Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane talk Nov. 19, 2023

1. Online and Offline
Community - Building
Effective, Sustainable
and Enjoyable Religious
Communities
Speaker - Terry Anderson
Nov. 19, 2023

2. The Tuft of Flowers
Robert Frost (1874–1963).

3. The Tuft of Flowers
I went to turn the grass once after one
Who mowed it in the dew before the sun.
The dew was gone that made his blade so keen
Before I came to view the leveled scene.
I looked for him behind an isle of trees;
I listened for his whetstone on the breeze.
But he had gone his way, the grass all mown,
And I must be, as he had been, - alone,
‘As all must be,’ I said within my heart,
‘Whether they work together or apart.’

4. •
But as I said it, swift there passed me by
On noiseless wing a ‘wildered butterfly’,
Seeking with memories grown dim o’er night
Some resting flower of yesterday’s delight.
And once I marked his flight go round and round,
As where some flower lay withering on the ground.
And then he flew as far as eye could see,
And then on tremulous wing came back to me.

5. •
I thought of questions that have no reply,
And would have turned to toss the grass to dry;
But he turned first, and led my eye to look
At a tall tuft of flowers beside a brook,
A leaping tongue of bloom the scythe had spared
Beside a reedy brook the scythe had bared.
I left my place to know them by their name,
Finding them butterfly weed when I came.

6. And fell a sprit kindred to my own;
So that henceforth I worked no more alone;
But glad with him, I worked as with his aid,
And weary, sought at noon with him the shade;
And dreaming, as it were, held brotherly speech
With one whose thought I had not hoped to reach.
‘All work together,’ I told him from the heart,
‘Whether they work together or apart’.
Robert Frost
(1874–1963).

7. Outline
• 3 Stages of the “Soul in Cyberspace”
• Definitions of Community
• Measuring the Value of Community
• Community of Inquiry and Social Presence
• UU Spokane Zoom experiences
• Community of Worship

8. Soul in
Cyberspace
• Delivered at Westwood
Unitarian Congregation,
Edmonton - 1998

9. Level One - “What time is choir practice?”

10. Level Two
Level Two: Are we meeting at the
Church or on Zoom?

11. Synchronous
Asynchronous
Level Three – “I don’t think any of us
have met face to face.”

12. A Level Three example: Life.Church on Facebook’s Metaverse

13. Are online communities
good enough?
• “Where two or three are
gathered together in my
name, I am there among
them”
Jesus in Matthew 18:20.

14. Clues Filtered Out Theory (Short, 1976)

15. Pen Pal Friendships and Loves –

16. Defining Community
• Hillery (1955) – listed 55 definitions of community,
• Definition is illusive and one of the chief
characteristics is that people define themselves as
members of a community
Hillery, G. (1955) Definitions of Community: Areas of Agreement. Rural Sociology, 20, 111-123.

17. Definitions of
Community
• City of Spokane
a group of people
living in the same place
•"the scientific community, the
Canadian community,
having a particular
characteristic in common.
diverse characteristics who are
linked by social ties, share
common perspectives, and
engage in joint actions
• Unitarians globally
a feeling of fellowship with
others, as a result of sharing
common attitudes, interests,
and goals.
Local Congregations

18. Characteristics of
Community
• “community is linked both to sense
of community and to civic and
political participation” Mannarini, T., &
Fedi, A. (2009).
• Rituals create and define
communities Mullis, & Fincher (1996).
• Communities effect mental health
and sense of well-being
• Communities enhance building of
social capital

19. Social Value of Community
• “There is no such thing as a Unitarian
Universalist by themselves. Our faith is
practiced in covenanted community.”
(Sue Phillips, 2015)
• We are “social animals.” Community
plays a pivotal role in human evolution.
• Hunter-gather clans – tribes – towns –
countries – connected world
• Communities can breed disinformation
(Cults, Trumpites, Flat Earth Earthers,
conspiracy communities) as well as
providing energy and commitment.

20. • “We have shifted from, traditionally, being born into a
community to, now, choosing our own communities and
expressing our identities through them.”
.
By Megan Garber, Atlantic

21. Church Is Community
• For many Unitarians the
local congregation (on site
and/or online community)
is much more important
than any regional or
national denominational
activities.

22. The Shifting
Pendulum of
Two Essential
Human Needs
Individual –
Human rights
Economic benefits
Responsibilities
Relationships
Community -
Human rights
Economic benefits
Responsibilities
Relationships
UU Anthem “From me to we”

23. Why I DID NOT join
you in the sanctuary
this morning?
• Drive - $400 Gasoline, 10
hours
• Fly 7 hours $450
• Zoom – free!
Not mentioning carbon emissions!

24. The eco costs of meeting in person

25. Anderson, L. and Anderson, T. (2009), “Online professional development conferences:
An effective, economical and eco-friendly option”,
Canadian Journal of Learning Technology, Vol. 35 No. 1, pp. 1-10, doi: 10.21432/T29015.
Calculated carbon
emissions saved from
a 3-day online
conference, previously
held in London UK.
Online Conferences

26. Avg. Conference Participant Saved 1.79
Avg. Conference Part. By Air Travel Saved 2.21
Canada 19.8
United States 17.9
Russia 17.9
China 10.9
Germany 9.5
India 2.8
Nigeria 1.9
Global
Average
6.8
Annual Per Capita Production of GHG (2022) in Megatonnes
Green House Gases (GHG)

27. Virtual Community
• “social aggregations that emerge from the
Net when enough people carry on those
public discussions long enough, with
sufficient human feeling, to form webs of
personal relationships in cyberspace”
Rheingold (1994)
• Problems of anonymity, anti-social behaviour and
freeloading.
• Online communities
• Fan communities; travel communities,
consumer communities
• Communities on the long tail of the Internet

28. Understanding,
Building and
Researching the
Online
Community

29. Worked with
Randy Garrison
to develop and
validate
Community of
Inquiry Model
1999 - present
Community of Inquiry (COI) Model
Origional 1999 COI papers cited over 20,000 times by other researchers

31. Biggest challenge of
online communities is
creating and sustaining
social presence
“Firstly, fostering social presence is
essential for online discussions because
it leads to increased engagement,
motivation, a sense of belonging, and
collaboration. ”
Mudau PK, Van den Berg G.
Guidelines for Supporting a
Community of Inquiry
through Graded Online Discussion
Forums in Higher Education.

32. Cohesive Behaviours Vocatives
Addresses or refers to the group using inclusive
pronouns
Phatics, salutations
Interactive Behaviours Continuing a thread
Quoting from others’ messages.
Referring explicitly to others’ messages.
Asking questions
Complimenting, expressing appreciation
Expressing agreement
Affective Behaviours Expression of emotions
Use of humor
Self-disclosure
Indicators of Social Presence in Asynchronous Contexts

33. The Blended Worship Model since
Covid

34. Zoom
Community at
UUCS
• A group of us (4-24 people) have been meeting every week
during the past year.
• This group is smaller than the number who attend the
services in person or who watch them at anytime via
YouTube stream.
• We have very interesting conversations after the services.
• Conversations are more focused (usually on the sermon)
and less personal/superficial than I experienced in after-
service chats at a Church.
• We have gotten to know each others’ ideas, but very little
about each others personal background, profession, their
relatives. And only a bit about their weather!
• Cost to UUCS is minimal, benefits to Zoomers is
“invaluable”.

35. Online
Community of
Worship (COW)

36. The religious
Community of Worship,
•Makes effective use of
both place and online
communities

37. •The NAUA and
UUSpokane are forging
blended communities
with both quality
online and place-based
components.

38. Conclusions:
Communities are essential for human well being - they exist both online and in-person.
• More ecological and cost effective
• Better at time and place shifting
• Opportunity for far-reaching connections and enhanced participation
• Supports connection in spite of other health related issues and limits spread of infectious diseases.
Online communities have distinctive advantages.
• Not the same as face-to-face meetings
• Take longer to form
• Technologically dependent
• Impair, but do not eliminate affective feelings
Online Communities have significant disadvantages:
Best Religious Communities make effective use of both on-site and online communities.

39. • We are all longing to go home to some place we have
never been — a place half-remembered and half-
envisioned we can only catch glimpses of from time to
time. Community. Somewhere, there are people to
whom we can speak with passion without having the
words catch in our throats. Somewhere a circle of
hands will open to receive us, eyes will light up as we
enter…… Community means strength that joins our
strength to do the work that needs to be done. Arms to
hold us when we falter. A circle of healing. A circle of
friends. Someplace where we can be free.
•
Starhawk

40. Thank you for your Time and Attention
Terry Anderson - Professor Emeritus, Athabasca University
Address: 10005 93 St Edmonton, AB Canada
Email: Terrydanderson2@gmail.com
Blog: VirtualCanuck.ca
X: @Terguy