c. 1998 Religion News Service

UNDATED _ In Christian circles, conversion is often a topic of conversation as believers seek to bring more people into their fold.

But lately, leaders of Christian groups _ like many others _ are preaching about a different kind of conversion _ adapting computer systems to avert problems with what’s known as the Y2K computer bug.

Ministries used to disseminating books, videos and correspondence about the Holy Trinity now are also distributing materials about how to deal with computers and other technology that could read dates ending with”00″as 1900 instead of 2000 at the turn of the century, prompting possible computer malfunctions.

Although the range of concern is wide _ from those unaware of the problem to those in a survivalist panic mode _ many Christian groups are seeking a moderate approach.

James Dobson, president of Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs, Colo., and host of the popular program by the same name, recently aired a three-day series of talks with Christian experts on the topic.”Don’t panic everyone,”he said as he closed off the third program.”There is a middle ground between panicking and doing nothing and that’s what we’re trying to find.” Christian organizations ranging from Catholic Charities to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association to Bible teacher Chuck Swindoll’s Insight for Living are sending out surveys to their vendors to verify they have or are seeking to solve the technological problems associated with Y2K.

Although in at least one case a Christian ministry has changed the date of an upcoming meeting to avoid potential problems as the new century dawns, generally preparation rather than panic is the watchword of religious efforts to educate people about the range of concerns stemming from the computer challenge also known as the”millennium bug.” In May, Shaunti Feldhahn, a former analyst of Asian financial markets for the Federal Reserve Bank, founded an interdenominational ministry called Joseph Project 2000 to help congregations prepare their communities for whatever small or large impact could be felt from Y2K.

Preparations of churches affiliated with the Joseph Project range from volunteers who are checking on how local utilities are doing in becoming Y2K compliant to at least one church that’s leading an effort to dig a well and store grain in case there’s a massive community need for food and water.

In September, 3,000 people attended a public meeting in Atlanta sponsored by the Woodstock, Ga.-based project to build awareness and encourage networking. Feldhahn, whose book titled”Y2K: The Millennium Bug _ a Balanced Christian Response”(Multnomah) will be published this month (November) hopes other churches will sponsor similar gatherings across the country.”If you look at it, there’s a church or a synagogue standing in every single community in the nation,”said Feldhahn.”We don’t have time to build a new infrastructure to respond to Y2K. We need to use what we already have and really, faith-based organizations are it.” She hopes to educate churches so they will not be blind-sided by the pending technological problem, which could affect not only computers but embedded microchips in systems that provide everything from music to heat and air conditioning.

Her concerns are backed up by a recent study by Barna Research Group commissioned by CBN News, a division of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) founded by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson.

The poll of Protestant senior pastors found 78 percent of them were familiar with the Y2K problem, but only 21 percent had taken any steps to evaluate its potential effect on their church. Even fewer _ 13 percent _ said they had taken steps to alert their congregation about potential ministry opportunities or social consequences related to the issue.

In addition to community networking, high-profile ministries are working to get their own technological houses in order _ and checking to see if the businesses they depend on are also becoming Y2K compliant.

At Insight for Living, a survey has been distributed to vendors providing services to the ministry and responses are being filed in red, green and yellow envelopes, depending on the answer.”If they come back with an unacceptable response or one that suggests that they’re not paying attention to this, there’s a red folder for you,”said Curt Swindoll, chief operating officer of the Anaheim, Calif.-based radio program featuring his father, Chuck Swindoll.

In addition, Curt Swindoll sent a memo to managers of the ministry informing them that if they buy technology not”Y2K ready”they won’t be reimbursed.

At Catholic Charities USA in Alexandria, Va., a similar vendor check is going on and their computers are Y2K compliant”to the degree that we can believe Bill Gates and Microsoft,”said David Feeley, chief administrative officer for the group.

But Feeley said there are still unanswered questions.”Our security system is automatic,”he said.”Are the doors going to open on January 1, 2000? We don’t know.” Erring on the side of caution, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, a college student ministry, announced in October that it would postpone Urbana, its usually triennial conference in Illinois, from Dec. 27-31, 1999 to the same dates in 2000.”We’re watching how the Christian … community is responding to it,”said Melody Hanson, InterVarsity’s associate communications director, from her Madison, Wis., office.”The concern was that the perception would be that it would be … an unfavorable thing to do to either send our child to Urbana during those dates or to go yourself.” Despite the middle ground of preparation and precaution voiced by many, there are some groups who link the computer problem to end-times prophecies.”They can point to Y2K and say, `Look at this impending, horrible crash. We are obviously in the end times,'”said David Kessler, executive administrator of the Center for Millennial Studies at Boston University.”It is too large an issue to ignore for someone who has very specific millennial or apocalyptic beliefs.” Evangelist Morris Cerullo has written a book called”January 1, 2000âÂ?¦The Day the World Shuts Down?”(Morris Cerullo World Evangelism) in which he links the millennium bug to prophetic predictions.”Simply put, the government and business leaders are terrified that they will not get the Year 2000 problem fixed in time and the world will be thrown into utter chaosâÂ?¦,”he writes.”The world may very well be headed into the worst tribulation it has ever known.” Others are taking an opposite tack.

The Assemblies of God, a Pentecostal denomination based in Springfield, Mo., issued a statement in mid-October encouraging the denomination’s churches to bring their computers into compliance but strongly condemning”alarmist tactics.””We encourage our people to not engage in activities such as hoarding food, withdrawing money from banks, believing doomsday scenarios, or expecting the economic, political, and social collapse of western civilization when the clock strikes January 1, 2000,”the statement reads.

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Religious broadcasters Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell say they have worked to educate their audiences in ways they hope will not induce panic.”This is not the end of the world,”Robertson told reporters prior to a three-day”Preparing for Y2K”conference held by his Virginia Beach, Va., ministry in mid-October.”But it will be a serious dislocation … I believe that an intelligent low-key warning is not going to panic people. I think it will lead to intelligent action.” CBN, which also has aired a two-part special on Y2K, has received requests from more than 120,000 people for free materials on Y2K. More than 1,250 copies of Falwell’s three-part sermon on the topic have sold at $28 each.”I would say the response of the Y2K message exceeds any response we remember in recent years,”said Falwell in an interview.”I think we do have a major problem coming, but I think it’s wrong to be too strident about that because it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.” (END OPTIONAL TRIM)

For Feldhahn and others involved in the preparations for Y2K _ whether it turns out to be a crisis or not _ the foundation of their work is biblical.”Why is this a Christian issue?”she asked.”Because this is a situation that has a potential _ not a certainty _ to seriously impact people’s lives. As such, it’s something we are commanded in the Scriptures, to love our neighbors as ourselves and this is an opportunity to do that.”

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