CyberReligion

After all this writing on my blog and research about cyberchurches, I had never actually experienced one myself, until last night that is. I mentioned in a previous post that I was invited to an online service by 'Pen'. Well, I attended one of the services at St. Pixels and made a few notes as I did.

I arrived slightly before the 9pm, when the service was scheduled to begin. Everyone was waiting in the 'lobby' section of the program welcoming each other. As soon as I entered the room I received a barrage of 'hellos' and so quickly introduced myself (without saying I was taking notes for this blog of course). At 9pm, some (recordings of) bells sounded and everyone was invited into the 'sanctuary'. There were 11 of us at this time.

The service started with line upon line of text from the leader of the service (a member called grulp in this instance) welcoming everyone and thanking the Lord for allowing the service to take place. Whenever the preacher would type anything in CAPS, everyone else would repeat by typing the same in talk box (this was usually an AMEN every so often). I received a number of 'private messages' (ones that only I would see and so wouldn't interfere with the service) from other users asking if I was being looked after, which I felt was rather courteous. It's clear that the people who attend this service are regulars and so have developed a communal bond.

The next part of the service was a hymn. They did this by playing the music and scrolling the lyrics to it in time, expecting you to sing along with it. However, when you are sitting alone at your computer, you will also be singing alone, as other members of the congregation can not hear you (everyone can only hear the preacher). I wondered whether anyone was actually singing the hymn. I did give it a go but ultimately just felt very self-conscious and a little bit silly. Until the technology has advanced so that people at separate computers can sing together, this part of the service does not do the rest of it justice.

After the hymn a live audio reading from the book of Matthew was done by the leader of the service, along with slides in the top corner (see picture above). This part of the service was quite similar to a 'real' service--I did try closing my eyes to see if it felt like a real church and it certainly did have a resemblance. Once the reading had finished and another hymn was sung, the congregation were allowed to write any prayers or messages they wanted to share. It was at this point that I regretted having chosen my username of 'Joyous Beast' (a username that I have chosen for everything that I have signed up for on the Internet since I was 13) since many were writing messages such as 'and pray for our new member Joyous Beast' where as most of the other members had simple names such as Margaret or Isabelle. The service then finished with the Lord's Prayer.

Overall, I did enjoy the service and I can now see the appeal of it. Although the hymns did not really seem necessary, the rest of the service was performed very well. Many also stayed after the service to chat to one another, so there have definitely been some friends made through this church.