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Thursday, March 29, 2007

Church of The Internet Clicks Into High Gear

By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

LONDON, ENGLAND (ANS) -- Are you looking for a new kind of church experience or just tired of rubbing shoulders with real people face-to-face each Sunday ?

Online church St Pixels (www.stpixels.com) , an Internet church presence with a difference based in the United Kingdom, enters an exciting phase this Easter with the launch of a new church environment and a ground-breaking service for BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Worship.

Although not yet in full 3D, St Pixels, a project supported by the Methodist Church, now has many features of the final version.

"You enter by selecting how you want your cartoon 'avatar' (or character) to look -- hairstyle, shape of nose, skin color and clothes," explains Simon Jenkins, one of the St Pixels development team. "You can even wear sunglasses or smoke a pipe."

Once inside the church, visitors can talk to each other, enter different rooms, take part in worship or Bible study and listen to a sermon illustrated by pictures.

"So far we’ve created a very high-quality chatroom," says Jenkins, editor of Christian webzine Ship of Fools. "We can show images and play music, hymns and sound effects. Until now, St Pixels has been meeting on the equivalent of website bulletin boards, so going 'live' in this way is a huge step forward. And there's the 3D church to come, of course."

St Pixels has about 1,500 registered users. More than 600 different people enter the church’s website each day. Most members describe themselves as Christian and some are already leaders in traditional churches. For others, St Pixels is the only point of contact with organized religion.

"People join for a variety of reasons," says Mark Howe, one of St Pixels’ programmers. "We are accessible for those who cannot leave home due to infirmity or young children. It’s also convenient for people whose working life does not fit with local church services -- or who live far from a physical church.

"Members take part in discussions, pray for each other and play games -- as well as worshipping together. Many travel considerable distances to meet 'in real life.'"

St Pixels is the successor of Church of Fools, launched as a three-month pilot project in 2004 by Ship of Fools.

"In developing St Pixels our first priority was to resist hackers and trouble-makers," explains Simon Jenkins. "Deliberately, we have not rushed into a fully 3D environment. Instead we have produced our own customized chatroom from scratch, which allows for presentations, preaching, music and sound effects -- for a worshipping community.

"Without the vision, support and encouragement of the Methodist Church, this new adventure would have been impossible. We're especially pleased that Methodism has caught the vision of creating genuine Christian community on the Net."

The full 3D environment is on its way -- but the St Pixels team are aware of unsatisfying experiments conducted on 3D ‘superworld’ Second Life.

"It's very easy to do either chaos or dictatorship on the Internet, but Christian community calls for something more subtle," explains Mark Howe. "Virtual worlds like Second Life don't provide the tools needed to nurture inclusive corporate worship and there are too many gangs on the Net whose main intent is to disrupt. Technology and spirituality need to interact at every stage in the development process."

St Pixels will be the focus of BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Worship on Sunday, April 15 when more than 20 members will meet for the first time in Manchester, England. It is the first time the BBC have run a service with a ‘virtual’ church.

"Christians are increasingly creating churches in many different forms, from traditional ways through to things as yet unimagined," said Rev Jonathan Kerry, Coordinating Secretary for Worship and Learning in the Methodist Church Connexional Team. "St. Pixels is one of these new ways of being church, allowing Christians to gather online to worship God, support each other and pray for the world. The Methodist Church is delighted to have been able to sponsor it, and we hope that it will continue to thrive as a place for Christians of all traditions to meet."

St Pixels -- what the congregation says

Elora in the USA writes: "I have a special needs child who consumes most of my time and being able to come to church after he is in bed is a boon. Being able to put on the 'brb' (‘be right back’) mode to care for my child is a satisfying characteristic of online churching.

"I come here for the friendship. These people are my family and I care about what is going on in their lives. I pray for their needs and rejoice when good things happen. I have found the community to be more accepting of diversity than any bricks and mortar church I've ever been part of. I have been a Methodist for the past 30 years but because my husband's job requires moving every few years, I've been in eight different Methodist churches.

"I have been exposed to a world that I never dreamed existed. Ideas are presented from a fresh point of view, whereas in real life, the viewpoints I know are from people very much like myself. I have always lived in the USA and been exposed to approximately the same type of education and culture.

"I come here early in my day and last thing at night. That's how important a part of my world this place is. I come here to laugh when I've had a difficult day. I can listen and enjoy someone else's happiness. I can listen and share their pain. I realize I'm not the only one struggling with life. St Pixels is absolutely an authentic community. You can't hug a friend or deliver food/flowers to a grieving member, but this family is for real!

"My favorite moment happened this past week when we had Sunday prayers in the new church. For the first time we had voices reading the Scripture and speaking the sermon!"


Jame, also in the USA, says: "I’ve no idea what I’d do without the friends I’ve made in St Pixels -- though I’ve never met them. I've made tons of close buddies in Scotland, Korea and England -- while I’m in the US. No matter who you are, or where you're from, you will ALWAYS find someone here to talk to. It's like a family home, where the door is always open for friends and their friends - and their friends' friends.

"I was baptized a Methodist but that’s as far as it goes. I don’t currently attend a physical church."

From Hackney in the UK, one St. Pixels visitor says: "As soon as I entered the church, I found someone I could relate well to, and so was able to off-load many problems and concerns. When joining, I was 'in between' churches. St Pixels has had a positive effect on me and I joined my local Methodist church.

"I met up with another member Bene (who was over from the USA) and Mr and Mrs Agabus (we enjoyed a nice lunch at York). I have also met up with Celt, Skateboard, Steven, Roger and Silver in Huddersfield.

"I have led prayers in St Pixels on a number of occasions, chatted with Brits, Americans, French, Canadians, Swedes -- and even on one occasion, a man from China."

For more information phone Simon Jenkins +44 (0)208 9933936 / +44 (0)7808 297146 or Stephen Goddard +44 (0)1744 733898 / 44 (0)7930 198209 or Toby Scott, Methodist Church +44(0)20 7467 5221.

** Michael Ireland is an international British freelance journalist. A former reporter with a London newspaper, Michael is the Chief Correspondent for ASSIST News Service of Lake Forest, California. Michael immigrated to the United States in 1982 and became a US citizen in September, 1995. He is married with two children. Michael has also been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a British Christian radio station.
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