Communities

Communities

It has been said that on average all of us in the world are only separated from each other by 6 steps or links – commonly known as the theory of the ‘6 degrees of separation’.

"The Western world, at the start of the third millennium, is best described as a 'network society'. This is a fundamental change: 'the emergence of a new social structure'." (p4, Mission Shaped Church)

Yet despite this closeness and proximity, we are living increasingly fragmented lives. In Mission Shaped Church we read how we live in a network society where "the importance of ‘place’ [our location] is secondary to the importance of ‘flows’ [how and where we obtain information, make connections and communicate]." (pp4-5, Mission Shaped Church) How we connect and communicate with one another is increasingly important when we live in a society where people may be physically separated from family and friends.

The evidence for this is all around us:
a) We hear all too often in the news of people having difficulties with neighbours, or tragically of a deceased neighbour not being discovered for weeks because no one ever spoke to them. And yet it is not unusual for people to engage with one another remotely, whether via text messaging, or email or connecting via social networking sites.
b) The rapidity with which news updates are diffused throughout the world - globalization.
c) The tremendous growth in social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Bebo etc.

This presents some real challenges to how the Gospel message may best be shared, what it means to 'be church', what it means to 'be community', and the very shape of mission. There is a transition from the 'face to face' encounter to the virtual encounter. There is a clear paradox of how in a network or connected society we can see such unprecedented levels of fragmentation.

I believe that the church is called to stand in the gap and seek to hold together in tension this fragmentation and connectedness. The commentary in Mission Shaped Church goes on to say that "the establishing of bonds within networks and the bridging between networks will be crucial." (p7, Mission Shaped Church)

There are a number of ways in which Bethany Hope seeks to respond to this challenge, both at a local level and at a wider network level. We recognise that community, albeit in very different ways, can be established at both of these levels.

If you would like to know more, please contact us.

Evony®
Evony®: Age II is a massively multiplayer online real time strategy game (MMORTS) in which players build empires. It is played by 18 Million Players in over 167 countries. It's a free browser game and takes only 5 minutes to learn, and is extremely fun.

Mark has been involved in Evony to explore aspects of virtual communities, and on occasion to minister to fellow players.

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A realised community

Many questions have echoed down through the centuries, such as "What is truth?" Another such question is "What is it to BE church?" Our understanding of church should never be defined in terms of the building in which we gather; it is always about the people that gather as the body of Christ.

Bethany Hope Bible Studies

How might a website such as Bethany Hope be defined as being community? It all comes down to you. Over the past 11 years, I have been privileged to enter into dialogue with many of you; whether in terms of handling specific requests for study, prayer requests, and sharing of testimony.

Second Life

Second Life is "the Internet's largest user-created, 3D virtual world community". Note the word used here 'community'.

The Anglican Cathedral of Second Life

I am a member of the Leadership Team of the Anglican Cathedral of Second Life. The Cathedral is a registered Fresh Expression, and has Episcopal oversight from Bishop Christopher of Guildford and Bishop Tom of New Zealand. This expressions stands at the confluence of cultures and theological belief and practice.

Facebook

Facebook is something that I became familiar with at college. It has seen much news coverage over the last few years in the context of online privacy and disclosure, but also because of people creating fictitious profiles with questionable motives. Roy McLoughry delivered a a lecture on Facebook and in my view he hit the nail on the head when he spoke about how it facilitates projection and screening. We 'project' the image of ourselves that we want people to see via our profile, either consciously or subconsciously, even if that image bears little resemblance to our real life. We 'screen' in how we are selective about who we allow access to our profiles and information. People are often very naive about how they engage with such social networking sites. Watch the film The Social Network. See what you think!

Twitter

I have 2 Twitter accounts. One is my public Twitter account through which I tend to follow a handful of people or groups. The other is my private Twitter account which I used to explore on online prayer group through Twitter.

LinkedIn

It's all about networking. LinkedIn is a professional networking site. I have connections with many former colleagues on LinkedIn and some current ones too!