Internet church ‘St Pixels’ will be at the International Christian Resources Exhibition to host the first-ever interactive service on Facebook next week (Tue 10 May, 1 and 3pm).
Worshippers at computer screens and iphones across the world will listen to Bible readings and a sermon, sing along with hymns and key in prayer requests.
A real-time feedback meter will allow them to click “Amen” or “Zzzz” buttons regularly during services – so everyone will see if the preacher’s joke was as funny as he thought.
St Pixels pioneer Mark Howe said: “If the gospel is for today’s connected culture, it has to find a distinctive but culturally-appropriate place within social networking.
Love it or hate it, Facebook is where people are in 2011. This project is not about trying to look cool and postmodern. It’s about applying basic principles of cross-cultural mission to our own culture.”
St Pixels was formed in 2006 after a pilot project by webzine Ship of Fools. Its first live Facebook service will be hosted in the Web and Media Zone at CRE, Europe’s biggest annual exhibition of Christian resources.
“It’s easy to build irrelevant ghettos in cyberspace or to abandon distinctives in the rush to embrace the latest online fad,’ said Mark. ‘Our Facebook application is an attempt to engage with a cultural phenomenon on its own terms while holding onto the gospel that has transformed so many cultures across the centuries.”
Speaking at the first Facebook service will be Andrew Graystone, director of the Church and Media Network.
“We have 600 million ‘neighbours’ on Facebook,” said Andrew. “St Pixels on Facebook means 600 million Facebook users now have a church in their pocket. I congratulate St Pixels on reaching an amazing milestone. So much love, work and care has gone into this unique community and I have been a beneficiary of it.”
Some 400 exhibitors will be at CRE (10-13 May), often dubbed ‘the ideal church show’. The biggest exhibition of any kind at Sandown Park each year, all three floors of the venue will once again be packed with colourful and vibrant stands – from architects to organ suppliers, heating specialists to sound system engineers.
Steady growth over the past decade has seen attendances rise to an impressive 13,000 over the event’s four days – at time when many secular shows are struggling to survive.
For tickets and more information about the International Christian Resources Exhibition visit www.creonline.co.uk
