Wi-Fi worship: making new spiritual connections, wirelessly.

• Author: Kaelble, Steve
• Position: Around Indiana

CHURCH IS ALL ABOUT making connections--with God, with ministers, with other churchgoers. A fast-growing northern Indiana church is offering a new kind of worship connection: a wireless broadband Internet link.

Wi-Fi worship takes place at Granger Community Church. Worshippers attending two Saturday evening services are encouraged to bring along their wireless-enabled laptop computers or PDAs and take part in electronic worship enhancements delivered wirelessly via a special Web portal.

"It's trying to reach today's culture with communication tools that people are using," explains Tony Morgan, pastor of administrative services. "We looked at how we could incorporate the tools directly and create a unique feature for Saturday-evening services. It's free wireless access to browse during the service, to do Internet searches while they listen."

The Wi-Fi worship experience is as easy as opening up a laptop and launching a Web browser. The church's wireless "hot spot" is set up to allow instant connection, with no special settings, complex procedures or log-in routines. Worshippers using the church's special Web portal are guided to notes on the sermon, links to related articles and research, insights on relevant Bible verses, church bulletins, newsletters, details about upcoming church events and other information.

"It allows people to dig a little deeper," Morgan says, noting that a Wi-Fi service may attract 30 or so wireless-enabled devices. "It's not uncommon to see families huddled around a screen."

Needless to say, it makes planning a worship service a bit more complicated, but those in charge are not short of helping hands. "We have a couple of volunteers helping us...