TY - JOUR T1 - 'The Politics of Familiarity: Visual, Liturgical and Organisational Conformity in the Online Church JF - Special Issue on Aesthetics and the Dimensions of the Senses Y1 - 2010 A1 - Hutchings, T. AB - “Online churches” are Internet-based Christian communities, pursuing worship, education, support, proselytisation and other religious goals through computer-mediated communication. This paper draws on three years of participant observation and 50 interviews to investigate reliance on the familiar in the aesthetics and sensory experience of online religion, a trend that previous researchers have noticed but not fully explained. I use two ethnographic studies to explore the range of motivations that can guide this common strategy and consider visual design, use of sound, avatar gestures, awareness of co-presence and the physical activity of the computer user. Key factors include the desire to “frame” participant expectations, “ground” online experience, demonstrate theological “authenticity” and encourage participatory leadership, and these achievements are used to validate experimentation in other areas. This strategy is not uncontested, however: “outsiders” are frequently deterred by styles that “insiders” consider “normal”, and both churches have begun to explore new forms of architecture, ritual and communication with no clear offline parallels. New blends of familiarity and innovation are emerging, indicating some of the future directions of online churchmanship. My two case studies, the Anglican Cathedral of Second Life and LifeChurch.tv Church Online, reflect two key trends among online churches: the proliferation of small-scale independent congregations and the increasing involvement of wealthy institutions. The empirical and theoretical dimensions of this paper are innovative and timely, drawing attention to the professionalization and domestication of online religion and the rise of the “online campus”, key developments that deserve considerable scholarly attention. UR - http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/volltexte/2010/11298/pdf/04.pdf ER - TY - JOUR T1 - I Am Second: Evangelicals and Digital Storytelling JF - Australian Journal of Communication Y1 - 2012 A1 - Hutchings, T. KW - Christianity KW - digital storytelling KW - evangelism KW - social media AB - This article explores the use of online video as a medium for spiritual autobiography through a case study of the Christian movement I am Second (IaS). IaS has published 74 short films, focused primarily on evangelical Christian celebrities. In each case, the video subject overcomes struggles or achieves fulfilment only by surrendering their lives to God and becoming ‘Second’. These stories are shared through fan blogs, Facebook, YouTube, and offline study groups. Analysis of the design, circulation, and response to these films indicates that digital media are fostering significant shifts in the production and reception of religious storytelling. VL - 39 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Creating Church Online: A Case-Study Approach to Religious Experience JF - Studies in World Christianity Y1 - 2007 A1 - Hutchings, T. KW - Church KW - Experience KW - Online KW - religion VL - 13 UR - http://www.deepdyve.com/lp/edinburgh-university-press/creating-church-online-a-case-study-approach-to-religious-experience-Rjr4uCIo7a IS - 3 ER - TY - CHAP T1 - Wiring death: dying, grieving and remembering on the internet T2 - Emotion, Identity and Death: Mortality Across Disciplines Y1 - 2012 A1 - Hutchings, T. KW - Death JF - Emotion, Identity and Death: Mortality Across Disciplines PB - Ashgate U1 - Davies, D. Park, C. ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Online Christian Churches: Three Case Studies JF - Australian Religious Studies Review Y1 - 2010 A1 - Hutchings, T. AB - Online churches are Internet-based Christian communities, pursuing worship, proselytism and other ecclesial activities through digital media. This article is based on three case studies of online churches: i-church, the Anglican Cathedral of Second Life, and LifeChurch.tv Church Online. Seven key themes emerge from these case studies and are used here as a framework for comparative analysis: mass appeal, spiritual experience, community, reliance on the familiar, local church attendance, internal control and external oversight. PB - Equinox VL - 23 IS - 3 ER - TY - CHAP T1 - Creating Church Online: Networks and Collectives in Contemporary Christianity T2 - Digital Religion, Social Media and Culture: Perspectives, Practices and Futures Y1 - 2012 A1 - Hutchings, T. KW - Christianity KW - Cyberchurch JF - Digital Religion, Social Media and Culture: Perspectives, Practices and Futures PB - Peter Lang U1 - Cheong, Pauline H. Fischer-Nielsen, P. Gelfgren, S. Ess, C. ER - TY - JOUR T1 - The Internet and the Church: An Introduction JF - Expository Times Y1 - 2010 A1 - Hutchings, T. AB - The Internet is connecting people and organisations around the world in important new ways, changing the way we relate to one another, find resources, share information and form communities. These changes have very important implications for Christians and their churches. This article offers an overview of online activity, including websites, blogs, forums, social network sites, virtual worlds and online evangelism, and introduces theoretical work on the importance of online social networking, the role of the user in shaping technology, and the balance between control and participation in online activity. PB - Sage VL - 122 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Contemporary Religious Community and the Online Church JF - Information, Communication & Society Y1 - 2011 A1 - Hutchings, T. KW - Christianity KW - Cyberchurch AB - ‘Online churches' are Internet-based Christian communities, seeking to pursue worship, discussion, friendship, support, proselytism and other key religious practices through computer-mediated communication. This article introduces findings of a four-year ethnographic study of five very different ‘online churches’, focusing on the fluid, multi-layered relationship between online and offline activity developed by Christian users of blogs, forums, chatrooms, video streams and virtual worlds. Following a review of online church research and a summary of methods, this article offers an overview of each of the five groups and identifies clear parallels with earlier television ministries and recent church-planting movements. A new model of online and offline activity is proposed, focused on two pairs of concepts, familiarity/difference and isolation/integration, represented as the endpoints of two axes. These axes frame a landscape of digital practice, negotiated with great care and subtlety by online churchgoers. These negotiations are interpreted in light of wider social changes, particularly the shift from bounded community towards ‘networked individualism’. VL - 14 IS - 8 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Network Theology: Christian Understandings of New Media JF - Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture Y1 - 2012 A1 - Hutchings, T. AB - Review article considering three recent works of popular Christian theology: Dwight J. Friesen, Thy Kingdom Connected: What the Church Can Learn from Facebook, the Internet, and Other Networks (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2009); Shane Hipps, Flickering Pixels: How Technology Shapes Your Faith (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009); and Jesse Rice, The Church of Facebook: How the Hyperconnected Are Redefining Community (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2009). VL - 01 UR - http://jrmdc.com/reviews/network-theology-christian-understandings-of-new-media/ IS - 01 ER - TY - CHAP T1 - Religion and the Digital Humanities: New Tools, Methods and Perspectives T2 - Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion Y1 - 2012 A1 - Hutchings, T. KW - Digital humanities KW - methodology AB - From the editors' introduction: "Tim Hutchings believes that the emerging research field of "digital humanities" seeks to generate and explore intersections between the questions and commitments of the traditional humanities disciplines and the opportunities, challenges and social transformations associated with digital media. This article maps the possibilities and challenges offered by the diverse landscape of new research, drawing on the author's own research experience as one of several sociologists of "cyber" and "cyborg" religion working at HUMlab, a digital humanities study laboratory in Umea, Sweden. Three of the author's own research projects - studies of cyberchurches, digital evangelism and Christian music festivals - will be used as case studies to demonstrate the development and application of digital research methodologies." JF - Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion PB - Brill VL - 3 U1 - Berzano, L. Riis, O. ER -