Overall aim of the research

To understand how British Christian churches and related organisations are using their internet presence to communicate theological, community and practical information to, and within, their congregations and the wider public.

Research questions

To what extent are individual churches using the internet to provide information to their target communities? What attitudes may lie behind the level of use made of the internet?

To what extent are churches using the internet to facilitate communication and dialogue?

To what extent are church leadership/ campaigning organisations influencing the provision of information?

To what extent are churchgoers connecting via the internet as a substitute or complementary activity to attendance at a specific physical church?

Aims and objectives

1. Investigate the extent to which churches are using the internet
Identify sample of church sites
Develop coding scheme – types of information and interactivity opportunities present
Perform content analysis on sample of church websites to ascertain the prevalence of various kinds of information, its currency, and the opportunities for interaction

2. Investigate the attitudes towards the internet held by those in church leadership positions
Identify sample of possible participants
Research and design tools for data capture; (questionnaire/ interview)
Conduct research and analyse results

3. Develop understanding of prevalence of online communication by British churchgoers
Secondary analysis of data on St Pixels/ Church of Fools
Research and design tools for data capture (questionnaire/ interview)
Conduct research and analyse results

4. Investigate campaigning/ leadership organisations
Identify relevant websites  and organisations
Develop coding scheme – types of information and interactivity opportunities present
Perform content analysis on sample of church websites to ascertain the prevalence of various kinds of information, its currency, and the opportunities for interaction

DEFINITIONS

A Church

For the greater part of this study, ‘a church’ refers to a community of people under the leadership of an ordained priest, based in and around a physical building. The one exception is the ‘Church of Fools’ or ‘St Pixels’ referred to which has a purely online presence.

The Church

This is shorthand for ‘the established church’ and refers to the whole population of individuals, leaders, physical buildings and other assets that make up the organisation, for example the Church of England or the Methodist church

Denominations

Denominations are different groups within the overall British Christian tradition. They vary on elements such as the importance of sacraments, the status of women priests, or whether infant baptism is acceptable.
The three main denominations referred to are Church of England, Methodist and Baptist.

Priest/ Vicar/ Rector/ incumbent

The (usually) full-time, salaried, ordained leader of a particular church or small group of churches.

Congregation

Those who attend services regularly at a specific physical church. For the purpose of the research, it is assumed that members of a congregation are people with an identified Christian faith.

Wider/ general public

Those who are ‘unchurched’ (have never been a member of a congregation) or ‘de-churched’ (used to be a member of a congregation but have left); those who would not identify themselves as having a specific Christian faith that was of personal significance. People may declare themselves ‘Christian’ or ‘Church of England’ on a census form out of habit but not actually attend church regularly.

Information provison

The timely and accurate publication of relevant data to specific populations or audiences.

Three types of information are:

Community information

Information about the functions a particular church provide between Monday and Saturday? For example, there may be a playgroup, homeless shelter, elderly club, mental health drop in, after school club or volunteer bureau. It also encompasses information about the local community – healthcare; schools; organisations such as rape crisis or debt counsellors. It would also include information about the rite-of-passage services like marriage or funerals for those whose for whom this is the only point of contact with the church.

Theological information

This refers to information describing what Christianity is about, where teachings originate, the Bible, what it means to be a believer and how one may come to a position of faith.

Practical information

Information about the church’s religious activities such as: service times; contact details; style of worship; home-based groups; study opportunities. This is the kind of detail that a church would traditionally put in its weekly paper notice sheet.