Today, I discovered Second Life.
I know a lot of people are already familiar with Second Life, but there a whole lot who also aren’t. Second Life is kind of a like a gigantic online version of the computer game The Sims, crossed with a chat room sporting some pretty cool graphics.
The schtick though is that basically, anything you might like to do in real life, you can do in this virtual world (including fly). In a way, you get to reboot your life. Of course you still have to deal with your first life, you get a second life to do whatever you like with. It’s weird, I know.
In the virtual world, it’s free to move about, visit different places, meet people, talk about things, and so on. But, if you wanted to, you could purchase land. On the land you could build your dream home, a bar, club, restaurant, marina, pretty much whatever you like. Even a church.
That’s what provokes me to write today.
Now, I’m not much of a gamer. I just don’t have the time. But, since the software was free, I thought I’d give it a shot. When I found out just how much real-world like stuff there is in Second Life, I thought I’d go and see if there’s anyone planting churches in this virtual world. And what do you know? There is.
These folks did. I decided to make a trip over to the church. I was pretty surprised at what I found.
 The ALM CyberChurch property is pretty much everything you’d expect in a modern day mega-church. Huge panes of glass, lots of grassy fields. Interesting designs and lots of seating. Of course with one pretty important difference. This church doesn’t exist in real life. Well, in tangible life anyways. It is real. Just not exactly tangible. |
 Almost every facet of the CyberChurch mirrors what you’d find if you ventured out to your local brick and morter spiritual establishment. It’s kind of eery actually. When I visited, although there was no mistaking the cyber-nature of the place, it still had that be-quiet-your-in-church feel to it. |
And, like any quality mega-church, the CyberChurch even had a coffee shop decked out with couches and espresso machines.
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Upstairs in the coffee shop you can find where the church meets for virtual small groups, or at least I assume, based on the arrangement of the chairs. |
 The main sanctuary looks like anything you’d find in most churches. When you visit the virtual church, you can either attend their weekly service at 11:00am on Sunday mornings, or you can go at any time and listen to a recording of the last service. |
 Scattered all around the virtual facility, are signs alerting people to their need to believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. And this, I think above anything else, created questions in my mind. As I explored the area, there was a certain novelty to seeing what was built. But when I came across these notices, I realized something interesting. I wasn’t seeing the words as reality. Some how they were merging into my subconsciousness as part of the virtual reality I was experiencing. If I began to see the call for repentance as a virtual stimulation, how likely is that to translate into actual, spiritual repentance in my heart? |
I won’t pass judgement on whether or not these virtual ministries are effective, right or even good. It seems likely only time will tell. But I will say, it’s an awfully fascinating turn in church history. Unprecedented.
If you frequent the world of Second Life and would like to visit the church, you can “teleport” there from this link.
