Studies in World Christianity

Volume 13, Number 3, 2007

E-ISSN: 1750-0230 Print ISSN: 1354-9901

DOI: 10.1353/swc.2007.0034

Hutchings, Tim.
Creating Church Online: A Case-Study Approach to Religious Experience
Studies in World Christianity - Volume 13, Number 3, 2007, pp. 243-260

Edinburgh University Press

Tim Hutchings - Creating Church Online: A Case-Study Approach to Religious Experience - Studies in World Christianity 13:3 Studies in World Christianity 13.3 (2007) 243-260 Muse Search Journals This Journal Contents Creating Church Online: A Case-Study Approach to Religious Experience Tim Hutchings Introduction Over the last three years the practice of online churchgoing has grown rapidly through the arrival of a number of large, well-financed projects supported by well-known real-world Christian groups. Initial Christian responses to online religion lacked systematic observational grounding and drew heavily on assumptions regarding the importance of face-to-face meeting, the nature of online community, the efficacy of the Internet as a medium for proselytism and the effects of the Internet on authority and accountability. There is urgent need for new theological appraisals of these important issues, based on sound sociological understanding of the nature of online behaviour and on detailed ethnography of specific online groups, and my current research seeks to contribute to this project. In this article, I will first outline the origins of the online church. Second, I briefly describe some of the earliest Christian responses to the Internet. On these foundations, I then consider three case studies based on my own participant observation and interviewing conducted over the past two years. In relation to these examples I conclude by discussing sacred...