--First, technology is moving so rapidly that ordinary people like me can no longer keep up with the discoveries and new uses for computers.

For instance, there was a time when people had to go to church to find out what was going on in their religious community. Now all they have to do is log on to the World Wide Web and find their congregation's Web site. People who are looking for a new congregation also can fish around on the Web and find many churches advertising programs and events.

This new technology may have profound implications for religion, because religious people are going to find a multitude of uses for technology. This is only one area in which religion cannot see beyond the horizon -- can't see where technology is going to end. In fact, it may have no end. Some of us will see new technologies piling up on each other endlessly until we throw up our hands in frustration.

Just the other day, the technical people at this newspaper were clearing out a storage area and removing old junked machines. As I walked past the debris, I saw a big pile of electric typewriters. They are so useless today that they were thrown into a pile, just as you would toss garbage into a pit.

There was a time when I believed this brand of typewriter was the most fantastic writing machine ever invented. It dominated the typewriter market for at least a decade. Now, those typewriters are useless garbage, and in most churches they have been replaced by powerful computers, which can store pages and pages of information.

Religious people have to be open to new technology as a way to spread their message throughout the world. If they fail to embrace new technology, they will be seen as hopelessly out of touch with the world.

--Second, religious people must watch carefully as a genuine worldwide community emerges. If you read financial news, you know a downturn in the stock markets in Asia can have a deep impact on the business climate in America. But we also need to know that what happens in Asia in regard to religion has an impact on faith movements in the United States.

Here in the Twin Cities, for instance, we now have at least 10 Buddhist communities. Many followers meet in homes and are somewhat isolated from the rest of the religious community here.

Those Buddhist congregations are the result of a shrinking world in which people migrate easily. After World War II, American soldiers brought wives from all over the world to live in the United States. Many of those wives brought along their religious beliefs and began practicing their faith in their new homeland.

One of the results of that migration is the emergence of Buddhist communities all over the United States. The mainline Protestant church and the Catholic church no longer have a monopoly on the religious market.

Religious forces from all over the world now offer alternatives to European-style religion, which held sway over people's hearts half a century ago. We have to discover these people and their religion. It will put Christians in touch with a new facet of their own faith.

--Third, when I graduated from college and seminary, I remember thinking this event celebrated the end of my learning. I believed there would be no more droning professors, boring classes and complicated texts. And that has been my experience. Although I haven't been in a classroom for years, I haven't stopped learning. Any conscious person has to work very hard in this world to stop learning.

But in some religious communities, the learning has stopped. Bible studies are poorly attended. Sermons are so boring, people have stopped listening. When people come to church or temple, they talk about anything other than religion. They have accepted a faith that does not require them to continue learning. And the result is an ignorant laity that cannot lead the church into the next century.

Congregations that have stopped learning will be the losers in the 21st century. Knowledge is now our most valued commodity. A church that isn't learning is caught in a time warp that does not appeal to our society, especially younger people.

Clark D. Morphew