웹사이트, 웹진, 웹툰 등, 웹이란 글자로 시작하는 사역 모두를 일컬어 웹 사역이라고 부를 수도 있겠지만, 특히 웹으로 하는 목양사역을 이 칼럼에서는 웹 사역이라고 부르고 싶습니다. 저의 웹 목양사역의 내력은 역사가 깊습니다. 지난 24년간 목양사역을 했던 교회에 처음 부임했을 때, 담임 목사가 받는 심방보고서는, 독서카드 크기의 서식이 인쇄된 용지였습니다. 부 목사나 여전도사가 심방내용을 기록해서 보고했고, 담임목사는 그것을 읽고 소각했다는 것을 알았습니다. 그 심방보고서에는 때로 민감한 개인정보가 담겨 있기도 했었으니, 분쇄기가 흔치 않던 그 시절에는 태워버리는 방법이 손쉽고 안전했으리라 생각됩니다.
하지만 소각이란 소극적인 대책보다는 더 나은 적극적인 대안은 없을까 고민했습니다. 사실 일회용 심방보고서에는 교인들의 기본정보를 담을 수 없었기에 아쉬운 점도 있었고, 거기에 기록된 내용은 사실 태워버리기에는 아까운 정보들도 있었기 때문입니다. 예컨데 심방을 받은 사람의 생년월일, 전화번호, 소속교구 등을 비롯한 기본정보들을 담임 입장에서는 알고 싶지만, 일회용 보고서에는 일일이 기재할 수 없었을 것입니다. 심방을 받는 교인입장에서도 심방을 오는 교역자가 바뀔 때마다 지난 번에 했던 이야기를 되풀이 하는 수고도 있을 것입니다. 언제 교회를 다니기 시작해서 언제 주님을 영접했으며 그간 어떻게 신앙생활, 봉사생활을 해 왔는지, 식구들은 어떠한지 등등입니다.
그래서 그런 정보들은 담을 수 있는 웹교적을 구축했습니다. 물론 그 때도 시중에 웹교적이란 프로그램이 없었던 것은 아닙니다. 하지만 프로그램을 잘 다루는 사람이 교회를 대상으로 영업을 하기 위해서 구축한 내용과 목회자가 목회에 필요한 시각에서 만든 우리 교회 웹교적(ch2ch)은 출발부터 서로 다를 수 밖에 없습니다. 처음 만들었을 때 홍보를 하면 이미 쓰고 있는 프로그램이 있다고 거절하던 분들이 시간이 지나서 우리 프로그램으로 전향을 하면서 일치하게 보인 만족도는 놀라왔습니다. 그래서 지금은 이름만 들면 알 수 있는 교회들이 이 프로그램을 사용하고 있으며, 이전 프로그램에 비해서 탁월한 만족감을 나타내고 있습니다. 새로운 교역자가 부임해도 바로 다음날 심방하는데 어려움이 없습니다. 교적부만 접속하면 정보를 알 수가 있으니까요^^
One might refer to any ministry beginning with the word "web"—websites, webzines, webtoons, and the like—as web ministry, but in this column, I would particularly like to define web ministry as pastoral care conducted through the web. My own history with web pastoral ministry runs deep. When I first took up my pastoral post at the church where I would shepherd for twenty-four years, the visitation reports received by the senior pastor were printed on sheets about the size of an index card. Associate pastors or bible women would write down their visitation notes and submit them, and I learned that the senior pastor would read them and then burn them. Because those visitation reports sometimes contained sensitive personal matters, in an era when paper shredders were rare, burning was likely the simplest and safest measure.
However, I wondered whether there might be a more constructive, proactive alternative rather than the passive measure of incineration. The truth was, these disposable visitation reports could not hold foundational member information, which felt like a missed opportunity; moreover, much of the recorded content was simply too valuable to reduce to ashes. For instance, from the senior pastor's perspective, having foundational details readily at hand—such as the visited member's date of birth, contact number, and parish district—would be invaluable, yet a single-use slip could hardly capture it all. From the congregation members' perspective as well, it was burdensome to repeat the same personal testimony every time a different pastor came for visitation: when they first came to church, when they received the Lord, how their journey of faith and service had unfolded, and details about their family members.
Thus, we built a web-based church membership database to securely preserve such vital pastoral information. Naturally, web-based church roll programs were not entirely absent from the market even back then. Yet, there is an inherent difference between software built by technical developers solely for commercial church sales and our church's web membership system (ch2ch), crafted straight from the heart and practical vantage point of pastoral care. When we first introduced it, many initially declined, saying they already used another software. Yet over time, as they transitioned to our platform, the unanimous satisfaction they expressed was remarkable. Today, prominent and well-known churches across the country use this system, praising its superior pastoral utility compared to earlier programs. Even when a newly appointed minister arrives, they face no difficulty in conducting visitations the very next day—all it takes is logging into the church registry to have everything they need at their fingertips. ^^
Mens sou enige bediening wat met die woord "web" begin—webwerwe, webtydskrifte, webstrokiesprente en dies meer—as webbediening kon bestempel, maar in hierdie rubriek wil ek veral pastorale sorg wat via die web geskied, as "webbediening" beskryf. My eie geskiedenis met web-pastorale bediening loop baie diep. Toe ek destyds begin het by die gemeente waar ek vier-en-twintig jaar lank as herder gedien het, was die huisbesoekverslae wat die senior leraar ontvang het, gedruk op velle omtrent so groot soos 'n indekskaart. Hulppredikers of vroulike evangelisasiewerkers het hul besoeknotas daarop aangeteken en ingedien, en ek het verneem dat die senior leraar dit gelees en daarna verbrand het. Aangesien hierdie huisbesoekverslae soms sensitiewe persoonlike inligting bevat het, was verbranding in daardie dae, toe papierversnipperaars nog skaars was, sekerlik die maklikste en veiligste oplossing.
Ek het egter gewonder of daar nie 'n meer opbouende, proaktiewe alternatief was as die passiewe maatreël van verbranding nie. Om die waarheid te sê, hierdie eenmalige huisbesoekverslae kon nie lidmate se basiese gegewens behoorlik bewaar nie, wat 'n jammerte was; boonop was baie van die aangetekende inligting eenvoudig te waardevol om tot as te verbrand. Vanuit die senior leraar se oogpunt wil mens immers basiese inligting ken—soos die besoekte lidmaat se geboortedatum, telefoonnommer en wykindeling—maar dit kon kwalik op 'n eenmalige verslagvormpie gepas word. Ook vanuit die lidmaat se perspektief was dit 'n moeite om elke keer wanneer 'n nuwe leraar op besoek kom, dieselfde lewensverhaal van voor af te herhaal: wanneer hulle die eerste keer kerk toe gekom het, wanneer hulle die Here aangeneem het, hoe hul geloofspad en dienswerk verloop het, en hoe dit met die gesin gaan.
Daarom het ons 'n webgebaseerde lidmaatregister opgebou wat sulke kosbare inligting kon huisves. Natuurlik was daar destyds ook reeds sulke programme op die mark beskikbaar. Maar daar is 'n wesenlike verskil tussen 'n stelsel wat deur 'n tegniese ontwikkelaar geskep is om bloot aan gemeentes te verkoop, en ons eie gemeente se webgebaseerde lidmaatstelsel (ch2ch), wat ontwerp is vanuit die lewende, praktiese behoeftes van die bediening self. Toe ons dit aanvanklik bekendgestel het, het baie leraars dit van die hand gewys omdat hulle reeds ander sagteware gebruik het. Mettertyd, toe hulle na ons program oorgeskakel het, was hul eenparige tevredenheid egter merkwaardig. Vandag gebruik bekende gemeentes regoor die land hierdie program en spreek hulle hul besondere dankbaarheid uit oor die voortreflikheid daarvan bo vorige stelsels. Selfs wanneer 'n nuwe leraar bevestig word, kan hy sonder enige struikelblok dadelik die volgende dag met huisbesoek begin—al wat nodig is, is om op die lidmaatregister aan te meld om dadelik al die nodige agtergrond te hê. ^^