Mockingbird: an innovative, online spiritual community

Mockingbird is an innovative spiritual community of Christians mostly in their 20s and 30s that is online, virtual, and thriving. This pioneering concept is explored in a new video produced by the Episcopal Church. "Mockingbird is showing how to meet people where they are in a non-threatening way," explained Mike Collins, Episcopal Church Manager of Multimedia Services.  "They allow people to explore their faith through pop culture."

According to Episcopalian David Zahl, "Mockingbird was started in 2007 in NYC, by a bunch of friends and colleagues who were interested in reaching out to young adults who had been "burned by the church." Many of us had grown up in mainline churches and had watched our friends drift away, or in some cases, get pushed away. We noticed that many of them ended up in New York, a place we love (my hometown). Anyway, it soon morphed into something else altogether, something much more exciting and larger in scope." Zahl added, "Mockingbird is a non-profit organization devoted to connecting the message of God's grace with the realities of everyday life in fresh and creative ways. We do this primarily, but not exclusively, via online resources, publications and conferences."

Mockingbird focuses on things "people are already thinking about," whether its science, theology, social science pop culture.  The five-year-old movement, according to its website, "seeks to connect the Christian faith with the realities of everyday life in fresh and down-to-earth ways."

Although the online community doesn't have a home made of bricks and mortars, Zahl noted, "the majority of our board members and volunteers are members or clergy in the Episcopal Church.  You could say we were born out of and sustained by the ministry of the Episcopal Church. We certainly have a lot of love for (and commitment to) our wonderful denomination!"  

Mockingbird will be sponsoring a conference in April in New York City. www.mbird.com