Missional Librarians

Some interesting comments from a newish book called Virtual Worlds, Real Libraries, edited by Lori Bell & Rhonda Trueman. The book's subtitle is: Librarians and educators in Second Life and other multi-user virtual environments. (The latter expression is apparently now shortened to MUVE, something I learned before I'd read more than a few pages.)

What was interesting to me, in light of the many posts on here and discussions I've linked to, is that librarians are thinking missionally. In the Introduction, they ask: Why Should Librarians Be There? and go on to say:

From April 2006 to February 2008, the number of accounts in the virtual world known as SL [Second Life] increased from 180,000 to more than 12 million. Other virtual worlds - including Active Worlds and World of Warcraft, as well as Webkinz, Penguin Club [actually Club Penguin], and Whyville for children - are experiencing similar strong growth, and new virtual worlds seem to be appearing almost daily.

What is happening is that the web, which has evolved over the past 15 years from displaying just static text to graphical, dynamic web content and mashups [a Web application that combines data or functionality from two or more sources into a single integrated application], is becoming more and more interactive. Increasingly, sites seek to engage users and involve them in the processes of using and creating information. Static web pages, no matter how attractive, are no longer enough to impress users of the next generation - or perhaps any generation now using the Internet...

Libraries need to look at places on the web, including virtual worlds, where potential library users are active and assess how library services might be integrated into these environments. Many individuals now involved in virtual worlds may not be traditional library users. By putting ourselves where these users are, librarians have a remarkable opportunity to increase use of the brick-and-mortar library, promote library services and materials, and support education initiatives in SL and other virtual worlds.

It's this last paragraph that most intrigues me. If we were to change just a few words, we'd get:

Christians need to look at places on the web, including virtual worlds, where seekers are active and assess how church services might be integrated into these environments. Many individuals now involved in virtual worlds may not be traditional church attenders. By putting ourselves where these people are, Christians have a remarkable opportunity to increase use of the brick-and-mortar church, promote church services and materials, and support Christian initiatives in SL and other virtual worlds.

If librarians can get missional, why can't we?

Photo of a not-so typical library by Kate Andrews

What is CODEC?

I make no apologies for copying the following bits of information from the Durham University site. Mark Brown mentioned CODEC in a recent blog post, so I thought it was worth investigating a little further.

CODEC is a research initiative based at St John's College in Durham - a new institution in a hundred year old College exploring the interfaces between the Bible, the digital environment and contemporary culture. CODEC is set within the World Heritage Site of Durham's medieval Cathedral and Castle, an integral part of St John's College, Durham University. We have close links to the Department of Theology and Religion at the University.

CODEC aims to

• explore the interrelationship between Christianity and the media, spirituality and the internet
• understand the development in human relationships and self-perception within a digital media world
• research and develop teaching tools appropriate for a digital media world
• assess and resource the Christian community's appreciation of the digital environment
• increase the Church's ability to communicate effectively in the digital environment
  

On his blog, Mark says he sees two particular key challenges for the Church in relation to the Internet:

• Convincing church leaders that responding to the digital revolution is much more than simply setting up a website or a facebook page, but thinking through how it will affect the very practice of the church or agency

• There is a need for more academic writing/thinking around virtual ministry.. in particular solid theological thinking in relation to such topics as sacraments within the virtual setting, the non-physical nature of online identity, the nature of online community, and jurisdiction (to name a few)

Two very good points...but will the (institutional) Church respond?

Shane Hipps

The video clip below is part of an interview Out of Ur did recently with Shane Hipps. I don't know much about Hipps except that he's the author of a book due to be released this year called, Flickering Pixels - how technology shapes your faith, and that somewhere along the line he realized he was spending his life working diligently to perpetuate consumer culture and promote values that ran counter to his most deeply held beliefs.
In this brief clip (about 4 minutes) he points out two things.
1: that you can't really have 'virtual' community. The virtual negates what community is about. He lists four points relating to community:

a. communities have shared history
b. they have a sense of permanence, which gives history
c. they have proximity: people get together with each other
d. they have a shared imagination of the future.

For Hipps, only the last of these four has a possibility in virtual terms: it gains future fast, but loses the other three in the process.

2: the second life site is, for Hipps, a disembodiment of the Gospel - as were radio and tele-evangelism before it.



I suspect you won't entirely agree with Hipps, and four minutes isn't long for him to make his case, but he's worth considering, all the same.

Innovative Church online

Mark Brown is Chief Executive Officer of the Bible Society in New Zealand and an Anglican Priest. In January 2007 he planted an Anglican Church in the virtual world of Second Life which now offers several services a week and has grown to more than 500 members.
You have to ask: why would people want to attend a church service in a virtual world? Mark's response is: The rallying cry of the Digital Revolution is:
Just for me, wherever I am, however I want it, whenever I want it.
This revolution has come about through the extraordinary growth of the internet. In just a short period of time the internet has grown to around 23.01 billion pages with some 1.3 billion people using it. It's predicted that in 2008 more information will be created on the Web than in all previous years combined. The computer is no longer a specialist tool but is now very much a part of our every day environment.

Jonathan Carson, International President for the research company Nielsen Online, notes, ‘The Internet is no longer a niche technology - it is mass media and an utterly integral part of modern life. Almost no aspect of life remains untouched by online media.'

Internet based applications now play a part in major advances in science, business, environmental care, transport logistics, government and education to name a few.

You can read a (long) post on the topic by Mark here. While this particular post focuses on the Anglican Church, everything that is said is relevant to other denominations as well.

Mark's personal blog is called: brownblog.

Born Again? Not quite

Second Life is—well, for the uninitiated, it is hard to explain. Some call it a game, but in reality it is ultimate virtuality: a virtual, 3D, online world that is continually created and updated by its residents. Originally introduced to the public in 2003 by the company Linden Lab, Second Life now boasts over a million members from around the world, up to 50,000 of whom will be online at any time.
In this virtual world you can take on an entirely different personality, do things you'd never do in your 'First Life', behave badly - or do good. It sounds like a place where Christianity has no place.
In fact, there are some 100 'churches' listed in Second Life. Some, like the Church of Apathy, were obviously created as a joke, but others advertise legitimate doctrine, membership, and church functions. Because Second Life is as real to many people as the life you and I live, some Christians have found it a place of opportunity to talk about the Gospel to those who haven't heard.
One such is Second Life resident “Emmanuel Hallard.” He started the Christian Church of Second Life two and half years ago. “I felt that Jesus’ saying, ‘Go into all the world’ included Second Life,” explained Hallard, who in his “First Life” is Lee Wilson, a minister, author, and actor who works for the Family Dynamics Institute, a nonprofit marriage and family ministry located outside of Nashville.
Wilson spends around 10 hours per week in Second Life, communicating with his church’s 1,000 members, developing the church “property,” leading Bible discussions, talking with church visitors, and exploring new areas of the world.
Other Second Life churches function in a similar manner, offering Bible studies and discussion groups. Some hold special events based on the liturgical calendar, such as Easter gatherings and special prayer services.
What may seem strange to people who don't inhabit this 'other' world plainly works for those who do.
Who would imagine the Gospel reaching into such a place?