Traditionally behind the curve, many churches are now reaching out on the Internet.

Today, the same message is being spread throughout the world on the new "roads" of the 21st century -- the information superhighway.

Churches and religious organizations are beginning to discover what industry and many young people already know: that the Internet can be a powerful, instant, inexpensive means of communication.

The Internet allows churches to stay better connected with their people across town and around the globe.

It makes available sermons, prayer requests, discussion groups and event notices at the convenience of the recipient, unrestrained by time or distance.

And it offers anonymity, allowing seekers to learn about churches or beliefs anonymously, or to get answers to highly personal questions without embarrassment.

In a survey of 1,309 congrega tions from 49 states by the Pew Internet & American Life project, 83 percent of respondents said use of the Internet has helped their congregational life, 91 percent said e-mail has helped members and staff stay in touch with each other, and 63 percent said e-mail has helped them connect with the community.

An ongoing Pew poll shows that 21 percent of Internet users -- 2 million people on a typical day -- have gone online to get information about religion or spiritual matters.

The church traditionally has been slow to embrace technology, according to Roger Bruhn, a Tulsa businessman who helps churches and other ministries use the Internet.

"Television was met with caution, fear and sometimes even hysteria by the church," he said.

"Rather than using it for the cause of Christ, the church abdicated to the secular world, and then responded years later.

"By then, they were outspent, outresearched, and had lost all the skilled people," he said.

"We've been on the average 40 years behind in television, 10 years behind in radio, and, I'm encouraged to say, only about three years behind in Internet and related technologies," Bruhn said.

Andrew Careaga, author of two books on the church use of the Internet, said that in general, the church is not doing a very good job of using the new technology.

"I think there are a lot of challenges, things we haven't faced up to," he said. "The Internet is changing the way we think, and our expectations.

"Churches are notorious for being hierarchical. The Internet levels everything. The flow of information is not top down. Anyone can find out anything about any belief system.

"The church needs a new strategy to reach the wired (younger) generation," he said.

The Internet is changing the way people get information, Bruhn said, and the younger generation has embraced it.

Before the Internet, information was handed down when and how the information controllers determined.

With the Internet, the information is at hand all the time, and the recipients choose when and how they want to receive it.

"If the church continues to say, `We've got the message, we're going to deliver it when we want to, and you better be there'," Bruhn said, "I think there's a chance of losing an entire generation of people.

"Old styles of leadership thinking (will not work) with people who have known nothing but the interactivity of the Internet, getting information when and how they want it," he said.

He said that, figuratively speaking, users of the old media -- radio and television -- lean back and passively receive whatever is handed them, while the new media users lean forward over a keyboard, interacting with the information source and determining for themselves what they want to see and hear.

But while many churches -- often the smaller ones -- are struggling with the online revolution, others are beginning to grasp what a valuable communication tool it can be.

Nowhere is that more evident than in Tulsa, home for some 600 churches, and hub for hundreds of ministries that reach out across the world.

Tim Gray is the founder of Christian.tv, a Tulsa-based Web site that offers worldwide exposure to churches and other ministries 24 hours a day.

By logging on to www.christian.tv, viewers from all over the world can see live church services, events and conferences, and can select past services in the archives.

They also can submit prayer requests, make donations, learn about upcoming events and purchase products.

Victory Christian Center, Higher Dimensions Family Church and Rhema Bible Training Center are among the Tulsa organizations available now on Christian.tv.

By "FedExing" a computer to those who are videotaping conferences anywhere in the world, Gray can show the conferences live, all from his offices at 81st Street and Lewis Avenue.

Gray said the site use has tripled in the last year to 2.3 million hits a month, from 90 countries.

As an example of its effectiveness, Gray said, Believers Church in Tulsa had far more people online worldwide watching its Friday night services than the 1,500 people at the services.

The cost to ministries is a fraction of the cost of television time, Gray said.

The Rev. Carlton Pearson, pastor of Higher Dimensions, said Christian.tv is the best way "to reach the greatest audience with the least amount of money and the shortest amount of time."

Privacy is another advantage of the Web that churches are discovering.

On a recent poll of why people don't go to church, 64 percent said they want their privacy when checking out a church, Bruhn said.

"They don't want the car-salesman approach . . . They want to ask their questions when they're ready."

Bruhn is helping churches develop interactive Web sites that are not just brochures of what the church offers, but that allow interested people to hear the pastor preach, listen to the worship, "walk" through the sanctuary, and meet the children's minister, as well as ask questions, make donations and post prayer requests -- all without leaving the anonymity of their computer.

Villa*One in south Tulsa creates interactive CD-ROMs that allow prospective church visitors to thoroughly check out a church from the privacy of their homes.

Ruston Miles, president of Villa*One, said the new technology is "more interactive, with less push . . . allowing people to get closer to God in their own way, at their own pace."

The anonymity of the Web also allows people to get help they might otherwise be too embarrassed to ask for, Bruhn said.

He recently logged on to a Charisma Magazine computer "chat room" in which men from around the world were talking to an author who is an expert on marriage.

"This guy from Charlotte was logged on under a user name, and was asking the author a very specific question about sexual dysfunction in his marriage.

"For 20 minutes, all the other guys backed off and let these two have a dialogue."

One aspect of the Internet the church is using effectively is e- mail, allowing leaders to stay connected with the community and worldwide.

John Taylor, director of Literacy and Evangelism International at 1800 S. Jackson, said e-mail has greatly helped them with fast, accurate and inexpensive communication with the 100 people they have in 50 countries.

Literacy and Evangelism sends out language teachers who also share their Christian faith.

"It started out slowly," he said, "but now it's almost everywhere, even in remote areas."

The only danger is that e-mail in some parts of the world is subject to government snooping, he said, and they have to be careful to not endanger their people in areas that have an anti-Christian sentiment.

The Internet also has become a vast conduit for prayer requests.

The Rev. Kathy Holcomb, pastor of Christ's Church World Outreach Center in Broken Arrow, is involved in the Concert of Prayer, a non-denominational network of churches across the state devoted to praying for the state.

The state network is tied into the World Prayer Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., which can instantly mobilize thousands of prayer intercessors around the world, she said.

"Everyone knows instantly what's going on . . . It's tying the body of Christ together."

Bill Sherman, World religion writer, can be reached at 581-8398 or via e-mail at bill.sherman@tulsaworld.com.