for a low cost. Each member church can be encouraged to communicate the 

gospel in the way they wanted to. Such an attempt will both be evangelical as well as ecumenical 

in its praxis. It is essential to encourage churches to develop websites in the regional languages 

rather than in English. 

b. Interactive Communities 

The digital technology, culture, space and virtual communities of the Internet provide a 

platform for us, and also many challenges for our mission. There are diverse ways of doing mission 

in and through the Internet. One of the best ways is to engage with individuals who are seeking 

meanings of the gospel through the net. Through e-groups, e-communities and websites we can 

establish contact with those who searching for the meanings of the gospel. At times we have to 

establish groups for Christians and non-Christians and be ready to respond to individual questions 

from both groups. The kind of pseudo-identity of the participants helps people to ask genuine 

questions and try to find answers from others in the groups. The content of the discussion will differ 

according to individual or community interest. These discussions can be widened to search for 

meanings of life and of religions. We can also establish different groups or communities in order to 

32 One of the examples is Jesus Calls ministries where you find a kind of tele-evangelism and internet 

evangelism with much emphasis on prosperity and promises of blessings. http://www.prayertoweronline.org/ 

19

differentiate discussions on different topics. We have expertise in areas such as counselling, 

ministerial guidance, lay training, and mission studies. With their help we may be able to provide 

online counselling or answer theological questions or clarify some questions about Christianity 

itself. For example ask any questions related to a group named “God and theology” through which 

we can have discussions. 

In my experience of certain e-communities, I realised that the participants in the 

discussions are not interested in finding out facts about God, or objective information about 

someone’s faith, but in listening to stories – stories of life and stories of faith. Many non-Christians 

who want to know about Christianity and the gospel should be informed. Even if they do not want 

to change their religion we can continue engage with such individuals or communities. We also can 

establish e-groups and email lists which are very helpful in terms of networking people. The kind of 

pseudo-identity of the participants helps people to ask genuine questions and try to find answers 

from others in the groups. The content of the discussion will differ according to the individual or 

community’s interest. These discussions can be widened to search for meanings of life and of 

religions. We can also establish different groups or communities in order to differentiate 

discussions on different topics. To engage in this way we need a website, and text box using CGI 

(Common Gateway Interface -Linux)/ASP (Active Server Pages -Windows). Our website will be 

interactive if we use the blogging (http://www.pcquest.com/content/technology/103060206.asp) 

method to collect information from different parts of the world immediately. Our website can host all 

the unedited and unrestricted information about the churches with ‘no-offence’ policy. 

c. Serving Christian Community 

The churches can cater for their members’ needs by conducting online worship, by holding 

discussion groups, by providing information about their members in the website, by placing their 

liturgies, sermons and devotional material for others to read. Today the segmentation of individuals 

and communities is increasingly becoming a reality in which the church can play a role in bringing 

people together virtually and thus establish a virtual Kingdom of God. We also need to place 

Christian educational material in our website so that it can be useful for others. For those who 

cannot come to the church the virtual online worship might enable them to worship along with 

others, even though virtual worship does not replace real worship. Our mission is to bring 

separated people together in order to establish a community of God where broken relationships 

are restored and communities reconciled. Of course we can make use of the modern technology of 

convergence such as video on demand or online radio that cost less than analogical broadcasting 

or even the narrowcasting. New liturgies, attractive sermons and new songs can be placed on the 

churches’ website so that others can use them. Many children are taught to use computers in their 

schools. When they come back they try to play with the computers, we can also produce 

interactive animated Bible stories and value oriented songs and stories and place them in our 

websites. As most of these are available in English we need to consider producing in one’s own 

regional language. 

d. Training Pastors and Missionaries 

We need to train mission workers, pastors and theologians to use the Internet as an 

interactive tool for communication. Our approach to mission in using the Internet should not divide 

us; rather we need to be in a position to accept other types of mission and evangelism along with 

our present efforts to carry out God’s work. These tasks require both the expertise of software 

engineers, and experience in the field of mission, leading to an inclusive strategy of mission and 

knowledge of using the net. For this we need to train the ministerial candidates and theological 

students to have knowledge of web publishing and hosting. At the United Theological College we 

offer the courses (Word - Desk Top Publishing – Web designing) to our students so that they might 

use them in their ministry and mission. We would like the seminaries to encourage the pastors to 

continue their education using Distance Online Learning (DOL) which is used by many universities 

to promote their higher education for those who are in jobs. It is also essential for the pastors to 

become aware of certain issues and methods of communication in the Net. 

It is essential to promote Net-Literacy which means to make the net-users critical readers 

(literate) of the net. The problem of pornography should be addressed at all levels from the 

20

government, NGOs, churches and parents. In order to enable the children to use the net properly 

the churches need to provide interesting, creative and imaginative websites. The websites should 

be interactive and open ended to ask any question to anyone, and the content should be 

edutainment and infotainment oriented so that the young people, and others, will visit and use our 

websites. If such is the case we will certainly be able to transcend our doctrinal, denominational, 

religious and national boundaries and do a holistic mission and ecumenism in the net. Training 

pastors and missionaries online is a good attempt. With the help of Senate of Serampore we are 

planning to provide an interactive learning for the D Min distance education students. Such 

attempts are already made in India by the Secular universities. 

e. Ecumenical Net 

It is essential to engage in the Internet is to network people, organisations and churches who 

share different interests. Ecunet 33 is an example which brings together the churches ecumenically. 

Our Mission is to network and serve churches and also to initiate an ecumenical dialogue among 

the churches. In urban areas the networking of the church members is also possible. Lists of the 

members may be drawn up. Such attempts can help a lot in terms of ministry. Establishing the 

churches’ websites will also help them to provide information about the churches, membership and 

the activities. They can be identified as credible centres for information. Many ecumenical issues 

can be discussed and an ecumenical union might happen first at virtual level, and then in reality. 

This could also help us to transcend our borders and establish relationship with each other. One of 

the major questions that is being asked today is why the churches in the west are losing their 

members whereas the churches in India and other developing countries are growing in numbers. I 

would suggest that congregation-to-congregation networking and pastor-to-pastor networking 

could be done. Even online video conferencing facilities are possible to make congregations to 

speak to each other in any language with a proper translator. Networking can also help the 

churches to work together in the Internet and to learn from each other the way to do mission. Even 

constructing a website together with another church needs courage and a radical step. When the 

net helps people to break their barriers of language and border, then it can also help to eliminate 

the denominational barriers and other types of blocks that would hinder us from coming closer to 

one another. 

f. Networking different Communities 

Networking can go beyond the process of bringing together the churches of different 

traditions, it can also attempt to bring together different religious communities. The net provides a 

platform, and also the space, for people of different faiths to express themselves openly in a way 

which might not be possible otherwise. In certain contexts people of different faiths cannot come 

together because of their doctrinal or ideological affiliations. Seeing a leader making a statement 

publicly about religious dialogue can be misinterpreted or misunderstood by followers of the same 

tradition; whereas the interactive nature of the net allows concepts to be freely expressed. The 

networking of NGOs will certainly help in the sharing of experiences, or best practice, from one 

area to another. When I do refugee networking the information is very important because next day 

it becomes part of a published newsletter for many NGOs who are working among the refugees. 

As this message is spread to the top-level leaders some kind of action is taken either in its favour 

or against. Recently we ended up pressurising the Indian government to talk to the Bhutan 

government regarding the return of their Nepali Refugees. Networking Christian NGOs is important 

because many of them do not know what others are doing and repeat the same development 

programmes, which is a waste of resources. Mission is more effective if ideas and resources can 

be shared. Through networking, and information sharing, the sponsoring agencies would know 

what progress NGOs are making and of any problems to be addressed. 

33 Ecumenical Net can be seen in the website - http://www.ecunet.org/ 

another ecumenical site - http://home.wizard.org/eocc/eocc1/front.html 

21

g. Banking the Knowledge 

Another way of engaging in mission is to provide space for knowledge banks where archives, 

hypertexts of information sources, and research materials in any language are made available. For 

example, in many of our seminaries the documents are decaying with time. Some of them are 

made into microfiche whereas other books or material cannot be opened because of their 

deteriorating condition. The archives in Pope’s college Sawyerpuram contain all the G U Pope’s 

writings. He was the first missionary to translate Hindu Texts into a foreign language. Such 

material can be copied, with the help of a scanner or digital camera, and can be preserved using 

Word or Acrobat (PDF) or zip files. These can be compressed in such a way that even a compact 

disc (CD) can contain the whole library archives. If all the archive material in India can be made 

into CDs, the books can be preserved and also copyright can be sold to different universities 

around the world. Even the theses of the Senate of Serampore College can be made into a CD so 

that this could be available for others who are doing research in related areas. 

A large volume of knowledge is preserved in text form in India. Unfortunately our systems in India 

have not come to understand the way to preserve this knowledge and share it with others. Some 

are considering this work which of course involves an investment. In our library we are trying to 

provide our catalogue online so that people across the world can have access to our library. It 

would be good if the theological libraries and colleges can be networked together sharing similar 

information 34 . The Net helps one to create a knowledge bank. Preservation and sharing of the 

knowledge bank for their own income also becomes an attractive possibility. There is a need to 

protect certain cultural traditions of the people such as oral and written history and medical 

knowledge. The net can be a channel of preserving such traditions. Thus the voice of the voiceless 

– not often heard in the mainstream media can be projected to the outside world. 

h. Preserving the traditions and culture 

I would like to highlight the fact that not only texts but also audio and visual material can be 

preserved through such technology and made available to people. Some people have lost their 

identities because they have lost their history. It is often argued that some people’s history was 

intentionally eliminated by destroying their written historical documents and by taking away their 

traditions. The remaining element is the oral culture of a people. This, too, can be preserved 

through the net and be made available on the websites. In many places the Backward, Dalit and 

Tribal Communities have oral traditions – stories, songs and music. Of course some of them are 

recorded on audio cassettes. These can be preserved and shared by making them available to 

other people. The way some of the communities solve their own problems can also be narrated 

and recorded in the net. Particularly the traditional medical, agricultural knowledge, information 

about animals and other traditional wisdom can be brought together and preserved without 

exploiting the people. This knowledge could be sold and the income shared with the people who 

provided such wisdom to others. In this way our mission will be genuine in the sense that we are 

engaged in the liberative process of the people. The process of development is also enhanced due 

to the enormous quantity of information that is available in the net, exposure of the authentic issues 

to the public, people’s participation in their own developmental process and a liberative experience 

in accessing the net. 

34 We need to follow some of the examples already set before us – such as Reformed Online where virtual 

library of Reformed Protestantism…. Question of understanding of community… Bibliography, Libraries, Full 

Text Resources, Original Documents/Texts from the 16 th Century, Links… Making it free for those who are 

not able to access this at the cost of those who can access these pages… http://www.reformiertonline.net:8080/t/eng/bibliothek/inedx.jsp 

Reformed Online Library Homepage… English. I appreciate the 

team that worked on this very useful website. 

22

i. Net as Alternative Media 

Net can also play a role of alternative media and so an alternative mission. It is an alternative 

because some of the news or information through other media can be censored or blocked by the 

government or powerful people whereas in the net it is not possible. At times the incidents in 

Tiananmen Square were informed to the outside world first through the net. Then photos were sent 

to the media via emails and websites. It is essential to expose at times certain events and incidents 

which otherwise do go unreported. Particularly persecution of Christians in Pakistan 35 , of Muslims 

in Gujarat and of democratic forces in Burma are a few examples which cannot be reported 

through a main stream media. Internet is the best source to report these problems to the world. At 

times it is also essential to expose certain practices such as double cup (discrimination of Dalits, 

Backward castes and others) in teashops of South India, hunger deaths of Adhivasis in Orissa and 

secret deaths of Tribal community members in North East India. Only by networking people, 

churches and NGOs we can inform such incident to the outside world authentically. Exposing 

poverty itself is part of mission as Indian government claims to become self-reliant in food 

production where as people do not get one time food grains from public distribution system (PDS). 

Such activities are to be seen as part of mission. 

j. Net for Development 

Using the internet, we need to explore the possible ways of serving the many sidelined 

communities: refugees, prisoners, oppressed communities, HIV/AIDs infected farmers, fishermen, 

labourers and people below poverty line (BPL). The area of Internet and Development is another 

paper which I have already submitted at major conferences in India and elsewhere. I wish to point 

to a few models that I proposed in that paper: Web-cafe model 36 , Web radio model 37 and 

Multicasting model 38 . These models have been studied by the local governments in India to 

35 John Roxborogh Persecution: Interpreting the information on the Internet, Evangelical Review of Theology, 

24:1, 31-40, 2000. - The advent of email, the internet and then the development of the World Wide Web 

have enabled minority groups to tell their stories to a global audience. He raises question about quality in 

what is reported and exercise discretion in making information public, judgement in analysis and wisdom in 

determining strategies to ameliorate suffering. 

Main stream media protect their own interests this becomes an alternative. Diversity of information on the 

web is confusing. Human rights and persecution of Christians 

36 Web-cafes are popular in urban areas of India. Such web-cafes could be made available in rural areas. 

One of the major constraints is that servers are in city areas and so the phone lines often happen to work 

through STDs. But most of the village areas are brought under local network and so such problems in many 

places do not exist any more. Some computer literate person can help people to have access to those pages 

that would be useful to them such as market prices for their vegetables or for any other goods, train or bus 

ticket booking, weather information for fishermen and online medical advices. For all these people can pay a 

small amount for their use of computers and thereby maintain the system. 

37 Internet Radio stations could be made available from anywhere in the world except in India. By buying 

space in the Web and by providing the content from India, NGOs will be able to operate such stations from 

rural India. To do this one or two room broadcasting centres could be developed in villages from where they 

can communicate to different parts of the world. Only by networking and popularising such radio stations will 

the project be successful. Such type of webcasting should consider entertainment, educational, informative 

and development oriented programmes. This could operate like some of the community radio centres that 

are already doing some narrowcasting in India. Here the investment and operational costs are comparatively 

cheap. There is no clear-cut policy by the Indian Government about webcasting. Development oriented 

information can be made available to the public through such internet radio casting. 

38 In rural villages local Panchayat buildings have loud speakers and display notice boards. Local village 

radio stations are given a licence by the government if they are used for educational and developmental 

purposes. These means could be networked with the Internet and Computer system in such a way that the 

selected useful message could reach people, who in turn can also respond to certain messages among 

themselves. If the people can meet together at the computer centre, they can also communicate to other 

villages through the net. I identified this as a multicasting model because ICT and other media could be used 

together with a different use of ICT in different areas. This would be cheaper than other broadcasting or 

narrowcasting practices. This would be participatory event and could be modified to suit the needs of the 

people. 

23

explore the possibilities of using Information Communication Technology for development. People 

at the margins should be given a chance to communicate their own problems, among themselves, 

and to the public. We have successful stories of such communication in Gujarat where SEWA has 

done this with a video camera. Information technology can provide information to these people at 

the margins about useful Government programmes. At the same time they can express 

themselves to the outside world and bring their problems, and other issues, to the notice of the 

government. Some NGOs are already involved in the net for such development 39 . Making a video 

clip or an audio file in these systems is very easy, and then placing or sending it from one place to 

another place is also made easy through the convergence technology. 

7. Conclusion 

I would like to conclude by saying that we need to have a holistic understanding of mission 

where the tension between diverse views can be held together. Unless we try to challenge the 

theology of mission the churches may not be able to interact with the Netizens and their culture. 

The churches should also be encouraged to recognise the importance of using the Net in their 

mission and ministry. Whatever criticism that we have about the information communication 

technology, the Internet has come to stay here. It have made an impact on the users at intrapersonal, 

interpersonal, group and mass communication level and has created a culture of fast and 

interactive communication. A considerable number of people are engaged in such communication 

where we need a new strategy of mission which I call ‘plurality of mission’. In such perspective a 

holistic understanding of mission emerges without removing the old. Such understanding of 

mission seems to recognise the tension between different perspectives on mission. It becomes 

essential for me to bring the tension in the understanding of mission while considering the Net. I 

find out that there are many opportunities for using the Internet. Through the net we may be able to 

share the gospel, liberate people, bring about awareness, develop and build communities and 

show the care for all. The convergent technology of the net helps to explore new possibilities in this 

area such as audio-video conferencing. The above-suggested methods are not very expensive 

rather they could be maintained at a normal local price. At times to establish website the churches 

need some of the software for these programmes and texts. 

The churches should also consider going beyond the way they communicate among 

themselves and with others. The interactive culture of the net challenges the churches’ existing 

practices of communication. ‘Being there’ is what makes the net users comfortable with the church. 

The churches are called to participate, interact and bring about awareness about different social 

issues. The churches’ presence and her listening is what going to do much in mission and 

ecumenism. When I started constructing websites, using e-groups and participating in ongoing 

discussions, I realised the fact there is a God’s presence in the Net and try to engage with other 

communities and believers in their search for meanings of God and life. Ian Stillman’s release may 

be an example of what had happened through the net. If we try to follow one of the above models 

we might be able to carry out the tasks of mission with a spirit of ecumenism. By engaging 

creatively with the Internet culture the churches and Christian institutions can change the society 

and bear witness to God’s mission in the world. 

39 MS Swaminathan Project in India – Pondicherry -Computers are used to supply useful information to the 

fisherfolk. The NGOs encourage people to participate in using the net. People from marginalised 

communities think that having access to computers means a step up in their status. Having computers in a 

Dalit’s village means bringing non-dalits to their place. It also allows the Dalits to communicate to others. 

They provide information about weather, pesticides, market prices, cost of seeds and fertilizer. Other 

government schemes are also announced such as Women Public Welfare Schemes, low cost insurance and 

health issues, Government provisions and applications online for benefits. Mailing complaints to officials and 

to political leaders is also made easy in this process. 

24

Appendix 

FTP – File Transfer Protocol is an application protocol that uses TCP/IP to transfer web page files and 

programmes from one computer to another 

Dream Weaver/Flash 

PDF – Adobe (formerlyAcrobat) reader – ZIP files 

TCP – Transmission Control Protocols is a connection oriented protocol that keeps track of data packets for 

efficient routing through the Internet. TCP takes care of a packet sequence in a particular message and puts 

data packetts back in the right order. 

Internet Protocols (IP) is a connectionless protocol that actually delivers the message data packets. The 

combination of TCP and IP establishes a method for transmitting data as well as integrity of data 

transmission across the Internet. 

HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol lets users access hyperlinked (interconnected) Web pages and related 

files on the Internet. 

��Please see also Power Point Presentation in the Annex 

25

5. Input 3: “Intercultural Communication and Information 

Exemplified by the Internet Information System ‘Reformed 

Online’" by Christoph Fasse 

Christoph Fasse, The Johannes a Lasco Library Great Church Emden Foundation 

Ladies and Gentlemen! 

In my capacity of representing the field of "New Media" in the Johannes a Lasco Library Great Church 

Emden Foundation, I would like to present to you the information system "reformed online" which has 

been operating already since the beginning of 2000. 

The Johannes a Lasco Library, being a special library for Reformed Protestantism, naturally has 

strong ties with the Reformed Protestant tradition and with the churches which consider themselves 

linked to this tradition. However, worldwide Reformed Christianity is in the highest degree fragmented 

– into about 800 churches – and only about a quarter of these have joined the Word Alliance of 

Reformed Churches in Geneva. A lot of these churches exist – whether on purpose or unintentionally 

– in isolation, and especially the churches in poorer countries cannot take part in the processes of 

world church policy, or at least only insufficiently. 

Already at the beginning of the nineties in Geneva this problem was recognized and, as a result, the 

international meeting place for Reformed Protestants, the "John Knox Center", financed the 

compilation of the address and information project "The Reformed Family Worldwide" under the 

direction of Lukas Vischer and Jean Jacques Bauswein. For the first time in the history of Reformed 

churches the experiment of completely portraying the presence of Reformed churches was 

undertaken. 

The printed work, which finally appeared in 1999, quickly developed into a standard work, although – 

and this was perfectly clear to everyone – already during its printing it was no longer up to date 

because the data had been surveyed already in 1995. 

How should this proceed? Who should look after the information in the future, and besides that, was a 

book really the right medium for such changeable information as addresses and statistical data? How 

should the information reach the remote regions of the world? 

To a small working team in the Johannes a Lasco Library in Emden, which convened at the beginning 

of 2000, it quickly became evident that especially libraries have the task of gathering, securing and 

administrating information. From this, there developed the resolution to build up a collection of 

information that would have to surpass a "simple" address book and would comply with the demands 

on a special library. Especially the "disorganization" among the Reformed churches involved a high 

amount of diversity which now had to be documented. Now, if information from all over the world is 

collected and administrated, this only makes sense, if it is also available all over the world. Using 

conventional library tools this would practically only be possible in the so-called "First World". 

Furthermore it was our goal to develop a pool of information, not in a country in which the churches, in 

comparison to the rest of the world, already have plenty of funds at their disposal anyway and in 

which there are well-equipped educational institutions and an infrastructure of such a quality that 

every kind of information can easily be obtained, because such a pool would increase the margin 

between us and the poorer and poorest countries, perhaps even make the rift less bridgeable for 

decades to come. We wanted to create something which would be a signal pointing towards unity 

within the Reformed Family, symbolizing and establishing this unity. 

26

Here the Internet seemed and seems to be the only feasible way to distribute this information and 

keep it up to date. In comparison to the book, the range of information was noticeably widened with 

the result that the outcome of the concept was a comprehensive collection of knowledge concerning 

Reformed Protestantism, which was to be presented, indeed has been presented, in the following four 

languages: English, French, Spanish and German. 

The World Alliance of Reformed Churches was very soon convinced by the concept and its claim to 

be an international system, now officially called "reformed online"; after all, the interests of Reformed 

Protestantism were clearly promoted and the internal cohesion of the Reformed Family strengthened. 

The Johannes a Lasco Library was therefore appointed to be the official information service provider 

of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches in Geneva. Since then, "reformed online" has been 

taking on many assignments – especially the publication and distribution of documents. 

The "reformed online"-team, especially in the beginning, had to tackle the technical and organizational 

problem of international websites being multilingual. Apart from the occasionally difficult technical 

implementation of large multilingual systems the following rules apply: 

* the less languages in which subject matters are made available to users, the more users are 

excluded due to lack of knowledge of the languages 

* the more languages offered to users, the more effort and thus expense involved, for besides the 

technical difficulties the subject matter has to be translated also. 

Besides these difficulties, each piece of information has to be reliable of course, that is it has to be 

examined and, more important, an editor has to choose which subject matter is to appear when and 

where. Even if there are translators, he has to possess a basic knowledge of the languages with 

which he is dealing. 

The third difficulty, which I would like to address briefly, is the acquisition of information, its 

processing, or, as the case may be, its set-up. While almost every institution or church has a public 

relations department in reality it is decidedly difficult and tedious to get included in any of the so-called 

press distribution lists, which make sure that an appropriate press release is distributed to the 

recipients, or rather, if a news service is involved, it proves to be very expensive. However, it is just 

these press distribution lists that are so important because they actually deliver the information 

directly (usually via e-mail) gathering the information ourselves on the Web is impossible due to the 

abundance of pages and different languages. It becomes even more problematical when it's a 

question of putting together articles or even material for further education (courses, lessons). In 

practice one hardly finds people who have the time and ability – whether voluntarily or for a low 

expense allowance to draft subject matter, or as the case may be, only to examine it. Even updating 

our address book means that, of our own accord, we have to get into contact with every church and 

institution, a very tedious and also expensive process which often doesn't lead to the desired results. 

These difficulties can, of course, be avoided or moderated by our own employees if the financial 

situation allows for their contribution. 

I have already suggested various possibilities regarding information and communication given by the 

system "reformed online", and these, I would now like to briefly demonstrate to you. 

Press reports 

In the section "Latest Developments" you can find the chronological list of various press reports. By 

clicking on the arrow you will be guided to the relevant full news text. In addition, the press archives 

can also be found here, in which you can find press reports by means of a full-text-search or also a 

date-search. 

27

Address Database / Information on Countries 

Using the option "addresses" you reach the address archives of the worldwide Reformed Church. 

Here you can search for countries, names, statistical information and much more. The searches are 

divided into different sections: "simple search", "churches", "theological academies" and "libraries". 

Depending on the search terms you receive an appropriate list by means of which you can then get to 

the detailed information. If connections to other churches exist, they in turn can be reached via a link. 

The same is true of information on countries which in turn can display both up to date and historical 

facts regarding the countries. 

Full Text Database 

The full text database makes available to those searching for information, books, periodicals and 

official publications (legal texts) by means of extensive search functions in PDF (Portable Document 

Format) and Text Format. For reformed online's working team it was important to edit the texts in such 

a way that would enable the user who gets results from his search to quickly distinguish between hits 

relevant to his interests and those of no interest to him. This is to be attained in the following manner: 

each text which is put into the database receives from the collaborator besides the bibliographical 

interim data such as the author, the publishers... a structure pertaining to its thematic contents. This is 

stored in an XML (eXtensible Markup Language) file and contains the division into separate chapters, 

articles or also paragraphs. For the user it appears as a list of contents with which he can comfortably 

view the chosen work and then directly select separate passages. 

The search takes place either by means of interim data (the author, title... can be searched for), or by 

entering terms which are searched for in the full text, or using a combination of both. The result is 

presented in a hit list, which, on the one hand, identifies the document that has been found and, on 

the other hand, shows the hits along with a brief context, in order that the respective relevance can be 

assessed already at this stage. If the desired work has been found, the user can have the different 

pages displayed. The terms for which he searched are shown in red and are underlined, so that here 

also clarity is retained. Furthermore, it was a concern of the Johannes a Lasco Library to retain the 

ability to use quotes. If a document also appeared in printed form, then the online edition appears in 

an identical form, in order that the user can depend fully on specifications such a page numbers 

etcetera. This is possible in PDF (Portable Document Format) because in it – as opposed to word 

processing formats like MS-Word-Documents or Text-Documents – the text behaves similarly to a 

picture, that is, regardless of the representing system, it is set and no longer variable. 

In order to reduce the amount of work involved for the operators, an input module was developed with 

the help of which the respective organizations which would like to publish documents can structure 

and enter these using the Internet, with the result that the employees of the Johannes a Lasco Library 

often only have to take over a control function which precedes the public being able to access the 

material. 

Further Education 

Especially churches in poorly developed countries positively welcomed the further education section. 

Since mid-2000 two theologians with post doctorate qualifications have been developing a "Basic 

Course in the History and Theology of Reformed Protestantism" consisting of 24 lessons for reformed 

online. These lessons should not only have a representative character but should also pursue an 

educational concept. This is why they also contain examination questions and answers, besides 

source material, references to literature and working instructions, so that those interested can test 

their learning achievement. 

As soon as the first lesson appeared in German and English, employees of a missionary society from 

Chile approached the Johannes a Lasco Library requesting permission to translate the lessons into 

Spanish, pointing out that it was difficult to acquire teaching material. The outcome of this was a good 

cooperation, which resulted in many an advantage to both partners. Likewise, a course in biblical 

28

studies on the New Testament compiled by a university lecturer from the University of Erlangen can 

be found in this section. This course has already been completed. 

In order to give people who, up to now, have not been very familiar with Reformed Protestantism a 

short and concise general idea of it, a category "Encylopaedia" was introduced, which introduces 

the main themes by means of a list of terms. 

Communication Potential 

Over and above these documentary offers, "reformed online" also makes communicative elements 

available, with varying success. 

Visitors' Book 

Since the beginning of the system there has been a visitors' book in which users can leave 

comments, remarks and requests. In their entirety they are organized neither thematically nor 

according to subject matter, with the result that they only present a small feedback. Debates and 

the comparing of notes between users are hardly ever launched here. Indeed, a much greater 

number of comments sent to the visitors' book by e-mail are directed at the operators. 

Debate Platform (not moderated) 

A debate platform was installed at the same time as the visitors' book. It is open, that is, it can 

receive written messages and can also be read, but is neither commented on nor moderated. In 

this form it was not accepted by users, so we already decided, some time ago, to take it off 

the direct access on the homepage and in addition to experiment with other possibilities. 

Debate Platform (moderated) 

We are endeavouring to pursue this path together with the Association of Churches and Missions 

in South Western Germany (EMS): up to the present time there have been two moderated platform 

systems in English and Indonesian which can be retrieved under the name "protestants-online". 

Both of these are open to readers of topical discussions. However, only a private circle of 

Indonesian theologians can take part in the discussions. The course this kind of communication 

takes and its success can be pursued at www.protestants-online.net. 

Closely connected to what I have been talking about is the question: "How open is such an Internet 

system allowed to be?" 

Especially in the intercultural context no one cultural group is able to address all the others 

adequately, that is, even if the operator of the Internet service happens by chance to be situated in 

Germany, he still has to take care that all other users are able to enter their own information into 

information pool. As it is, the operator takes legal, ethical, cultural and religious-theological 

responsibility, and due to this fact, it would not be responsible if he were to publish every kind of 

information, whoever the author, without examining it first. 

Let us take the example of a press report: wherever it originates, anyone can enter it by using a 

corresponding WEB-form and send it to the editor. At this stage, though, it must be possible, 

without too much effort, to detect the arrival of a new report. This can be examined and, if 

necessary, edited. After this the employee can submit the report which can then be found by all 

users at its corresponding position. 

Yet other information "deliverers" are soon well-known and their reliability and quality of information 

is always obvious. They receive extended rights and can publish their information without it being 

examined. 

The participation of many people in an Internet platform is important, is even absolutely necessary, 

but in the intercultural and also ecumenical context it bestows on the operator great editorial tasks. 

29

A system of this scope needs editors who are specialists respectively in cultural, geographical, 

linguistic and ecclesiastical-theological connections, for after all, the main point of the results they 

achieve is to promote, and not hinder ecumenical processes. 

After several attempts, it became clear to us operators that, above all, it is the mission departments 

that connect abilities in a really ideal way. The separate departments keep in close contact with 

their respective countries and, as a rule, the consultants grew up in these countries and are native 

speakers. Information about the countries is collected by the liaison consultant, in any case, and is 

documented by him. 

The decentralization of editorial assignments, which takes place by allocating control functions to 

colleagues from different cultural societies, must promote understanding between us, because it 

eliminates a Germanized editorial department, as it would prove to be in our case. 

This path we are taking using the capacities of mission departments seems to me to be desirable, 

sensible and worth striving for, as long as "reformed online" or even another system with a similar 

approach has not yet established itself in the different countries and cultural societies in such a 

form that these tasks could be taken over locally by the churches and associations, with the result 

that an Internet information and communication system would take over the function for which it 

was originally intended: a worldwide network run on an equal basis which is an expression of the 

Christian community of our time. 

I thank you for your attention. 

30

6. Working Groups on the three Inputs 

Task for the working groups, 11 November 2003: 

Please discuss the input and come to conclusions regarding: 

1. Communication within the EMS community 

2. Instruments needed for communication within the EMS community 

3. The contribution that reformed online can make 

Find a rapporteur and visualize the results of your discussions. 

6.1 Results of Working Group 1 

General observations: 

- more focus on intercultural communication 

- Share different resources 

- Share responsibilities 

- Establish alternative web-community against globalisation 

Instruments: 

- Free e-mail access 

- Platform for daily news 

- Platform for bi-annual programme 

Contribution: 

- To both contextual and ecumenical dimensions 

- For educational purpose 


Status quo 

��Communication by e-mail 

��E-groups (internal), forums 

��Involvement in secular forums (for 

example Korean studies) 

��Advocacy 

��Reformed-online provides important links 

to EMS and vice versa 

��reformed-online provides information and 

knowledge for all participants 

remarks 

��Internet conferences in addition to 

regular meetings 

��Infrastructure + equipment + human 

resources + political reality 

��Hardly used. Can they be a substitute 

for real encounters 

��From presentation to participation (new 

target groups) 

��Networking not as a goal in itself but as 

a means to reach a goal. Which one? 

��Generation gap / power structure 

��Oriented to needs? 

Annotation to 6.2. Both, questions and needs were noted down by the group. 

31


Keys for intercultural dialogs: 

- Language (translations) 

- Open e-groups for other religions and communities 

Follow-ups after the consultations 

- For example for producing a publication (online-newspapers) 

- E-group of the participants of this consultation � moderated! 

Links to other churches and NGOs (related from EMS � providing websites) 

Building up E-Archives EMS publications 

Spread communication to other religions and to non-religious communities 

Reformed-online serves a relatively small theological community. Since the internet is 

opening up communication it should also open up for other communities 

� Use the culture of the net 

A diploma for missionaries through distance education via the net is possible 


It is important to be connected! 

1. a) ÖFP - Ecumenical Volunteer Programme / Ecumenical Co-Workers 

b) Theological exchange 

2. Centralised interactive data-based website for the EMS 

3. Youth and women experience. They have interactive for a on the EMS website 

already. 

4. Create a culture of communication at the EMS sensitising church leaders and people 

by capacity building. 

5. Co-ordinate and structure amongst Christian Churches, missions and organisations. 

6. Exchange the information in yearbook and about countries between EMS website and 

reformed-online and update it. 

7. Beware of language problems, expenses, lack of personnel and time constraints. 


Technical Preconditions: 

- Festnetz? 

- Access to computers and internet? 

- Power supply? 

- Speed and band width when using internet platforms 

- Mobile phones (wap, sms) 

- In some regions, internet is not an alternative but the only possible way to get access 

to information 

32

Other Preconditions: 

- Cultural differences => Translations, subjects, others… 

- Partner wahrnehmen => info and platform 

- Free access to information => www. Not for, but with…. 

- Bilateral develops into multilateral communication 

- Take the habits into consideration 

- Make texts available to the community 

- Added value: the internet can make untypical offers 

- Aha-effects 

- Evaluate which pages are successful and which not and identify criteria for success 

Further Comments of the Plenary: 

�� EMS already has an advanced partnership when it comes to decision-making 

processes => this fact should also be reflected in the communication processes 

�� Which commitment are we ready to give to this culture of communication? 

�� Which efforts (also with regard to finances) are we prepared to undertake? 

�� Advocacy needs knowledge and the internet makes information available free of 

charge 

�� The internet is the communication instrument of the future, we should regard this fact 

when developing our future communication model 

�� How can we use the internet in order to transport our mission? 

33

7. Task for the Working Groups 

Phase 1, 12. November 2003 

��Find a rapporteur, visualise results 

��What to achieve? 

��Limitations? 

��Conclusions, recommendations 

Collection of Topics to be chosen from for the Working Groups: 

�� Public relations through internet (EMS biannual programme) – eleven points 

�� Which information do we want from each other and where? – two points 

�� Multilateral communication: Germany no longer at centre – seven points 

�� Creating a „culture“ of internet use within the EMS fellowship 

=> interactive internet use / e-groups – 16 points 

�� Technical capacity for internet use – 15 points 

�� Contribution bg. cooperation with EMS and reformed online – eleven points 

�� Advocacy – nine points 

�� Intercultural communication – seven points 

34

Topics that were not selected: 

��Multilateral communication: Germany no longer at centre, no longer bilateral (seven 

points) 

��Intercultural communication (seven points) 

��Which information do we want from each other, and where? (two points) 


Aims of communication (via the internet) in the EMS community 

� What is the specific contents to be communicated? 

(15 points) 

- Empowerment to produce and share local stories in the global network and action: 

Translation into English and into vernacular through local resources 

- Not only providing information but sharing and interacting, every participant is a centre 

in itself 

- Target groups: 

- interacting with other networks 

- people who are involved in grassroots initiatives 

- public in support of action/campaigns 

- Meaning of communication: including interpretation, action reflection 

- Focus on bi-annual programme "Peace building" 

- Stories needing advocacy and solidarity 

- Who is "us"? � people! 

Who is EMS in simple and clear terms? 

How can I participate? 

- Instrument "newsletter", "online-news", e-groups: names of participants in different 

programs, opportunities to respond 

- Needed: 

Resources/tools for intercultural and intercontextual sharing � one or more liaison 

persons in each participating church � Create an international communication team 

- Strengthening local networks, begin on small scale 

Comments from the plenary 

- We are not "structures" but "people"! 

- It is important not only to provide information but also to share information with others 

- Where does it get concrete? 

- What is the aim of sharing information? For example stories and examples for peace 

building 

35


Creating a Culture of Internet Use within the EMS Fellowship 

� Interactive Internet-Use / e-groups (15 points) 

Explanation: What do we mean by "Culture" => we use the term in the sense of "habit" 

that is the way people use the internet 

1. What to achieve? 

- create forums for EMS decision-making bodies 

- networking between Church groups (for example youth, women) with specific purposes 

- looking for a broader basis of participants on the net 

- creating an open forum dealing with particular issues (for example mission....) 

2. Limitations 

- technical limitations 

- capacity and know how 

- human resources 

- time 

3. Conclusions and recommendations 

- EMS need to establish an interactive web-site with e-groups… 

- establish interactive working forums for MC and commissions 

- EMS in collaboration with Churches should offer training courses 

- there should be an up- and download section on the website for reports, news… 


- there should be a conscious effort to broaden the basis of groups and networking by 

facilitating access to training courses 

- has an existing "internet culture" been taken for granted during discussions of group 2? 

- you can only create an internet culture by using its instruments! 

- there is need for education to make people internet-literate 

- attention should be given to the fact that the use of the internet and the global 

networking also pushes forward the globalisation process and endangers local cultures 

36


Technical capacity (15 points) and contribution by reformed-online 

/cooperation between EMS and reformed online (eleven points) 

- provide equipment and training at least for the seminaries (limitation) 

- training for the use of PC and internet could be provided by ecumenical volunteers 

- training of trainers for reformed online (to make maximum use of its potential) 

- cooperation: EMS and its member churches and partner churches give important 

documents to "reformed online" to be provided in the data base 

- this could reduce the number of printed papers provided 

- databasing for EMS by reformed online 

- investment of personnel capacities 

- use the internet forums of reformed online 


- train ecumenical volunteers in the use of the internet and they provide their knowledge, 

train others and share the information with other young people there (snow-ball system) 

- training for networking 

- training for development issues 

- different training concepts are necessary 

- data bases are very expensive, therefore, a cooperation with others (for example 

reformed online) is necessary and makes sense 

- we need to develop contextualised contents within the reformed families 

- no internet access in remote areas => a solution could be to build Church internet cafes 

which could form "communication islands" 

37


Public relations through internet (ten points) 

(EMS: bi-annual program, ten points (EMS office / mission 21) 

Limitations 

- missing network-thinking in the institutions and its daily plannings 

- not recognising the special qualifications (lack of respect?) 

- information flow is horizontal instead of vertical => different departments 

- no content management system 

Achievements 

- internet relaunch period (EMS) 

- named persons (responsible) 

Conclusions 

- sovereignty of budget in the household 

- more funds allocated to public relations and networking 

- network of PR persons 


- to improve means to invest 

- question of priorities => what priority do we give to the introduction of internet and 

communication tools 

- regular printing is more expensive on the long run than the online publication 

- how can the internet be used to reduce costs? 

- make sure partners like the way information is presented 

- our thinking does not reflect the networking and multilateral character 

38


Advocacy within the EMS Fellowship (nine points) 

What to achieve? 

- we want to address / reach congregations, media, decision makers in Churches and 

government in Germany and abroad (where relevant) 

- multiply and mobilise advocacy 

- identify instruments for advocacy for example letters and signatures, calls for action… 

- relate advocacy to core values of EMS (sharing of live concerns) 

Limitations 

- overflow of information 

- technical, formal and methodological limitations 

- can the internet the only means of advocacy? 

- dangers: misuse and "cyber terrorism" 

- translation of information 

- time, financial and energy 

- limitations on the partners' side in providing information 

Conclusions 

- keep on trying! 

- concentrate / focus on certain issues for example BAP 

- additional technical, financial and human resources need to be allocated 


- broad alliances are necessary for advocacy 

- how can we link up with existing campaigns and networks? 

- EMS is too small to engage itself in big campaigns and advocacy work like the big 

agencies do (Bread for the World ...) => we need to identify the specific subjects and 

profile of EMS that is which information can be provided by EMS and nobody else? 

Let's concentrate on this field of work 

- restricting us to our core subjects is too narrow! We also need to take up other issues 

and mobilise others! 

39

8. Working Groups 

Task for Working Groups, Phase 2, 12 November 2003 

- Define next steps to be taken 

- Focus on a few things that are realistic and can be achieved 

Division of Groups: 

Group 1: Staff of the EMS Secretariat 

Group 2: Participants with easy access to the internet 

Group 3: Participants with no easy access to the internet 

8.1 Results of Working Group 1: EMS Secretariat 

- network of communication needs a liaison person 

- specific mail groups on the website 

- special theological knowledge of member and partner churches 

- human resources in the secretariat => one person for networking via internet (for 

example someone who does his in-service training) 

- cooperation with reformed online (library, documents, data base) 

8.2 Results of Working Group 2: Easy access to the internet 

- ensure links between web pages of partner churches, EMS member churches and EMS 

secretariat 

- each mission will control the information in the address book 

- launch of websites will be accompanied by action 

- local and global awareness: localise global information and globalise local information 

- contact between the board and the communication department 

- communication: role of liaison desks => to connect liaison desk and communication 

How? 

- transparent criteria of information 

- what do we need / what do we not need? 

- flow-charts of communication 

40

8.3 Results of Working Group 3: Difficult access to the internet 

- networking as a "working culture" 

- survey => inventory 

- identify a liaison person 

- identify persons to be trained (training for trainers) 

- funding and creating of internet cafés as centres of communication 

- clarify whether training can be provided through the volunteer programme 

- Mr. Raja offers to help partner churches get their own website at the UTC server 

��EMS secretariat acts as convenor! 

41

Annexes 

Power Point Presentations 

- Input Sven Fröhlich-Archangelo 

- Input Dr. Raja 

List of Participants 

42

Annex 1: Power Point Presentation by S. Fröhlich-Archangelo 

Multicultural learning and knowledge 

communities in global organizations 

Sven Fröhlich-Archangelo 

Institute of Intercultural Communication 

University of Munich 

Overview 

• Global teamwork and international assignments 

• How can E-learning be a support in these fields 

• General advantages of E-learning communities 

• 10 major pitfalls of e-learning 

• The impact of culture on learning communities 

• Criteria for learning and knowledge communities 

• A vision for a EMS learning and knowledge community 

• The first step?

Global Teamwork 

• How can they coordinate the project from 

home? 

• How can they continuously stay 

informed? 

• How can they learn from each other and 

exchange best practices? 

• How can they get central access to the 

relevant project information? 

• How can they solve their intercultural 

problems? 

International Assignment 

• Contact home 

• Contact with one‘s own culture 

• Advice from Experts 

• More understanding host culture 

• More Intercultural Competence

Virtual Learning 

Community 

• Contact other sojourners 

• Exchange best practices 

• Chat with experts 

• Acquire knowledge of host culture 

• Analyse own situation with 

questionnaires 

• Practice new communication 

patterns 

Groupware for global 

Teams 

• Communicate via chat, 

audioconferencing, blackboard 

• Generate knowledge 

• Make virtual presentations 

• Share documents 

• Make knowledge accessible

Major problems of 

e-learning communities 

• Difficult group coordination 

• Communication is exhausting 

• Unequal participation 

• Informational overload 

• Missing social presence 

• Fear of using new media 

• Resistance to change habits 

• Differing technical equipment 

• Interruptions 

• Missing technical support 

Impact of culture on virtual learning and 

knowledge communities

Different communication 

styles 

• Low and high context 

communication 

• Direct and indirect verbal 

interaction style 

• Relational vs. factual Orientation 

Communication between 

a Chinese and American 

C: We‘re going to new Orleans this weekend. 

A: What fun! I wish we were going with you. How long are 

you going to be there? 

C: Three days. (I hope she‘ll offer me a ride to the airport) 

A: (If she wants a ride, she‘ll ask me) Have a great time. 

C: (If she had wanted to give me a ride, she would have 

offered it.) Thanks. I‘ll see you when I get back.

Learning habits and 

learning styles 

• Structured vs. open learning situations 

• Competitive vs. cooperative learning 

• Individual vs. group learning 

Different Roles 

• Relation teacher – student 

• Gender Roles 

• Decision making process

Layout of learning 

environments 

• Symbols and colors 

• Tradutore traditore 

• Layout of websites 

Criteria to make learning and knowledge 

communities successfull

International 

support team 

• Facilitation of virtual meetings 

• Mediating cultural problems 

• Culture specific knowledge 

• Cultural sensible feedback 

• Keeping discussions alive 

• Enable equal participation 

• Reduce infromational overload 

• Helping with technical 

problems 

Technique and Software 

• Variety of communication 

channels 

• Groupware tools 

• Different learn paths 

• Enable social presence 

• Storing information and files 

• Simple Navigation

Virtual collaboration 

-Groupware 

-Telecoaches 

-Discussion groups 

Training centre: 

-Exercises 

-Virtual role plays 

-Discussing case studies 

Content and concept 

• Blended Learning 

• Authentic scenarios, case studies 

• Cultural adapted layout 

• Different languages 

• Self learning and cooperative 

learning 

Vision for the EMS 

Learning and knowledge 

Community 

Virtual databases 

-Culture facts + best practices 

-Documentation of projects 

-Minutes of virtual meetings 

Self assessment 

-Value-profile 

-Measurement 

-Recommendations 

The first step: 

Student Exchange 

program 

• Option for intercultural competence test 

• Preparation seminar 

• Deal with virtual case studies 

• Questionaire to analyse differences 

• Contact with collegues and coaches 

• Aquiring knowledge 

• Exercises to train new behaviour 

• Option for a test when come back


two Americans 

A1: We‘re going to new Orleans this weekend. 

A2: What fun! I wish we were going with you. How long are you 

going to be there? (If she wants a ride to the airport, she will ask) 

A1: Three days. By the way, we may need a ride to the airport. Do 

you think you can take us? 

A2: Sure. What time? 

A1: 10:30 p.m. this coming Saturday. 


two Chinese 

C1: We‘re going to new Orleans this weekend. 

C2: What fun! I wish we were going with you. How long are you 

going to be there? 

C1: Three days. (I hope she‘ll offer me a ride to the airport) 

C2: (She may want me to give her a ride) Do you need a ride to the 

airport? I‘ll take you. 

C1: Are you sure it‘s not too much trouble? 

C2: It‘s no trouble at all.

Annex 2: Power Point Presentation of Input 2 by Rev. Dr. Raja 

Internet, Mission and Ecumenism 

Exploring the possibilities in India 

By Rev Dr Joshva Raja 

United Theological college, 

Banaglore 

Interfaith Interaction.com 

�E-group – on Interfaith Interaction 

Ian Stillman’s release… 

� Dialogue between Christians and Hindu 

fundamentalists groups 

�Networking NGOs who work among 

Refugees 

http://www.f-t-a.freeserve.co.uk/press/releases/2001/stillman250601.htm 

http://www.thisisyork.co.uk/york/library/2002/campaign_stillman/stillma 

n.html 

Activities through 

e-groups

Prophetic 

Liberative 

Nourishes Mission and Ecumenism 

Culture Plurality of Mission 

Participatory 

God 

Building 

Communities Witness 

Developmentoriented 

Media, Mission and Ecumenism 

Instrumental Perspective 

church 

Effect Centered Perspective 

Church 

Media 

Pocketpc.ico 

Media 

Effect 

People

Jesus’ Mission and Communication 

He went to the place where they are. 

He accepted them as they are. 

He started his communication by 

listening to his audience. 

He held dialogue with his opponents. 

He engaged in the listeners’ 

communication process. 

He participated in the public 

communication using the familiar 

Parabolic and story formats. 

Jesus’ Mission and Communication 

India – Internet Scenario 

4 Million Net Users in India 

15 Million temp Users 

We are in serious danger of 

becoming a nation where 

cable and optics fibre will 

reach most urban homes 

long before potable water 

and drainage, and where 

children in remote areas 

will have easier access to 

movies than to schooling. – 

The Hindu NP 

Users are Churches, 

Missionary organizations, 

Institutions, Individuals in 

mission 

The Church of South India’s website - 

http://www.cnisynod.org/ 

National Council of Churches in India - 

http://www.nccindia.org/memberchurches.htm 

Orthodox Churches - http://www.otsindia.org 

The United Evangelical Lutheran Church - 

http://www.uelci.org/ 

Marthoma Church 

http://www.marthomachurch.com/Heritage- 

Mission/15thcentury-story.htm 

The Assemblies of God church - 

http://business.vsnl.com/zion/ 

Indian Pentecostal church - 

Church 

Net 

http://www.angelfire.com/al3/ipcpallipad/ipc.html 

Independent Baptist Churches’ directory -

God & 

Other 

Searching 

self 

High Speed 

Interactivity 

Convergence 

Hypertext 

UTC’s comp lab 

Net and Mission – Possibilities in 

India and elsewhere 

Alternative 

Ecunet 

Networking 

Banking 

Preserving E-mission 

Development 

Sharing 

Interacting 

Serving 

Training 

Butterfly Model

Mass 

media 

Networking 

Churches and 

Communities 

Web Server 

Alternative 

media 

Action and Reaction 

India 

Today

•1/3 of Indian population below 

poverty line 

UN explanation on – poverty 

line 

Millions of Indian fam ilies live 

on pavem ents 

Child Labour – ¼ of Indian 

labour force of sm all scale 

industries are children 

Public Distribution System – 

K erosene, oil, sugar & rice 

Middle men exploitation 

Media for Reconciliation

Annex 3: List of Participants 

EMS Secretary 

Bernhard Dinkelaker, Generalsekretär/Geschäftsleitung 

Steffen Grashoff, Abteilung Kommunikation, Fachbereich 

Medien 

Andreas Maurer, Nahost-Verbindungsreferat 

Meike Sahling, Referat Ökumenischmissionarisches 

Lernen und Jugend, Ökumenisches 

Freiwilligenprogramm 

Dr. Surya Prakash, Indien-Verbindungsreferat 

David Tulaar, Indonesien-Verbindungsreferat 

Christoph Reichel, Afrika-Verbindungsreferat 

Birte Petersen, Abteilung Kommunikation, Fachbereich 

Medien 

Annette Schumm, Abteilung Kommunikation, BMDZ 

Lutz Drescher, Ostasien-Verbindungsreferat und 

Deutsche Ostasienmission 

Nicola Bieber, Geschäftsstelle BMDZ, Kamerun-, 

Sudan- und Nigeriapartnerschaften 

Andrea Seefeld, Abteilung Kommunikation 

EMS Board 

Susanne Labsch, Kirchenrätin 

Evangelische Landeskirche Baden 

Dorothea Schweizer 

Basler Mission – Deutscher Zweig 

Representatives of Partner Churches 

Dr. Lee Hong Jung, 

Presbyterianische Kirche von Korea 

Dr. Habib Badr, 

Nationale Evangelische Kirche von Beirut/Libanon 

Derrick Meyer, 

Brüder-Unität in Südafrika 

Dr. Richard Siwu, 

Ev. Kirche in Minahasa/Indonesien 

Vogelsangstr. 62, 70197 Stuttgart 

Tel.: 0711/63678-0, Fax 0711/63678-55 

E-Mail: dinkelaker@ems-online.org 

E-Mail: grashoff@ems-online.org 

E-Mail: maurer@ems-online.org 

E-Mail: sahling@ems-online.org 

E-Mail: prakash@ems-online.org 

E-Mail: tulaar@ems-online.org 

E-Mail: reichel@ems-online.org 

E-Mail: petersen@ems-online.org 

E-Mail: schumm@ems-online.org 

E-Mail: drescher@ems-online.org 

E-Mail: bieber@ems-online.org 

E-Mail: seefeld@ems-online.org 

Blumenstr. 1-7, 76133 Karlsruhe 

Tel.: 0721/9175-511, Fax 0721/9175-566 

E-Mail: Susanne.Labsch@ekiba.de 

Rosenbergstr. 194A, 70193 Stuttgart 

Tel.: 0711/6571275 

E-Mail: dorotheaschweizer@web.de 

Presbyterian Church of Korea, Centennial Building, 

135 Yunji Dong, Chongro-Gu, Seoul 110-470, 

Korea, Tel.: 00822/7414640, 

Fax 00822/7662427, 

E-Mail: beyondhj@hanmail.net 

National Evangelical Church of Beirut, P.O. Box 

11-5224, Beirut, Libanon 

Tel.: 009611/652780, Fax 009611/980050 

E-Mail: nec.beirut@t-net.com.Ib 

Moravian Church in Southern Africa, P.O. Box 

24111, Lansdowne (Cape), 7779, Rep. of South 

Africa, Tel.: 002721/7614030, 

Fax 002721/7614046, E-Mail: mcsa@iafrica.com 

Gereja Masehi Injili di Minahasa, Kontor Sinode, 

P.O. Box 5, Tomohon 95362/Manado, Sulut, Indonesia, 

Tel.: 0062431/351162, 

Fax 0062431/351036, 

E-Mail: radsiwu@yahoo.com

Herbert Opong, 

Presbyterianische Kirche von Ghana 

„reformed online“ 

Christoph Fasse, 

Stiftung Johannes a Lasco Bibliothek 

Klaus Vogler, 

Stiftung Johannes a Lasco Bibliothek 

EMS Member Churches 

Rita Deschner, 

Medienhaus Frankfurt 

Oliver Weidermann, 

Öffentlichkeitsarbeit, Evangelische Landeskirche Baden 

Hans Heinrich, 

Landeskirchl. Beauftragter für KED, Evangelische 

Landeskirche Baden 

Karlheinz Steinbacher, Evang. Landeskirche Württemberg, 

Ref. Informationstechnologie 

Johannes Friz, 

Evang. Medienhaus, Stuttgart 

Barbara Graf Mousa, 

Informationsbeauftragte, Abt. Kommunikation, Mission 

21 

Other Insitutions 

Tom O. Brok, Internetarbeit, EKD 

Wolfgang Blum, Norddeutsche Mission Bremen 

Siegfried Pfannkuchen, 

Methodistische Kirche Wuppertal 

Armin Weinberger, Universität München 

Lehrstuhl für Empirische Pädagogik und Pädagogische 

Psychologie, 

Agnieszka Pietlicka, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität 

München, Institut für Interkulturelle Kommunikation 

Presbyterian Church Offices, P.O. Box 1800, Accra/Ghana, 

West-Afrika 

Tel.: 0023321/662511, Fax 0023321/665594 

Hauptstr. 20, 26388 Wilhelmshaven/Sengwarden 

Tel.: 04423/915722, Fax 04423/915723 

E-Mail: fasse@jalb.de 

Kirchstr. 22, 26721 Emden 

E-Mail: vogler@jalb.de 

Rechneigrabenstr. 10, 60311 Frankfurt/Main 

Tel.: 069/92107-292, Fax 069/9107-290 

E-Mail: redaktion@ekhn.de 


Tel.: 0721/9175-117, Fax 0721/9175-553 

E-Mail: Oliver-Weidermann@ekiba.de 


Tel.: 0721/9175-512, Fax 0721/9175-556 

E-Mail: Hans.Heinrich@ekiba.de 

Gänsheidestr. 4, 70184 Stuttgart 

Augustenstr. 124, 70197 Stuttgart 

Tel.: 0711/22276-29, Fax 0711/22276-81 

E-Mail: FRIZ.EMH@elk-wue.de 

mission 21, Missionsstr. 21, 4003 Basel/Schweiz 

Tel.: 004161/26022-64, Fax 004161/26022-68 

E-Mail: barbara.graf@mission-21.org 

Herrenhäuser Str. 12, 30419 Hannover 

Vahrerstr. 243, 28329 Bremen 

Küllenhahner Str. 76, 42349 Wuppertal 

Tel.: 0202/401671, Fax 0202/4085633 

Leopoldstr. 13, 80802 München 

Oettigenstr. 67, 80538 München

Resource Persons 

Dr. Joshva Raja, Associate Professor and Chairperson 

Swen Fröhlich-Archangelo, Ludwig-Maximilians- 

Universität München, Institut für Interkulturelle Kommunikation 

Bernward Causemann, FAKT Stuttgart 

Susanne Friess, FAKT Stuttgart 

Department of Communication, United Theological 

College, 63, Miller's Road, Bangalore 46, South 

India; E-Mail: joshvajohn@hotmail.com 

Oettigenstr. 67, 80538 München 


Tel.: 0711/21095-32, Fax 0711/21095-55 

E-Mail: Bernward.Causemann@fakt-consult.de 


Tel.: 0711/21095-31 

E-Mail: Susanne.Friess@fakt-consult.de

Annex 4: Mission Statement of EMS Fellowship 

“Common Witness” 

1. We are on a journey together towards an international ecumenical fellowship of 

churches and mission societies sharing our hope in the Kingdom of God. 

2. Mission in the first instance is God’s economy (oikonomia) for the world, in the act of 

creation, in the history with humankind, in Jesus Christ, and in the power of the 

Spirit. Our witness means our response and our participation in God’s compassionate 

and transforming love. 

3. The centrality of our faith is the Good News of salvation, of the fullness of life and the 

overcoming of death in Jesus Christ. The name of Jesus Christ means redemption, 

liberation, healing, reconciliation, justice, peace and hope. 

4. The gospel concerns all dimensions of life. Therefore our witness is holistic. Proclamation 

of the Gospel, worship, prayer life, pastoral care, Christian education, diaconal 

service and the commitment for justice, peace and the integrity of creation cannot 

be separated from each other. 

5. Our witness is based on faithfulness to the Gospel and on compassion for God’s 

creation, particularly for all vulnerable and endangered creatures. 

6. We witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ at all our respective places in an inviting 

and faithful way. The experience of being strangers to each other in encounters and 

in exchange across borders helps us to rediscover the Gospel in new ways. 

7. We belong together in our partnership on mission. The polyphony and diversity of our 

witness in different contexts is something precious and at the same time a continuing 

mutual challenge. 

8. Our witness finds expression in signs of living solidarity. As reconciling and healing 

communities we share life, also suffering. We strive for human rights. We also strive 

for a just community of women and men and in all generations. 

9. In our witness we meet people of other faiths and ideologies with esteem, respect, 

empathy, the willingness to listen, and to live together as good neighbours in bold 

humility. 

10. As a forum for ecumenical living in our common witness across borders our fellowship 

enables us to learn from each other, to encourage each other, and to challenge 

each other. 

Adopted by the EMS Mission Council on 2 July 2003 in Chennai, India

The Internet in Mission and Ecumenism ... - Reformiert online

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