Trying an Experiment in Virtual Community<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I began blogging on Patheos sometime in September of 2015. I had been successful at that time in drawing an audience on Facebook to whom I was writing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christianityischanging\/2017\/02\/trying-experiment-virtual-community\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trying an Experiment in Virtual Community\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I began blogging on Patheos sometime in September of 2015. I had been successful at that time in drawing an audience on Facebook to whom I was writing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christianityischanging\/2017\/02\/trying-experiment-virtual-community\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Christianity is Changing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-02-01T18:14:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-02-02T16:33:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael Hardin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@peace_theology\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michael Hardin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christianityischanging\/2017\/02\/trying-experiment-virtual-community\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christianityischanging\/2017\/02\/trying-experiment-virtual-community\/\",\"name\":\"Trying an Experiment in Virtual Community\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christianityischanging\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-01T18:14:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-02-02T16:33:33+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christianityischanging\/#\/schema\/person\/e2146a04deb7d8d3f31cac3893d97c2d\"},\"description\":\"I began blogging on Patheos sometime in September of 2015. 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I stopped blogging after three months. I found that what I do on Facebook did not transfer over to Patheos. First, there was no way to block trolls and trolls send the conversation into useless directions and waste all our time. I can block them on Facebook but not here. I find that very frustrating as a writer\/teacher. Second, the glitzy social justice comment on the hot political issue of the day that shows how inclusive and justice minded we are was not my style. I can easily affirm what so many others on the Progressive Christian Channel say so I had no need to add my voice to an already existing chorus. I like to teach people how to think theologically and that was not going happen on Patheos. But this did.<\/p>\n

For about 18 months I have had a Personal Mentoring Group on Facebook of around 600 persons who have in many ways become a virtual community to the point of assisting one another in financial straits. They are a beautiful community and they discuss all manner of things in that Group. What I know is that there is a lot of wisdom in that Group and that many have things to say but they are not famous, they don\u2019t have a huge following, some of them are moms and pops, some grandmothers, some grandfathers, some laborers, some authors, some men, some women, all different, all unique, and all whose voices I have come to appreciate and I know you will too. They are united in a single common vision that is: the Gospel of God in Jesus Christ is a peaceful message, a healing balm, a truthful navigation point, a loving paradigm shift.<\/p>\n

So I have invited them to blog here. I invite you to listen in as we grow with one another and discuss here as well as on Facebook. Finally let me also say that Preaching Peace of which I am Executive Director has some innovative and hope-bearing projects coming to fruition this year and we will tell you about them here as well. For now, what would you say to a Conference featuring Richard Rohr, Brian McLaren, Diana Butler-Bass, Richard Beck, Stanley Hauerwas, Nadia Bolz-Weber, Douglas Campbell and Danielle Shroyer as Keynote speakers and over 15 breakout session facilitators and great musical acts?\u00a0 Nov 2-4, 2017 Santa Fe, NM\u00a0 Check it out!<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"