Digital City

Virtual, digital London: a shadow, parallel urban plane – neuromancer.

Rather, a pluriverse of Londons, focussed, formed by various media: mobiles, Google maps, chat rooms, commercial websites, social networks, interest groups.

Visually represented by an art work of mobile phone mapping. The cyber city manifest. Plans for a smart city, wired-up.

Also the dark side - the hidden net: paedophiles, criminals, terrorists. And the constructed fantasy cities, offspring of architects virtual modelling techniques.

How to engage in mission? Some examples from my church:
•Gospel quotes by text
•Pastoral care through mobile
•Sermons online - old hat now
•Google discussion groups stimulating thought
•Facebook and social networks to connect
•TV stations on-line - by our Brazilian sister church - CCL
•Youtube songs, drama, clips of direct-to-camera teaching.
•Blogs – academic and popular street-level interventions
•Second life witnessing

The digital city also bleeds out of its physical confines. A chat room, or server, could connect different countries. The user is equally in contact with every point on the globe – planet city, the noosphere.

But we are surely behind the curve. We need to learn to dwell in cyberspace - to live, move and have our being in the virtual.