What is in Kelvin's Head?

  • Healthy Relationships

    Here’s the second video with Marion Chatterley from Waverley Care – take a look:

    marion chatterley #2 – healthy relationships.movie from Kelvin Holdsworth on Vimeo.

    In this one we focus on what healthy and unhealthy relationships look like.

    We talk about why hidden relationships are common in church communities and how that puts people at risk.

    Then we go on to talk about how healthy relationships are messy but that they are celebrating both people as holistic beings. That includes allowing people to be sexual and spiritual beings.

    Along the way, we spoke about whether or not there is just one true love out there for a person. Again we pick up on dating apps and talk about what people are really looking for when using them. Why do church leaders have so much to say about marriage and so little to say about dating apps?

    We relate this to the big changes we made to the marriage liturgy in the Scottish Episcopal Church a few years ago.

    And then I ask Marion whether she just think anything goes.

    Take a look at the video – comments and questions welcome.

    , , ,

7 responses to “10 Discussion Points about the Church and Virtual Reality”

  1. Tim Avatar
    Tim

    Hear here. (Especially the evolutionary point.)

    Reply
  2. chris Avatar
    chris

    …or even “hear hear”! Very pertinent in my neck of the woods, where the cyber-poor and the cyber-dinosaurs have their abode (and the second category is not necessarily related to the first other than in outcome).

    Reply
  3. Pam Smith Avatar
    Pam Smith

    Excellent points.

    I’ve been working in online Christian communities quite a while, and I’ve observed a couple of things that I think replicate mistakes in offline evangelism:

    1) ‘Success’ is equated with numbers of followers not the quality of the interactions. So a lot of energy can be put into building up a following regardless of who the followers are. This often means attracting Christians who aren’t normally very interested in being online to your online project, rather than trying to make your online Christian project appealing to people who spend a lot of time online.

    2) Events that are geared towards using the online media for evangelism and outreach almost always end up being evangelistic about online media not about Christianity

    Reply
  4. Steve Murray Avatar
    Steve Murray

    I can’t access the blog to post comments – does this mean cyberpoverty may also stem from corporate repression? [These comments posted by Kelvin by request via email]

    My ‘cyberpoverty’ is a deliberate choice – I sit in front of a computer all day so have deliberately chosen not to be online at home. Is this really a societal evil … ?

    The web is already beset by megaphones and proverbial empty vessels can make the most noise – how do we distinguish between volume and quality – I can follow thousands of religious twitterings but who filters out the distortion? – c.f. The Guardian which is in the process of shedding journalists and filling its pages with ‘comment is free’ – aye, and you get what you pay for . . .

    You do already provide ministries for the cyberpoor – they’re called churches – they have gravitas, space for quiet reflection, sanctuary from information overload, and a community – long may they continue.

    Will there be a paywall to fund the virtual church – or will it be forced to rely on commercial sponsorship? A reading from the book of Numbers, brought to you in association with Lehman Brothers.

    Reply
  5. Kimberly

    […] Kelvin is asking good questions again about the theology and praxis of The Church and Virtual Reality.  He sets out questions enough for several doctoral thesis, but it was this that caught my eye.  […]

    Reply
  6. Eric Stoddart Avatar
    Eric Stoddart

    Two important aspects that I suggest need to be added to your list, Kelvin.
    (a) the monetarisation of cyberspace, especially of social networking (making money out of ‘friendship’ is a big business), and
    (b) the effects of social networking as a means of surveillance (that’s lateral, between friends, as well as by mega-corporations); how is our behaviour being modified by the collection of, and categorisation by, our personal data?

    Reply
  7. kelvin Avatar
    kelvin

    Thanks, Eric, yes.

    And important to recognise that the church is in the business of calling on people in relationship with it to cough up money too. It isn’t just big business.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Previous Posts

  • Changes to Easter Calculation

    From inspires online… It has been announced that the Scottish Episcopal Church will begin moving over to the new method for calculating the date of Easter from April 2012. After this time, the date will be calculated according to a new algorithm which is aligned with modern astronomical measurements rather than the older means of…

  • The Chrism

    Yesterday it was the Chrism Mass in St Mary’s. This is a service at which clergy gather from all around the diocese. It is, like many a football game, a service of two halves, and I much prefer the second half to the first. In the first half, the clergy are encouraged to renew their…

  • Admissions to Communion

    One of the most lovely things I’ve done in the week that is past was a teaching mass on Saturday evening which was a way of admitting some younger members of St Mary’s into communion. (Everyone is welcome to receive communion in St Mary’s, but sometimes people need a service where that fact becomes real…

  • How to Keep Holy Week

    In the past, I’ve found myself blogging about Holy Week after the event. As the services have unfolded, I find myself commenting on what happened and how I’ve felt as they have gone along. It strikes me that it might be helpful to say something about Holy Week in advance for those who are not…