Selected Web Links
Relating to Christianity

There are millions of Christianity-related sites on the World Wide Web. Thomas C. Fox's 1997 book Catholicism on the Web was nearly 500 pages long all by itself, and that was in 1997. If the number of sites would make the book keep up, doubling every two years, that would bring such a book to a million pages today.

The present list includes only a few sites that I have visited and that strike me as either useful or interesting or both. Since this page is intended to supplement a UCSD course on the ethnography of Christianity, taught in San Diego, nearly all of the sites are American. A special section is devoted to visitable churches here in town.

Many of these links have rotted out over time and need to be replaced as discovered. Sorry about that.

Shortcuts:
History, Texts, Catholicism, Protestantism,
Forming New Denominations, San Diego Congregations, Miscellaneous

I. Historical Materials

Medieval Spirituality (jump site): http://www.chass.utoronto.ca:8080/~degregor/spirituality.html
Internet Medieval Sourcebook (Public Domain Documents): http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook.html
Project Wittenberg (Materials about Luther & his movement): http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/wittenberg-home.html
Gnosticism: http://www.webcom.com/~gnosis

II. Bible & Other Texts

American Bible Society: http://www.americanbible.org
Bible Gateway (verse searches): http://www.gospelcom.net/bible
Latin Prayers: http://home.earthlink.net/~thesaurus/index.htmhttp://home.earthlink.net/~thesaurus/index.htm
Saints & Angels: http://saints.catholic.org
Catholic Resources on the Net (lots of documents): http://www.cs.cmu.edu/Web/People/spok/catholic.html

III. Catholicism & Orthodoxy

General Resources

Holy See web site (the Vatican’s official web site)
http://www.vatican.va

New Advent Catholic Web Site (jump site)

http://www.newadvent.org

Catholic Encyclopedia

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen

Catholic web links

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/People/spok/catholic.html

Marian Library of Dayton

http://www.udayton.edu/mary
Catholic Orders

Christ in the Desert Monastery

http://www.christdesert.org/pax.html

Monks of Adoration Monstery

http://www.monksofadoration.org (Features sanctuary picture updated every 60 seconds.)

Franciscan Timeline

http://worldmall.com/erf/francisc/francis.txt

Secular Franciscan Order

http://www.ofs.it

Secular Franciscans (USA)

https://pages.map.com/SecularFranciscanEcology

Order of Saint Benedict

http://www.osb.org/osb
Sacred Places & Things

Shroud of Turin Official Site (Vatican Exhibit)

http://sindone.torino.chiesacattolica.it

St. Jude Shrine

http://www.stjudeshrine.org
Eastern Rite Churches

Arimathea (Orthodox Christianity jump site)
http://www.orthodox.co.uk/arimathea.htm
(The impressive Arimathea site has links to the official sites of most of the Orthodox bodies, and to the eastern-rite Catholic churches.)

Orthodox Church in America
http://www.oca.org

Example: Holy Trinity Cathedral (San Francisco) http://www.holy-trinity.org

Byzantine Catholic Church in North America
http://www.byzcath.org.
(The Byzantine Rite Catholic churches remain in communion with the Vatican, in contast to the Orthodox churches, which do not. The liturgy used by both traditions is essentially identical.)

IV. Some Protestant Organizations Represented in North America

"High Church" Denominations

Episcopalians (Anglicans):

Episcopal Church (Unofficial)

http://www.mit.edu/~tb/anglican (excellent links)

Church of England Home Page
http://www.church-of-england.org

Franciscan Order of Céli Dé (Anglican Franciscans)

http://www.bcpl.lib.md.us/~jketler/grayfriar.html

Episcopal Lectionary

http://www.io.com/~kellywp

Lutherans:

Evengelical Lutheran Church in America

http://www.elca.org

Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod

http://www.lcms.org

Presbyterians:

Presbyterian Church in America

http://www.pcanet.org

Example: Peachtree Presbyterian Church (Atlanta GA)
http://www.peachtreepres.org (Internet broadcast of regular services.)

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

http://www.pcusa.org
Congregationalists & Similarly Organized Groups

Congregationalists:

National Association of Congregational Christian Churches

http://www.naccc.org

United Church of Christ

http://www.ucc.org

Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

http://www.disciples.org

Churches of Christ

http://www.church-of-christ.org

Example: Asylum Hill Congregational Church (Hartford CT)

http://www.ahcc.org (audio sermons)

Baptists:

American Baptist Churches

http://www.abc-usa.org

Southern Baptist Convention

http://www.sbcnet.org

Example: Thomas Road Baptist Church (Jerry Falwell's Congregation)

http://www.trbc.org

Methodists:

United Methodist Church

http://www.umc.org

Free Methodist Church of North America

http://www.fmcna.org

Evangelical Methodist Church

http://www.emchurch.org (Caution: This site plays hymns as you browse it.)

African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church

http://www.amezion.org

United:

United Church of Canada

http://www.uccan.org
Others

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) Official Web Site
http://www.lds.org

Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Official Web Site

http://www.rlds.org

Christian Science Church

http://www.tfccs.com

Jehovah's Witnesses site: Watchtower Bible & Trace Society

http://www.watchtower.org

Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
http://www.quaker.org

Seventh Day Adventists

http://news.adventist.org/main

United Pentecostal Church International

http://www.upci.org

Example: Dual Highway Church of God

http://members.aol.com/jhamby1878 (Hagerstown MD) (audio of pentacostalist Rev. Jim L. Hamby's sermons)

Unitarian-Universalist Association

http://www.uua.org/main.html

Example: Univarian Universalist Church of Atlanta http://www.uuca.org

Worldwide Church of God (publishers of Plain Truth)
http://www.wcg.org

V. The Protestant Process: New Denominations

The essential logic of Protestantism is to found new churches when there are differences of opinion on points of faith or practice. As a result there are countless completely independent churches and very small congregations, typically congregational in character or founded by a single pastor and controlled largely by him or her.

In some cases these may be groups of immigrants who conduct religious services in the language of their home country but without affiliation with a larger denomination.

In other, somewhat more interesting, cases these churches define themselves by some social or doctrinal issue that is central to their mission and seems important at the historical moment of their founding. It is sometimes difficult to appreciate how differences that seem trivial today could have been important enough in the past to split churches over. (That is why fusion of separate churches occurs as well as fission of existing ones.)

To suggest the nature of the process, this section is devoted to new denominations derived from one concern of our own era: issues of gender and sexual-orientation.

Various gender and sexual-orientation issues have proven particularly troublesome for mainstream denominations in recent years. For example, Roman Catholicism requires celibate male clergy, but movements have arisen urging that this be changed. Some denominations prohibit female clergy, and again the prohibition is under almost continuous attack and occasional defiance. Most mainstream denominations condemn homosexuality with greater or lesser severity, although sometimes with an outreach. (An example of Catholic outreach is the St. Victor Church http://www.saintvictor.org in Los Angeles. )

Not surprisingly, one finds newly instituted independent churches or small denominations that are founded specifically as a result of such issues.

Here are some examples that emerged from Alta Vista in response to the search string "+Christian +church +gay":

Gay Denominations: Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches http://www.ufmcc.com
(A Los Angeles-based and otherwise often rather conservative "gay denomination" of Protestantism.); Evangelicals Concerned http://www.ecwr.org
(A Seattle-based "non-denominational evangelical resource" for conservative Gay Christians.); American Apostolic Catholic Church http://www.americanchurch.org/
(A denomination of half a dozen congregations following generally "high church" liturgy.)
Gay Congregations: Freedom in Christ Evangelical Church http://www.freedominchrist-sf.org
(A charismatic congregation in San Francisco.); Ray of Home Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ http://www.rayofhopechurch.com
(A gay congregation in New York); White Rock Community Church http://www.whiterockchurch.org
(An otherwise conservative Protestant congregation in Dallas)

VI. San Diego Churches' Web Sites

Here are links to a few San Diego Churches' Web Sites. This is not a comprehensive list, of course, but merely a way to explore some specific congregations of wider Christian denominations and movements.

Clairemont Covenant Church (Evangelical Covenant: http://www.clairemontcov.org
College Avenue Baptist Church: http://www.cabc.org
Episcopal Cathedral Church of St. Paul: http://www.stpaulcathedral.org
Saint-Johns Episcopal Church (Chula Vista): http://www.saint-johns.org
Episcopal Church in La Jolla: http://www.stjameshall.com/church.html
First United Methodist Church of SD: http://www.fumcsd.org
(Also check our their jump site page of links to other Christian denominations at http://www.fumcsd.org/fumcsd/relig.html.)
Fourth Church of Christ, Scientist (La Jolla) (Christian Science): There is a single coordinated web site, the "Christian Science On-Line Reading Room," for all San Diego Christian Science churches: http://www.sdchristianscience.org
Kehilat Ariel Messianic Congregation (Messianic Jews): http://www.kehilatariel.org
La Jolla Congregational Church (United Church of Christ): http://www.lajollaucc.org
Orthodox Presbyterian Church: New Life Orthodox Presbyterian Church (La Mesa)
http://www.lsvillage.com/newlife
The Orthodox Presbyterian Church is a conservative branch established in 1936 in reaction to liberalizing changes in the main denomination.
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.): Prebsyterian Church in La Jolla
http://www.ljpc.org; First Presbyterian Church of San Diego
http://www.fpcsd.org
(Complete with streming audio sermons.); Village Community Church
http://www.villagechurch.org
Presbyterian Church in America (PCA): New Hope Presbyterian Church (Presbyterian Church in America)
http://www.newhopesandiego.com/NewHopeMain.html http://www.newhopesandiego.com/NewHopeMain.html; North City Presbyterian Church
http://www.northcitychurch.com http://www.northcitychurch.com; Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church (La Mesa) (Evangelical Lutheran Church of America); http://www.svlc.org
The Rock Church (Point Loma off Rosecrans) (interdenominational literalist): http://www.therocksandiego.org
St Pius X Church (Roman Catholic): http://www.saintpiusx.org

VII. Miscellaneous Links

History of Stained Glass Windows: http://www.americanvisionwindows.com/the-history-of-stained-glass-windows.php; https://www.bottlestore.com/tracing-the-origins-of-stained-glass-windows (jump site)
Chinese Paintings on Christian Themes (Exhibition Catalog): http://www.usfca.edu/library/thacher/icons/gallery.html
The Bible in Lego Blocks: http://www.thebricktestament.com.
Bible in Pig Latin: http://www.well.com/user/earl/Ible-bay.html
Tale of an Excommunicated Former Mormon: God and I
Ever wonder how it feels to be excommunicated? This light-hearted piece suggests that it feels great.

Return to top.

bildo
Contemporary Peruvian Miniature Potato-Starch Sculpture of
Archangel Michael Subduing Lucifer

Selected Web LinksRelating to Christianity