I thought this article was really interesting:
Zondervan Acquires Online Community-Building Resource for Churches – The City
Plans to Equip Churches Worldwide to Create Interactive Church Communities
The Christian church wanted a way to improve communication, have more contact with their members, and build a stronger church community, so they developed a web site named “The City”.
After just two months, 85% of the church’s 7000 members have joined, and many of them visit the site everyday. This shows just how important a sense of community is to individuals.
From article:
“The City is specifically for the church internet community. Each church member has a unique username and password, assuring the community of a secure and reliable network. Members of each church’s social network can post and maintain their personal profile, find spiritual resources, sign up for volunteer opportunities, engage with their small group members, join book/study groups, maintain a journal, access news, and connect and share personal feelings, experiences, needs, and prayer requests with other church members.
“The City is much more than a social network as it helps churches to solve their greatest challenges — whether it’s church planting, fundraising, developing small groups, building the global church, bolstering a sense of community or improving communications among members,” added Girkins. “We are excited to take this incredibly valuable resource that Mars Hill has created and bring it to other churches throughout the U.S. and around the world.”