THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE WEB
For those of you just beginning to surf the web, there are an overwhelming number of sites. What makes this information highway a "web" is that these sites are connected (hypertext linked) to my site, and in turn have links to other sites. "Surfing the web" means to visit a site linked from a previous site. You set out on a journey, not certain as to where you will wind up. But I will guarantee that you will see rare beasts and strange sights! The whole process sounds a lot like faith. A recent survey conducted by Lou Harris and Associates of the college graduating class of 2001 asked how they spend their time in a typical week (in hours). Martin Marty (Public Religion Project)reflected on the survey and said, "There is no reference to religious activities, even though to a question regarding church attendance, more than half indicate that they attend religious services (57%), while 32% say they never attend services. Reading for pleasure takes up 3 hours for the typical student; socializing accounts for 26 hours; using a computer 11 hours; and 6 hours are spent on the Internet or accessing and sending e-mail (emphasis mine)." It is part of their world, so it would behoove us to learn our way around it!
So here is a sampling of what's available for the erstwhile Chaplain or Campus Minister.
When you're feeling Presbyterian: http://www.pcusa.org The denomination's official site.
When you're not particulary happy with the Presbyterian Church: http://www.layman.org The Layman
When you're confused about what Presbyterian means: http://chelsea.ios.com/~hkarlin1/welcome.html The First Preslyterian Church
When you want to reflect on current religious trends and events: http://www.publicreligionproj.org/services/sightings The source for the college student survey quoted in this article.
When a student asks you about other denominations: http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/resources.html This World Council of Churches' site lists all the ones with web sites and links you to them.
When you want to refer a student to a particular congregation: http://www.hows.net/ Houses of Worship
When you need to give the student directions to a particular church: http://www.mapquest.com MapQuest
When you need to find about any religion: http://www.aril.org/index.html The Association for Religion and Life has a wonderful annotated section for each of the world's great religions as well as scholarly Bible study resources.
When you want to know what's going on in the news: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/front.htm
When a well meaning friend e-mails you with a warning about a computer virus: http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html
When you are bored: http://www.runet.edu/~cpf-clb/linklink.html The Presbyterian Campus Ministry folks at Radford obviously don't have enough to do! This list of fun links could keep you busy until the next Meeting Ground issue!
When you need a laugh (or maybe a cry): http://www.flash.net/~thedoor/ The Door (Don't miss Yahweh's Yahoo)
And last, but not least: http://members.aol.com/jesus316/index.htm Jesus' Home Page!