Case Study Presentation: The Block Church

                                                        The Block Church

The Block Church is a multi-site church. The mission of the church is to plan to plant churches and locations, hope to develop leaders for the marketplace, work to bless neighborhoods, and to give and serve to help the helpless. 






The religious identity of the block church can be defined as a church who values community and Christian practices.

The church views and sees media as a conduit for furthering their mission.

Questions

1. Does The Block Church reflects shifting authority or is that a reach? 2. In what ways does the block church use the media as a conduit from the image and video above? 3. What in the video/pictures specifically reflects their mission statement? 

How The Block Church Perform Their Religious Identity

The perceived and performed religious identity of the block church is Christianity. This can be identified from various aspects on their website and Facebook page. Through pictures, videos, posts, and categories on their website it is clear of the block churches performed religious identity. 

The block church communicates their religious identity through their digital media design and features. The block church website is designed so that upon entering the website the background picture is of a man being baptized with a group of people surrounding him with their music group on the back. The words covering the photo is “The block church” in all caps with the saying “Reviving our city, one block at a time” in all caps below it. This design communicates the importance of baptism to the community. I think it is unique that the picture is in black and white. I think this was done strategically because having this picture in color would allow for distractions.

 Another design featured on the block church’s website is in their experience section there is an area called “what to expect” (Singing, baptisms, dedications, offering, preaching, communion, and connecting). What is cool about this is under each category is a detailed description of what to expect and beside that is bible verses that you can click and it will take you to the verse through the website, biblestudytools.com. The bible verses pertain to the category they are beside to emphasize why you can expect that at the block church. Similarly, this emphasizes their religious identity to be Christianity by putting emphasis on the bible verses.

The block church’s mission statement is to plan to plant churches and locations, hope to develop leaders for the marketplace, work to bless neighborhoods, and to give and serve to help the helpless” and they plan to do this by advocating that they area “spirit-led, gospel-centered community, seeking a move of God. The Block is a place where social, economic, religious, and political walls are torn down. Together we make up One Block, One People, One Body." Throughout the website the block church communicates their values, beliefs, practices, and what is important to them.

The aspects online that best communicate their mission is their services (the block church offers multiple links visit one of their organizations in several areas), their pictures (throughout their website is multiple pictures of their community happily engaging in various activities), and their emphasis on baptism as well as bible verses. It is clear through the block church’s website and Facebook page that they see and understand digital media to be helpful in spreading the word about their community as well as keeping everyone up to date about their community, events, updates, etc.

The Block Church Facebook Page

The block church’s Facebook page in comparison to their website has many up to date posts in regard to their services and events. Initially, when you visit the Facebook page you have the option to view their photos. 

Below the photos is a recommendations and reviews section. The reviews were all very positive, highlighting the atmosphere and great service (I learned their valet parking is awesome). Next, you will find many videos of different sermons. On their website, they have a sermon posted but it is much more variety on their Facebook page. Below their sermons are many posts. Each post includes either a picture or a video. It is clear that the block church wants to keep their community up to date with everything as they are constantly posting several times a week.

As far as interactive elements of the block church’s Facebook page there are options to write a post, like there page, follow them, links to events, videos, etc. When entering the Facebook page the messenger pops up to send the block church a message with a note inside that says, “typically replies within a day.” Their Facebook page also have other pages to join such as, block girls, the block church-center city, the block kids, etc. I think it is very nice that they have the date the page was created (December 10, 2013) and that they highlight the fact that the page name has not changed. This shows that the block church is committed to their mission. The mission of the church on their Facebook page is similar to the one on their website. Both inform the public about what the block church is as well as ways to attend services in numerous areas. Also, both included sermons you can check out as well as ways to donate/contact leaders of the block church.

Their Facebook page is different from their website in the sense that they share much more information on their Facebook page.   The design and experiences offered on their Facebook page reinforces their mission of helping their community one block at a time. This is shown through various posts pertaining to their organization.

The block church has a blending relationship because there online and offline practices are interconnected and have a seamless flow between two contexts. The block church interacts with the community via Facebook and their website. On these sites events, locations, sermons, informative videos, pictures, etc. are posted for anyone interested to find out what the block church is all about. By doing this the block church is actively engaging its online community with their off-line community and vice versa. Especially through their Facebook posts where they are constantly posting sermons and multiple weekly updates 

Mission of The Block Church Through Media

The first video I watched was a video answering the question “what is the block church?” By watching the video you will gain a better understanding of the block church. The video included many text throughout the video which suggest to me that they want you to take serious what they are saying. One thing that stood out to me was phrase “it’s not about who you are l, what you use to do, or even where you’re from. We want you to come just as you are and never leave the same’” That statement alone promises a evolutionary experience. From the video I learned that the block church is decimated to giving back to the community, healing the community, growing your faith, and making a friend/family within the community. Another thing that stood out to me in the video is that it is mentioned that the block church record and make their own music. That shows how much they value creativity and truly embrace it. 

The second video I watched was a 36 minute sermon. I watched the first and last five minutes of the sermon. Pastor Joey Furianic began the sermon with a prayer that there offer would be accepted to buy the building he was preaching in. He then began his continued series called “the winning season” which was a conversation about the eagle being in a “super bowl slump.” He related this to how people also experience this “slump” in our lives in all aspects (work, spiritually, relational, etc.) and how we can overcome them. The last five minutes of the sermon, Pastor Joey Furianic was talking about how God except us as we are (no makeup, hair not done, etc.) and how people often think we have to get our life right to come to Jesus when In fact you don’t begin to get your life right until you come to Jesus. The sermon ends with a bible reading from the book of Josh. 

The main messages communicated in the videos are acceptance and community. In the first video, the block church talks about coming as you are and being accepted by all throughout the video. The first video constantly is showing groups of people of all ages coming together, being baptized, and singing with words written over top emphasizing acceptance and creative spiritual growth. I’m the second video, Pastor Joey Furianic ends his sermon talking about how Jesus is not worried about where you are in your life and the dangers of distractions.  Based on the materials and information shared in these videos this Church exists for the following reasons: to uplift the community, to heal those in need, to offer you a friend, family, community, nation you can depend on, and acceptance. 

The Block Church Beliefs and Practices

The main audience for the block church seem to be Christians, new believers, non-Christians, families, youth, etc. I say this because under the about section are the following categories: leadership, block kids, block youth, and block worship.

The block kids section further heightens the importance of family by including a family focus section under the block kids’ category.

 

This highlights the importance of youth most importantly but also that community in general is important. The categories start with “block” which communicates to anyone who comes across the site not just already Christians, families, etc. The main goal of the website based on the about section appears to be communicating who is in charge of the block church, how/what their services are, and how to join the services. It seems the website focuses mainly on experiencing aspects of church programs/life and building relationships with leaders or members while making a case for the Christian faith. I believe this because the about sections starts off with the leadership category section. That page then shows pictures and names of everyone according to their position in church (lead pastors, elders, central leadership team, etc.). 

The block kids section highlights that services are age specific. The block babies (0-2 years old), block toddlers (2-4 years old), and the block kids (5-11 years old). The services are led by community volunteers who do undergo background checks. This information was all given in the following video,

This video shows the importance of the children and their dedication to effectively providing services accordingly.

The last category under the about section, block worship focuses on experiencing aspects of church programs/life by acknowledging the importance of their choir. They even include links to listen to their music through multiple platforms (amazon, Spotify, iTunes, and google play). 

 The information on the website is mainly regarding Sunday services but mentions other days services are provide. For example, under the block youth category mentions every third Wednesday of the month is youth night at Richmond Hall for every age group.

The mission of the church is to plan to plant churches and locations, hope to develop leaders for the marketplace, work to bless neighborhoods, and to give and serve to help the helpless. This is communicated through the website material. When you first enter the website the six categories are home, about, experience, connect, locations, and give. Immediately I know what is important to the community based on those categories. 

The Block Church Religious Identity

The religious identity of the block church based on the website is that they value community and Christian practices. I believe this based on the immediate picture you see once entering the site of a man being baptized. In the picture he is surrounded by people of various ages.

The Block Church's Religious Identity

The block church website tells you a lot about their religious identity. Through the pictures, videos, text, categories, etc. you are able to tell a lot about the block church community. The website is mainly pictures and one video of a sermon. In almost all of the pictures on their website it is filled with multiple people. One could take that to mean that the pictures communicates their value of community especially involving the youth, who are also in those pictures. The first thing you see when you click on the website is a group of people who appears to be at a service with people in the background playing music while someone is being baptized.
                                   
The photo above is a very powerful picture that communicates their religious identity as Christians. From the text on the website you see how important the phrase “the block” is. In one section on the initial page of the website there are three subcategories all starting with the block: the block kids, the block youth, the block worship. Based off of the pictures and videos it can be understood that “the block” signifies the community and this is how they refer to the people in that community.
                                 
Again, these sub categories also signify how important and the youth are to this community. Another thing that stands out on the website is the fact that most of the pictures on the website are black and white. The only pictures that are in color are the ones that lead to another area on the website such as there is a picture with the category “get baptized” which again signify their Christian identity.
                                  

Also, on the website there are multiple different locations and service times linked with the directions in multiple states and areas in Philadelphia as the photo shows below.
                                  
This speaks to how important community is to them no matter distance. It is clear that baptism, the community (especially the youth), and the Christian faith (offering services) are important to the block church.

The Block Church

                                        


I am going to be blogging about the block church. The block church is a christian church in Philadelphia, PA. They focus on serving and meeting the needs of their community while upholding christian values.

link to website: https://bit.ly/1g7ty59