Ship of Fools (website)
Encyclopedia
Ship of Fools is a UK-based Christian
website. It was first launched as a magazine in 1977. The magazine folded in 1983 and was resurrected as a website on April Fool's Day, 1998. Subtitled "the magazine of Christian unrest", Ship of Fools pokes fun and asks critical questions about the Christian faith. The site is part magazine and part web community.
Ship of Fools was founded and is edited by Simon Jenkins (editor
) and Stephen Goddard (co-editor). Jenkins is an author
, designer
and cartoonist
from London (not to be confused with Simon Jenkins
, who has written a more traditional guide to "England's Thousand Best Churches"), while Goddard is a journalist and public relations
consultant; both have formal theological education. They also perform a show, Ship of Fools Live, in churches, universities and elsewhere, with excerpts from the site's magazine content. The show toured in the USA in February 2004.
The website presents itself as ecumenical/pan-Christian, although the prevailing ethos is English-speaking Trinitarian Christianity. The diversity of the users range from complete atheists to evangelical and liberal Christians.
Some notable features of Ship of Fools website are:
Activities sometimes leave the site to take place in the real world. There are frequent Shipmeets, where shipmates get together at different locations around the world, and Ship of Fools also ran a Ned Flanders
Night at the Christian festival Greenbelt
.
Church of Fools, an online 3D interactive church, ran as a multi-user 3D environment from May to September 2004, and as a single-user environment since that date. The Church of Fools has now renamed itself St Pixels.
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
website. It was first launched as a magazine in 1977. The magazine folded in 1983 and was resurrected as a website on April Fool's Day, 1998. Subtitled "the magazine of Christian unrest", Ship of Fools pokes fun and asks critical questions about the Christian faith. The site is part magazine and part web community.
Ship of Fools was founded and is edited by Simon Jenkins (editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
) and Stephen Goddard (co-editor). Jenkins is an author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, designer
Designer
A designer is a person who designs. More formally, a designer is an agent that "specifies the structural properties of a design object". In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, such as consumer products, processes, laws, games and graphics, is referred to as a...
and cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
from London (not to be confused with Simon Jenkins
Simon Jenkins
Sir Simon David Jenkins is a British newspaper columnist and author, and since November 2008 has been chairman of the National Trust. He currently writes columns for both The Guardian and London's Evening Standard, and was previously a commentator for The Times, which he edited from 1990 to 1992...
, who has written a more traditional guide to "England's Thousand Best Churches"), while Goddard is a journalist and public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
consultant; both have formal theological education. They also perform a show, Ship of Fools Live, in churches, universities and elsewhere, with excerpts from the site's magazine content. The show toured in the USA in February 2004.
The website presents itself as ecumenical/pan-Christian, although the prevailing ethos is English-speaking Trinitarian Christianity. The diversity of the users range from complete atheists to evangelical and liberal Christians.
Some notable features of Ship of Fools website are:
- The Mystery Worshipper - reports on churches made by users of the site: the intention is that churches find out how they appear to outsiders.
- Gadgets for God - kitsch Christian-based products on the internet.
- Features & Projects - irregular columns and a range of projects including "R Father" (2001 competition for rewriting the Lord's prayer as a text message) and "St Pixels" (see below).
- Discussion Boards - debate and discussion amongst registered members ("shipmates").
Activities sometimes leave the site to take place in the real world. There are frequent Shipmeets, where shipmates get together at different locations around the world, and Ship of Fools also ran a Ned Flanders
Ned Flanders
Nedward "Ned" Flanders, Jr. is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer, and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". He is the next door neighbor to the Simpson family and is generally...
Night at the Christian festival Greenbelt
Greenbelt festival
Greenbelt Festival is a festival of arts, faith and justice held annually in England since 1974. Greenbelt has grown from a Christian music festival with an audience of 1,500 young Christians to its current more secular festival attended by around 20,000 - Christians and non-Christians.The festival...
.
Church of Fools, an online 3D interactive church, ran as a multi-user 3D environment from May to September 2004, and as a single-user environment since that date. The Church of Fools has now renamed itself St Pixels.