web 2.0 community

I picked this up from emergent-us. It’s from Kester Brewin, author of The Complex Christ."It's my hunch that the reason most people go to church is not because of a theological foundation of belief, but because of an emotional need to connect and belong. And I also don't believe that this is wrong. Our message should be one of 'God says you belong', and if they then work out the theology of why they belong, that's great. But if they don't, they should still be allowed to be loved and enjoy belonging."Joseph Myers, in The Search to Belong, developed sociologist Edward Hall’s theories that link physical space and culture. He defines four “spaces” in terms of distance to others in that space. Myers adds the social aspect.

• Public (12 feet+); people may want anonymity but they do not want to be strangers.
  
• Social (4 – 12 feet); I want to know you but at a safe distance. Here we share snapshots of who we are. It provides a safe place for the selection process if I want to become more intimate with someone. In this space I can share a little of who I am as well as the process which got me here – but I do not have move to full disclosure. I could choose to create an illusion.
  
• Personal (18 inches – 4 feet); this is friendship but not full naked disclosure.
  
• Intimate (0 – 18 inches); one-on-one relationships that involve full disclosure of much of life. Relative to church ministry, I don’t think there is a ministry equivalent of this. I think it is a healthy product of the above.

In all four spaces:

• we connect
  
• we are committed and participate
  
• we find the connection significant

Building community entails allowing people to grow significant relationships in all for spaces. As we help people with their lives, we need to allow them to live in the spaces they choose. We can encourage them to belong in the space that is comfortable for them at the time, treating them as a significant part of the “family” in whichever space they choose. It is about giving people the room to decide how they want to belong.In light of Brewin’s work, I wonder if Web 2.0 needs to be added as a fifth space.Regardless, the summary is well put by Brewin. “As our thoughts and opinions buzz around the blogal village, as news and views from very strange and different places are piped into our consciousness, as we log off and turn to our neighbors, it’s this truth that we must hold dearest…you are the Body of Christ (1 Co 12.12-30)!”