Together For The Harvest
TFH is linked to the Evangelical Alliance. Click on the logo to go to the EA web site.
Week of Prayer 2009
A CHRISTIAN APPROACH TO BLOGGING
Godblogs, a gathering held by the Evangelical Alliance on 23 September, was designed
to give Christian bloggers an opportunity to network face-
Krish Kandiah, Churches in Mission Executive Director said:
“During the Godblogs event, we discussed ideas about how to communicate a code of best practice to Evangelical bloggers. As we talked it through, the Evangelical Alliance decided to write a tongue in cheek set of commandments for the wider blogosphere, based on the original Ten Commandments God gave his people.
“Unlike the original, these commandments are virtual rather than set in stone, but are offered to the blogging community as a way to link the Ten Commandments with the art of blogging.”
The ten cyberspace commandments are to be posted online to give bloggers a moral edge in a virtual age. Based loosely on the real Ten Commandments from the Old Testament, the revamped version for guidance in online communication are:
You shall not put your blog before your integrity.
You shall not make an idol of your blog.
You shall not misuse your screen name by using your anonymity to sin.
Remember the Sabbath day by taking one day off a week from your blog.
Honour your fellow-
You shall not murder someone else’s honour, reputation or feelings.
You shall not use the web to commit or permit adultery in your mind.
You shall not steal another person’s content.
You shall not give false testimony against your fellow-
You shall not covet your neighbour's blog ranking. Be content with your own content.
“In the ever-
He added that the Alliance is inviting bloggers to feed back on the commandments, which are on the Alliance website, www.eauk.org, and make suggestions for improvement.
Rev Mark Meynell, Senior Associate Minister for All Souls Church, Langham Place said:
“The internet is merely the latest step in the evolution of human communication -
Rev Meynell began the day by taking the bloggers through a Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Christian blogosphere, followed by talks about relationships in invisible communities by lead elder at North Shrewsbury Community Church, Phil Whittal and Web 2.0 and the Bible by Peter Sanlon, an Anglican Ordinand from Cambridge.
A Blogging Relationship Commitment for Christians has also been produced as a result
of the day to encourage Christians to think through how they can communicate in cyberspace
in a Christ-
The Evangelical Alliance added:
Blogging Relationship Commitment
We urge Christians to pray as Christ prayed, that we may be one in the Father and the Son, and so by the Spirit promote personal relationships of love, peace and fellowship within Christ’s universal Church, both online and offline.
We encourage Christians earnestly to strive for biblical truth in their blogs, since we will only be drawn closer to Christ and each other when we are open to learn from others and commit to obey the truth more fully.
We call on each other, when blogging on issues of faith or practice that divide us, to acknowledge our own failings and the possibility that we ourselves may be mistaken, avoiding personal hostility and abuse, and speaking the truth in love and gentleness.
We owe it to each other, in writing blog posts on the alleged statements of our fellow Christians, first to get directly in touch with them and to establish what they actually meant. Then to commend what we can, to weigh the proportional significance of what we think is wrong, and to be gracious about what is doubtful, expressing our thoughts with courtesy and humility.
We rejoice in the spread of the Gospel across the world and urge all Christians to
commit themselves to this task, avoiding unnecessary competition and co-
More News, continued......
