I am not a computer geek. In fact, I'm usually lost when people start talking about macros, ASCII dialogues or serial ports. Nevertheless, such concepts as internet and cyberspace are not completely foreign to me. I am able to work my way through such services as Quest and America Online and learn utterly fascinating information about Episcopalians and their church.

By now, you've probably heard of Quest, whether or not you have a computer. Many diocesan newspapers have published articles about Quest, gushing about its usefulness and how it will bring Episcopalians closer to their church.

I look at Quest nearly every day, because there are often personal messages written to me as well as reports of news events which might be of interest to our readers. So far it has not brought me closer to my church, but it has provided a glimpse of an exchange of ideas not unlike the Episcopal Church at large. The segment of Quest called "TEC" consists of lay persons, bishops, priests and deacons sharing what's on their mind or seeking information. I peruse it for two or three minutes, and usually find the same group of people each day discussing everything from sex to canon law.

On a recent day, a former staffer at the Episcopal Church Center was commenting on the Ellen Cooke fiasco: "Staff who complained that Ellen's management style was ineffectual were told in meeting after meeting to stick to their knitting, and were then held accountable to solve problems they had no power to solve."

In one session, participants spent time trying to determine whether God was an Anglican. Some said God was English; someone else said Irish. Others argued whether God was "he" or "she."

One computer user claimed she once heard, while driving through the South, an evangelist on the radio claim the King James Bible was the only Bible to use because Jesus used it.

Others discussed the meaning of heterosexist, some bandied about moral absolute, and one participant recalled going to dinner at Ellen Cooke's home.

On another day, a discussion continued for hours on what "scrod" was. You don't need a very creative imagination to guess where that dialogue went.

TEC's most helpful service is the willingness of participants to help others find information. In recent days, there have been persons looking for the name and address of the contact person for a national church organization, a warden looking for a church organ, others looking for resource materials. Best of all, there are requests for prayer, for a girl facing surgery, for a bishop's son who was seriously ill, and for a vestry about to elect a rector.

You get the idea. It can be helpful, entertaining, informative and fun. But some of the participants really need to get a life!

DAVID KALVELAGE, editor