Description
In the last quarter century, research demonstrates a sharp decline in church attendance in Western nations, posing a distinct challenge to evangelical Christian faiths who believe Jesus Christ calls them into the world to expand his kingdom and make disciples. During this same time frame, global culture has become increasingly dependent on computermediated communication (CMC) for education, dissemination of information, and the creation or extension of social connections. The use of websites, email, and social networks has become commonplace and touches all areas of life including religion. In fact, the expansion of CMC has made new technologies available for Christians to expand the kingdom of God and to reach people around the world who have access to the Internet. One might expect churches to utilize the Internet as an information sources, but an increasing number are establishing actual Internet congregations to create sacred space on the Internet, expand the kingdom of God, and form spiritual communities. These Internet churches function rhetorically as participants are persuaded to consider new realities about God and about humanity. This thesis examines the websites of three Internet churches, St. Pixels Church of the Internet, Potential Church, and LifeChurch.tv, in order to evaluate the goals of each church and the oral, textual, visual, and technological strategies used by these churches to achieve those goals. I will review the history of the Internet church movement as well as some of the implications of this trend. Next, I ask how it is that these churches establish construct a sense of trustworthiness, an essential element in persuasion. Finally, I explore the role of sensory elements such as sound and images, combined with textual elements, in constructing a sense of space for Internet church participants, in order to examine the way this construction of space communicates the values of these Internet churches.
