According to Hutchings (2011), author of “Considering
Religious Community Through Online Churches”, there are multiple definitions
of what a community is. “There are variations in medium, practice, community
expectations and perceptions of privacy generate unique ethical considerations
and opportunities for collaboration” (Hutchings, 2011, p 4). In the St. Pixel’s
online Christian church, community to them is the “practice of sharing life,
they do this through a network of blogs, forums, chat room events and offline
meetings” (Hutchings, 2011, p10). They live out their form of online community
by treating the Internet space as sacred. St. Pixels values respect, honesty
and companionship in order for the participants to “seek God together” (Hutchings,
2011, p5). St. Pixels provides a space for blogging where participants come to
share ones feelings with one another, which helps build relationships among the
community members. In a chat room, the community comes together to worship the
divine, which is meant to compare to a church service held offline. Once
relationships have developed online, participants are encouraged to come
together offline where they can physically meet one another. The offline impact
of the St. Pixels community has a positive effect on their particular religious
tradition. The offline community sets the rules and the foundation of the
online community. Leaders want the online space to be considered as scared, as
the offline space is, where respect and relationships are valued and important.
St. Pixels provides a space where individuals can come and fulfill their
religious needs online that they may have not has the chance to do so offline.
A community is formed not only online, but offline as well. Through their
fundamental belief of “seeking God together” by creating relationships through blogging,
chat rooms, offline meetings, and other mediums to connect and build a
Christian religious group.
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