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S y n o d N E W S e x t r a
tuesday, june 6, 1995
anglinet:
connecting anglicans
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t e x t
When Vancouver theological student Rob Domaschuk needed to
research a liturgy project, he didn't go to the library.
Instead, he posted a call for help electronically, on one of
the free Anglican e-mail systems springing up around the
country.
Within a few days, Domaschuk had responses from clergy and
laity all over Canada.
From his home computer, Domaschuk had tapped into "AngliNet"
-- a network of computers around Canada offering Anglicans
electronic mail and discussion forums.
"The response really was incredible," explains Domaschuk.
"If I'd have used any other traditional method, like writing
to parishes, waiting for them to get around to it, waiting
for them to mail something back, it would have taken more
than a week."
"This way, it only took five minutes."
Using a device called a modem, people are connecting their
computers to AngliNet host systems and entering discussion
forums on dozens of topics from liturgical renewal and the
Cursillo movement to continually updated news from the
worldwide Anglican communion. Their only cost is long
distance phone charges, and in many cities even the call is
a local toll-free connection.
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
And it all started with one Vancouver-area parish.
The Rev. Ronald Barnes, a parish priest in Port Moody, B.C.,
started an electronic bulletin board system called NWnet
(named for the Diocese of New Westminster) for his
parishioners to share news, read committee minutes, and send
electronic mail to other parishioners.
It's similar to the bulletin board at your local supermarket
where people leave messages for others -- everything from
personal notes to for sale items.
But that's where the similarity ends. Besides leaving
messages for others, people are transferring free software
to their computer, reading committee meeting minutes just
hours after the meeting, and searching databases of
information.
The idea caught on, and soon people from other parishes
starting calling NWnet and sharing their own thoughts.
"For a while it was mostly laity," notes Barnes. "Now we're
starting to see clergy getting online as well. It's very
much an egalitarian system in that everyone who participates
is at an equal level with everyone else."
Since everyone uses only their first and last names online,
some don't even realize they are discussing liberation
theology with a Canon or Bishop.
However, while a core group of about 50 throughout the
diocese use NWnet regularly, Barnes says the concept is not
being used to its potential. He'd like to see a time when
parishes log on each morning to collect Synod office news
and overnight parish bulletins.
YOUTH SPEARHEADING CONCEPT
One group trying to move the medium toward that goal is the
young people of the diocese.
The diocesan Anglican youth ministry council has a forum on
NWnet and keeps in touch with parish youth leaders by
electronic mail. News about upcoming conferences and
workshops reach the online participants weeks before printed
material arrives in the mail.
The provincial AYM, too, hosts its own forum in which
council members conduct business between meetings.
Erin Rutherford, BCAYM's vice-chairperson and online forum
moderator, says it's making a difference in a very practical
sense.
"Our council is made up of young adults from all over B.C.
and the Yukon, so it was hard to stay in touch between
meetings. Now that we have the BCAYM online forum, we can
still meet throughout the year without all being in the same
place."
To Barnes, it's not surprising that young Anglicans are
leading this transition to instant communication. "This
generation uses computers in school, at home, at work. They
don't think of them as complicated at all." "In the next few
years as our teens come into their twenties, they'll be the
spearhead for changing communication in the church," he
says.
"And we need our young people to dream out loud like that."
LINKING DIOCESES
Other dioceses began to follow suit. An electronic bulletin
board system in the yukon linked its discussion forums to
NWnet. Soon, people from both dioceses were meeting online
and sharing thoughts. Then three Edmonton systems joined.
The computers are programmed to shut down for one hour in
the middle of the night to transfer e-mail and forum
messages between each other. The connection between the
computers was coined "AngliNet."
Like Barnes, the system operators aren't computer experts,
just active members of their parish who set up their home
computer to act as an AngliNet host. For them, it's a
hobby. "It's a common misconception that you need to be a
computer expert," says Barnes. "But it's really no more
difficult to type an e-mail message than to type a note on
paper. In fact, it's probably easier."
In Ottawa, when the system operator of Maximillian BBS heard
of the growing AngliNet, he decided to jump on board.
"I already had an Anglican BBS here in Ottawa, and AngliNet
offered our users an established message base," Martin
Hubbard explained in an interview conducted by e- mail. "I
believe this sort of `networking' can make a very positive,
and significant, contribution to the Anglican community."
So far, AngliNet has access points established in Vancouver,
Edmonton, the Yukon, Ottawa, New York, Ohio, Illinois, and
Rhode Island, with more planned for Winnipeg, Victoria,
Washington state, and Toronto.
EPISCOPAL E-MAIL
During the Diocese of New Westminster's bishop election, NWnet
hosted an online forum called "NewBishop", in which people
from all points of the diocese gave input into the selection
process. People linked to AngliNet hosts in other cities
were able to eavesdrop on the discussions and even drop in
their own thoughts.
John Sager, the Search/Nomination Committee's chairperson,
says the immediate feedback was invaluable.
"I was pleased that we were able to use the network to post
our update letters. Mail is often difficult in a church
environment. Even if it's mailed it may not hit the church
bulletin board for weeks, if at all."
"But using the electronic bulletin board, I could have our
updates online right away for anybody to read," Sager
recalls. "There's something very powerful about being able
to disseminate information very quickly and widely."
Even elected bishop Michael Ingham has an e-mail address and
regularly participates in the online discussions.
Ingham says he has always wondered why the church doesn't
embrace such new communication tools with more enthusiasm.
"I remember trying to convince the church committee not too
long ago that we should get a fax machine -- I couldn't
convince them. Now, most of our parishes have fax machines.
It was the same way with answering machines not too long
ago," notes Ingham.
"I think to some degree the church has been unduly
suspicious of innovative technology. For some reason,
people still think it's somehow unspiritual."
In addition to NWnet, Ingham often signs on to EcuNet which,
although that network costs money to use, holds vast
resources for the Christian community. Half of the
provinces in the Anglican communion are connected to EcuNet.
LINKS TO THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY
And it's not just other Anglicans people are talking with
over computer networks. Most systems linked to AngliNet can
also send and receive e-mail with people on the Internet,
also known as the "Information Superhighway." It is
estimated twenty million people have access to the Internet
worldwide -- one half million of those in Canada.
Back at the Vancouver School of Theology, Rob Domaschuk
reflects on what could quickly become a new way for
Anglicans to keep in touch. "The possibilities for the
greater church in having instant worldwide communication is
absolutely mind-boggling."
-- by Tod Maffin
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