@mastersthesis {55,
	title = {eTheology: Exporations in Computer Mediated Theological Reflection},
	year = {2007},
	month = {2007},
	school = {St. Michael{\textquoteright}s Theological College},
	address = {Landaff, Cardiff, UK},
	abstract = {This thesis considers (and critically assesses) how far the {\textquoteleft}new technologies{\textquoteright} associated with the internet {\textendash} hypertext and hypermedia, blogging, wikis and chatterbots1 amongst others {\textendash} might be used in the practice of Theological Reflection (TR). It presents a critical account of how some initiatives in using the internet might create insights and possibilities for TR, as well as highlighting some of the problems and pitfalls that might arise. This is in pursuit of two main research questions: 1. Is TR possible on the internet? 2. If TR is possible on the internet, what then does it add to the sum total of theological reflection and how might it relate to other methods?},
	keywords = {Computer, reflection, theology},
	url = {http://www.lulu.com/items/volume_62/1765000/1765949/1/print/etheology.pdf},
	author = {Duncan Ballard}
}
@inbook {217,
	title = {Computer-mediated religion: religion on the internet at the turn of the twenty-first century},
	booktitle = {From Sacred Text to the Internet},
	year = {2001},
	pages = {219-263},
	publisher = {Ashgate},
	organization = {Ashgate},
	address = {Aldershot, UK},
	abstract = {This study demonstrates how diaspora religious traditions utilized the Internet to develop significant network connections among each other and also to their place of origins. By examining the early Usenet system, I argue that the religious beliefs and practices of diaspora religious traditions were a motivating factor for developing Usenet groups where geographically dispersed individuals could connect with each other in safe, supportive, and religiously tolerant environments. This article explores the new forms of religious practices that began to occur on these sites, focusing on the manner in which Internet technology and the World Wide Web were utilized for activities such as long-distance ritual practice, cyber pilgrimage, and other religiously-motivated undertakings. Through these new online religious activities, diaspora groups have been able to develop significant connections not only among people, but also between people and the sacred homeland itself.
},
	keywords = {Computer, internet, religion, twenty-first century},
	url = {http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue3/helland.html},
	author = {Beckerlegge, Gwilym}
}
@inbook {319,
	title = {A Review of Religious Computer-Mediated Communication Research},
	booktitle = {Mediating Religion: Conversations in Media, Culture and Religion},
	year = {2003},
	pages = {213-228},
	publisher = {T \& T Clark/Continuum},
	organization = {T \& T Clark/Continuum},
	address = {Edinburgh},
	abstract = {This is the first book to bring together many aspects of the interplay between religion, media and culture from around the world in a single comprehensive study. Leading international scholars provide the most up-to-date findings in their fields, and in a readable and accessible way.37 essays cover topics including religion in the media age, popular broadcasting, communication theology, popular piety, film and religion, myth and ritual in cyberspace, music and religion, communication ethics, and the nature of truth in media saturated cultures.},
	keywords = {Communication, Computer, religion, Research},
	url = {http://books.google.com/books/about/Mediating_religion.html?id=X6uEQgAACAAJ},
	author = {Heidi Campbell}
}
@article {1191,
	title = {Religion and the Internet: A microcosm for studying Internet trends and implications},
	journal = {new media \& society},
	volume = {15},
	year = {2012},
	chapter = {680},
	abstract = {This article argues that paying close attention to key findings within the study of religion 
and the Internet, a subfield of Internet Studies, can enhance our understanding and 
discussion of the larger social and cultural shifts at work within networked society. 
Through a critical overview of research on religion online, five central research areas 
emerge related to social practices, online{\textendash}offline connections, community, identity, and 
authority online. It is also argued that observations about these themes not only point 
to specific trends within religious practice online, but also mirror concerns and findings 
within other areas of Internet Studies. Thus, studying religion on the Internet provides 
an important microcosm for investigating Internet Studies{\textquoteright} contribution in a wide range 
of contexts in our contemporary social world.},
	keywords = {Authority, community, Computer, Contemporary Religious Community, cyberspace, identity, internet, Mass media, network, New Media and Society, new media engagement, New Technology and Society, offline, Online, online communication, Online community, religion, religion and internet, Religion and the Internet, religiosity, religious engagement, religious identity, Religious Internet Communication, Religious Internet Communities, Ritual, sociability unbound, Sociology of religion, users{\textquoteright} participation, virtual community, virtual public sphere, {\textquotedblleft}digital religion{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}Internet Studies{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}media and religion{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}media research{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}networked society{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}online identity{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religion online{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious congregations{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious media research{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious practice online{\textquotedblright}},
	url = {http://nms.sagepub.com/content/15/5/680.abstract},
	author = {Heidi A Campbell}
}
@article {1188,
	title = {The Use of Internet Communication by Catholic Congregations: A Quantitative Study},
	journal = {Journal of Media and Religion},
	volume = {6},
	year = {2007},
	pages = {291-309},
	abstract = {This article presents a first attempt to measure the use of the internet by all 5,812 Catholic religious congregations and autonomous institutes worldwide (with 858,988 members). The research was conducted through a questionnaire sent by e-mail, hence first selecting those institutions which at least have an access to internet communication through an e-mail account (2,285: 39.3\% of the total), receiving 437 responses (19.1\% of the e-mail owners). The study shows great differences between centralized institutes and autonomous ones: the former ones make a higher use of the Internet than the latter ones; moreover, differences are also found among centralized institutes, namely between male and female ones. Two explanatory elements have been found, both depending on the own mission (charisma) of institutes: (1) first, the different approach to the external world: the institutes more devoted to contemplation and less active in the outside world make limited and basic use of the Internet, if any; (2) second, institutes whose aim is to assist poor and sick persons tend to use the internet less than the others, due to their different prioritization of resources.},
	keywords = {Catholic, Catholic religious congregations, Computer, congregations, Contemporary Religious Community, cyberspace, email, internet, internet communication through an e-mail account, Mass media, network, New Media and Society, new media engagement, New Technology and Society, online communication, Online community, religion, religion and internet, Religion and the Internet, religiosity, religious engagement, religious identity, Religious Internet Communication, Religious Internet Communities, sociability unbound, Sociology of religion, users{\textquoteright} participation, virtual community, virtual public sphere, {\textquotedblleft}media research{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religion online{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious media research{\textquotedblright}},
	url = {http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15348420701626797$\#$.Uinxtsasim5},
	author = {Cantoni, L and Zyga, S}
}
@article {1189,
	title = {The Divine Online: Civic Organizing, Identity Building, and Internet Fluency Among Different Religious Groups},
	journal = {Journal of Media and Religion},
	volume = {10},
	year = {2011},
	chapter = {73},
	abstract = {The number of religious congregations with Web sites nearly tripled from 1998{\textendash}2006, and each year another 10,000 congregations launch a Web site (Chaves \& Anderson, 2008). Couple this with the fact that 79\% of attendees are now in a congregation with a Web site. Scholars of media and religion know very little, however, about the content of these Web sites or what they tell us about the culture of different religious groups. The aim of this article, therefore, is to examine how congregations are constructing Web sites to advertise their identity, organize their followers to get involved in civic and political issues, and provide an interactive space for online participation in actual ministries. Extensive qualitative data were gathered from 600 individual congregation Web sites from nine denominations in 53 different cities across the United States. The results of the descriptive analysis of these data suggest that there is a strong correlation between the {\textquotedblleft}off-line{\textquotedblright} characteristics of a particular congregation and the {\textquotedblleft}on-line{\textquotedblright} characteristics of the same congregation. Evangelical congregations tend to have more complex, attractive, and interactive Web sites and fall into the {\textquotedblleft}online religion{\textquotedblright} camp. Liberal-Protestant and Catholic congregations tend to create static {\textquotedblleft}brochure{\textquotedblright} style Web sites that emphasize their denominational identity and thus fall into Hadden and Cowan{\textquoteright}s (2000) {\textquotedblleft}religion online{\textquotedblright} camp. This study expands our theoretical knowledge about the proliferation of media into, and out of, religious congregations, and offers a broader understanding about how institutions negotiate their online identity in the digital age.
[Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher{\textquoteright}s online edition of the Journal of Media and Religion for the following free supplemental resource: Appendix II: Web Site Screen Shots.]},
	keywords = {Catholic, Catholic congregations, Catholics, Computer, Contemporary Religious Community, cyberspace, internet, Mass media, media and religion, network, New Media and Society, new media engagement, New Technology and Society, online communication, Online community, religion, religion and internet, Religion and the Internet, religiosity, religious engagement, religious identity, Religious Internet Communication, Religious Internet Communities, religious media research, sociability unbound, Sociology of religion, users{\textquoteright} participation, virtual community, virtual public sphere, {\textquotedblleft}media research{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}online identity, {\textquotedblleft}religion online{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious congregations{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious media research{\textquotedblright}},
	url = {http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15348423.2011.572438$\#$.Uin0bMasim4},
	author = {Justin Farrell}
}
@article {1187,
	title = {The Relationship Between Religiosity and Internet Use},
	journal = {Journal of Media and Religion},
	volume = {2},
	year = {2003},
	chapter = {129},
	abstract = {With the solidifying of the Internet as an influential form of mediated communication has come a surge of activity among media scholars looking into what leads individuals to use this emerging technology. This study focuses on religiosity as a potential predictor of Internet activity, and uses a combination of secularization theory and uses and gratifications theory as a foundation from which to posit a negative relation between these 2 variables. Religiosity is found to retain a significant negative relation with Internet use at the zero order, and remains a robust negative predictor of the criterion variable even after accounting for a host of demographic, contextual, and situational variables. Ramifications for these findings are discussed and an outline for future research building on our analyses is provided.},
	keywords = {Computer, Contemporary Religious Community, cyberspace, internet, Mass media, network, New Media and Society, new media engagement, New Technology and Society, online communication, Online community, religion, religion and internet, Religion and the Internet, religiosity, religious engagement, religious identity, Religious Internet Communication, Religious Internet Communities, secularization theory, Sociology of religion, users{\textquoteright} participation, uses and gratifications, virtual community, virtual public sphere, {\textquotedblleft}media research{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religion online{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious media research{\textquotedblright}},
	url = {http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/S15328415JMR0203_01$\#$.UikaxDasim5},
	author = {Greg G. Armfield \& R. Lance Holbert}
}
@article {514,
	title = {Cyberspace as Sacred Space. Communicating Religion on Computer Networks},
	journal = {Journal of the American Academy of Religion},
	volume = {64},
	year = {1996},
	keywords = {Communication, Computer, cyberspace, networks},
	url = {http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1465622?uid=3739536\&uid=2129\&uid=2\&uid=70\&uid=4\&uid=3739256\&sid=56265187143},
	author = {O{\textquoteright}Leary, Stephen.D.}
}
@article {1192,
	title = {Media, religion and the marketplace in the information  economy: evidence from Singapore},
	journal = {Environment and Planning},
	volume = {44},
	year = {2012},
	chapter = {1969},
	abstract = {In this paper we suggest that the exchange of communication in a mediatized 
environment is transforming the nature of transactions in the religious marketplace. 
In~this economy of religious informational exchanges, digitalization facilitates a process of 
mediatization that converts religious performance into forms suitable for commodifi cation 
and commoditization. The intersection of digital media, religion, and the marketplace is 
demonstrated in the context of mega Protestant and Buddhist organizations in Singapore. 
We show how these large organizations embed media relations in their sacred spaces 
through a process of hybridization. In turn, hybrid spaces are converted into material 
outputs that may be readily transacted in real and virtual spaces. Hybridization attends to 
a postmodern audience and consumers who value experience and sensorial stimulations. 
It integrates retail, entertainment, and the aesthetics into a space of ascetic performance 
that is digitally transportable. Digital transactional spaces thrive on the abundance of 
information, and information multiplies when communication is unfettered by the absence 
of proprietary safeguards. The religious marketplace may therefore be understood as a 
medially driven performance space where points of interaction are digitally},
	keywords = {Buddhism, Computer, Contemporary Religious Community, cyberspace, digital media, hybridization, information economy, internet, Mass media, network, New Media and Society, new media engagement, New Technology and Society, online communication, Online community, Protestantism, religion, religion and internet, Religion and the Internet, religiosity, religious engagement, religious identity, Religious Internet Communication, Religious Internet Communities, Singapore, sociability unbound, Sociology of religion, users{\textquoteright} participation, virtual community, virtual public sphere, {\textquotedblleft}digital religion{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}Internet Studies{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}media and religion{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}media research{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}networked society{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}online identity{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religion online{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious congregations{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious media research{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious practice online{\textquotedblright}},
	doi = {10.1068/a44272},
	url = {http://paulinehopecheong.com/media/8eb82a57db78bb75ffff839dffffe41e.pdf},
	author = {Jessie Poon and Shirlena Huang and Pauline Hope Cheong}
}
@book {658,
	title = {The Virtual Community},
	year = {1993},
	publisher = {Harper Perennial},
	organization = {Harper Perennial},
	address = {New York},
	abstract = {"When you think of a title for a book, you are forced to think of something short and evocative, like, well, {\textquoteright}The Virtual Community,{\textquoteright} even though a more accurate title might be: {\textquoteright}People who use computers to communicate, form friendships that sometimes form the basis of communities, but you have to be careful to not mistake the tool for the task and think that just writing words on a screen is the same thing as real community.{\textquoteright}" - HLR },
	keywords = {community, Computer, culture, internet, media, Virtual},
	issn = {0262681218},
	url = {http://www.rheingold.com/vc/book/intro.html},
	author = {Rheingold, H.}
}
@article {1190,
	title = {A Study of Church/Ministry Internet Usage},
	journal = {Journal of Ministry Marketing \& Management},
	volume = {7},
	year = {2002},
	chapter = {23},
	abstract = {This manuscript reports the results of a national survey of Internet use by churches and ministries. The mail survey to a random sample of 500 churches and ministries sought to determine the proportion of churches/ministries with Internet access, how the Internet was being used by their organization, and organizational characteristics. A total of 448 questionnaires were delivered and 113 were returned resulting in a response rate of 25.2\%.

About 93 percent of the respondents surveyed reported using a computer. Of that 93 percent, about 70 percent reported they had Internet access. When asked about how the Internet has helped their church, respondents reported communications with others as the most important benefit, followed by staying better informed on products and services, and as a research tool for sermons and Bible studies.

Among respondent churches who had Internet access, about 37 percent had a webpage. Of those who did not have a webpage, 58 percent plan on having one within a year. The most common ways churches use their website were found to be (1) describing features of the church such as service times or scheduled events, (2) creating a way to communicate with others about the church, (3) providing a way for people to contact the church by e-mail, and (4) image creation.

Respondents cited several benefits of having a website: (1) improved communication, (2) increased member knowledge about church programs and (3) increased attendance at church services or activities.},
	keywords = {Church, Computer, Contemporary Religious Community, cyberspace, internet, Internet access, Internet use by churches and ministries, Mass media, national survey, network, New Media and Society, new media engagement, New Technology and Society, online activities, online communication, Online community, religion, religion and internet, Religion and the Internet, religiosity, religious engagement, religious identity, Religious Internet Communication, Religious Internet Communities, religious organizations, sociability unbound, Sociology of religion, users{\textquoteright} participation, virtual community, virtual public sphere, {\textquotedblleft}digital religion{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}media and religion{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}media research{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}online identity{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religion online{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious congregations{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious media research{\textquotedblright}},
	url = {http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J093v07n01_03$\#$.Uin3-Masim5},
	author = {Robert E. Stevens and Paul Dunn and David L. Loudon and Henry S. Cole}
}
@mastersthesis {1197,
	title = {Gender, Faith, and Storytelling: An Ethnography of the Charismatic Internet},
	volume = {Ph.D.},
	year = {2012},
	school = {University of Sussex},
	type = {Doctoral Thesis},
	abstract = {Although early predictions that an emerging {\textquoteleft}cyberspace{\textquoteright} could exist in separation from 
offline life have been largely discarded, anthropological studies of the internet have 
continued to find notions of {\textquoteleft}virtual reality{\textquoteright} relevant as individuals use these 
technologies to fulfil the {\textquotedblleft}pledges they have already made{\textquotedblright} (Boellstorff, 2008; Miller \& 
Slater, 2001: 19) about their own selfhood and their place in the world. There are 
parallels between this concept of {\textquoteleft}virtual reality{\textquoteright} and the on-going spiritual labour of 
Charismatic Christians in the UK, who seek in the context of a secularising nation to 
maintain a sense of presence in the {\textquotedblleft}coming Kingdom{\textquotedblright} of God. The everyday 
production of this expanded spiritual context depends to a large extend on verbal genres 
that are highly gendered. For women, declarations of faith are often tied to domestic 
settings, personal narratives, and the unspoken testimony of daily life (e.g. Lawless, 
1988; Griffith, 1997). The technologies of the internet, whose emerging genres 
challenge boundaries between personal and social, public and private, can cast a greater 
illumination on this inward-focused labour. This doctoral thesis is based on 
ethnographic research in four Charismatic Evangelical congregations and examination 
of the online practices of churchgoers. I have found that the use of the internet by 
Charismatic Christian women fits with wider religious preoccupations and patterns of ritual practice. Words posted through Facebook, blogs, Twitter, and other online 
platforms come to resemble in their form as well as their content Christian narratives of 
a life with meaning.},
	keywords = {anthropological studies, Computer, Contemporary Religious Community, cyberspace, declarations of faith, digital cultures, domestic  settings, Evangelic, Faith, GENDER},
	url = {http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/45226/1/Stewart,_Anna_Rose.pdf},
	author = {Stewart, Anna}
}
