youR Report on Religion

Reason for this project:

The funders, sponsors and supporters of this project have one purpose. They all want to discover information that will help those in denominations who are responsible for creating Internet resources.

Everyone recognizes that the Internet environment is evolving. This makes the job of denominational religious leaders particularly difficult. With new possibilities emerging every day, denominational leaders are faced with a variety of options. Most options are presented to them as strategies for accomplishing particular tasks.

This research project proposes to start with the question: How are the early adopters of Internet technology using it for religious purposes? Put another way: What are the early spiritual uses of the Internet? These questions are more difficult to address than questions like: What are possible religious uses of the Internet?

Anyone can make a list of possible religious uses for the Internet. It might include: E-mail prayer groups, youth discussions of ethical issues, distribution of religious texts, spiritual support groups, religious education courses, etc. The purpose of this research project is to go beyond listing what is possible and try to discover how people are finding the Internet helpful in their spiritual life.

If denominational religious leaders have information about how the Internet is related to religious and spiritual life, then they will be better equipped to make decisions about creating Internet resources.

Research Strategy

Information will be collected from six sources.

1) Published documents about Internet culture and electronic culture

2) A survey sent to providers in information on the Internet with a religious purpose

3) A survey of Internet users

4) A moderated Internet mailing list discussion of religion on the Internet

5) A review of news-groups and Web pages published on the Internet

6) Telephone interviews to follow up on information collected from the surveys

Research Team

Research Administrator:
Dr. Judy Weidman,
General Secretary, United Methodist Communications
810 12th Ave. South
Nashville, TN 37203
E-Mail: JWeidman@umcom.umc.org
Tel: (615)742-5400 (v)

Researcher:
Dr. Kenneth Bedell
Centre for the Study of Communication and Culture
St. Louis University
P.O. Box 56907
St. Louis, MO 63156-0907
E-mail: kbedell@dnaco.net
Tel: (314) 977-7292
Web: http://www.religion-online.org/start.html

Funding:
Louisville-Institute
James W. Lewis (Executive Director)
Diane Freemyer (Administrative Assistant)
The Louisville Institute
1044 Alta Vista Road
Louisville, KY 40205-1798
Tel: (502) 895-3411 ext. 487
Fax: (502) 894-2286
E-mail: info@louisville-institute.org
Web: hppt://www.louisville-institute.org