The following material has been excerpted from the excellent tract offered by The Society of Archbishop Justus and may be read in full context at: http://justus.anglican.org/r...
The Church has a two-fold aim in regard to the media. One aspect is to encourage their right development and right use for the sake of human development, justice, and peace—for the up building of society at the local, national, and community levels in light of the common good and in a spirit of solidarity. Considering the great importance of social communications, the Church seeks “honest and respectful dialogue with those responsible for the communications media”—a dialogue that relates primarily to the shaping of media policy. “On the Church's side this dialogue involves efforts to understand the media—their purposes, procedures, forms and genres, internal structures and modalities—and to offer support and encouragement to those involved in media work. On the basis of this sympathetic understanding and support, it becomes possible to offer meaningful proposals for removing obstacles to human progress and the proclamation of the Gospel”.
But the Church's concern also relates to communication in and by the Church herself. Such communication is more than just an exercise in technique, for it “finds its starting point in the communion of love among the divine Persons and their communication with us”, and in the realization that Trinitarian communication “reaches out to humankind: The Son is the Word, eternally ‘spoken' by the Father; and in and through Jesus Christ, Son and Word made flesh, God communicates himself and his salvation to women and men”.
God continues to communicate with humanity through the Church, the bearer and custodian of his revelation, to whose living teaching office alone he has entrusted the task of authentically interpreting his word. Moreover, the Church herself is a communion, a communion of persons and eucharistic communities arising from and mirroring the communion of the Trinity; communication therefore is of the essence of the Church. This, more than any other reason, is why “the Church's practice of communication should be exemplary, reflecting the highest standards of truthfulness, accountability, sensitivity to human rights, and other relevant principles and norms”.
The answer might sound very simplistic, but we think it’s the answer just the same: Learn how to use the internet, or how better to use the internet, in your church. Use it for mission, to spread the Word of God. Use it for community, to talk to one another. Use it for administration, to save money, and to draw closer the populace and the administration of the church. If you do this, and God calls you to do something specific, you will know it when the time comes.
If you are one of the Church’s thinkers, a theologian, an ordained, a doctoral candidate, a lecturer, then you should try to engage with the moral and ethical issues raised by the internet and its use, some of which are touched on in this paper. The internet needs serious and informed study of these points, and the Church should involve itself in them.
If you are a Christian who is not part of the structure of the church, make sure you let your Christian values and behavior shine through on the internet the same way that you let it shine through in your daily life.