Monday, January 29, 2007

The Face of Godcasting...?

Today I am doing a little research on “Godcasting” (aka sermons or religious oriented podcasts). It made headlines in the summer of 2005 in news sources such as the Guardian Online, New York Times and the International Herald Tribune—who had the great headline “Religion on Demand”. In early 2006 there was some conversation in religious publication (see Leadership Journal) about concerns and potential implication of the phenomenon, and in my online searching I did come across several portal sites such as Godcast.tv and the GodCast Network. I know it is also becoming a common trend in many churches to offer weekly downloads of their sermons online, including two in my local are which I have attended: St Francis Episcopal and LifeChurch.

But from what I can tell things have been a bit quiet the past 6 months about what is developing around Godcasting. Is anyone out there doing research on this or know of any new developments?

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Special Issue from Religious Studies Review on Religion & Internet

The latest issue of Religious Studies Review may be of interest to those doing work on religion online...

Special Issue: Religion and the Internet
Guest Editor: Christopher Helland

Read the introduction by Guest Editor Christopher Helland FREE onBlackwell-Synergy: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/toc/rsr/32/4.

This special issue of Religious Studies Review was organized to provide accurate, up-to-date information on websites useful to scholars studying religion. Contributors to the issue were asked two very general questions, posed as though they came from a student or a faculty member without a background in their field:

-"What are some good websites for getting information about your topic of research?"
-"Why are those websites reliable?"

In addressing these questions, some contributors selected three or four websites that they believed were the best for this pursuit. In other cases, the contributors recognized themes or categories of onlineactivities related to their field of study and then chose websites thatwere best suited for that particular theme. In both cases, contributorsreviewed some of the most up-to-date and important websites, explainingwhy they are good sources, what type of information can be found at thesite, and also some of the limitations or cautions that should be taken when using the Internet and the Web for their particular research.

Topics covered in the special issue are: Biblical studies, Christianity, Wicca, Witchcraft, Modern Paganism, New religious movements, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Religious statistics & Religion and the media

Browse the abstracts online: www.blackwell-synergy.com/toc/rsr/32/4.