The NCBC web forum has recently been removed – hopefully archived and then removed. The active life of the forum ran from late summer 2006 to about the end of 2007. During its 18 month life the forum accumulated many postings and even hosted discussions with gravitas and significance. But apart from myself there have been few postings since the beginning of 2008 and perhaps it has become an embarrassment that too many of the discussion threads were terminated with latest comments by yours truly.
After first notification of its impending doom, I suggested that the old forum at least remain available as an archive, perhaps with the possibility of adding further content should the need arise. This request, as expected, wasn’t granted and so I took the precaution of archiving some of the material that interested me. I may reproduce some of this material on this blog in order to reestablish its much-deserved WWW exposure.
In theory NCBC web activity has moved on to its facebook pages. But looking at these pages, and especially the related facebook group, there has only been a trickle of light and innocuous activity during 2007, and very activity little since the beginning of 2008. Compared to the first year of the forum NCBC facebook looks as though it has been struggling from day one. Other than some light chat and occasional news items NCBC facebook, in spite of its 70+ members, may be suffering in part from novelty and subject exhaustion as a consequence of sustaining the forum for over a year.
And yet there is evidence on NCBC face book of a casting about for something and a sense of where to next? The discussion board kicks off in April 07 with someone pointedly asking, “Why do people join groups but not contribute anything?” and in March 07 someone else asks “What do you think I should talk about to appear interesting?” There is also a hint of that sense of brooding and of marking time before a much hoped for revival of religious fortunes or ‘shake up’ as someone puts it - often associated nowadays with Gnostic revival and ‘swoon for Jesus’ worship; a common reaction in these days of depressed spiritual malaise.
After first notification of its impending doom, I suggested that the old forum at least remain available as an archive, perhaps with the possibility of adding further content should the need arise. This request, as expected, wasn’t granted and so I took the precaution of archiving some of the material that interested me. I may reproduce some of this material on this blog in order to reestablish its much-deserved WWW exposure.
In theory NCBC web activity has moved on to its facebook pages. But looking at these pages, and especially the related facebook group, there has only been a trickle of light and innocuous activity during 2007, and very activity little since the beginning of 2008. Compared to the first year of the forum NCBC facebook looks as though it has been struggling from day one. Other than some light chat and occasional news items NCBC facebook, in spite of its 70+ members, may be suffering in part from novelty and subject exhaustion as a consequence of sustaining the forum for over a year.
And yet there is evidence on NCBC face book of a casting about for something and a sense of where to next? The discussion board kicks off in April 07 with someone pointedly asking, “Why do people join groups but not contribute anything?” and in March 07 someone else asks “What do you think I should talk about to appear interesting?” There is also a hint of that sense of brooding and of marking time before a much hoped for revival of religious fortunes or ‘shake up’ as someone puts it - often associated nowadays with Gnostic revival and ‘swoon for Jesus’ worship; a common reaction in these days of depressed spiritual malaise.
I won’t disturb the NCBC facebookers discussing what they are going to discuss or any prerevival blues. In any case my work is cut out engaging some of the issues raised on this and other blogs: e.g. the Wensum valley churches, the feminisation of church, the questions raised by recent revivalists, the Open Gospel, the ID/evolution debate, the polarisation of analytical knowledge and gnostic knowledge etc etc. These subjects appear not to register on NCBC radar at all and that is probably down to different priorities, different perspectives, different problems, different personalities, different planets!
Stop press: The old forum is still available on this URL (but for how long?)
However, there seems to be no link from the NCBC web site.
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