Wedding in The Deathlands

 
By Bixyl Shuftan

A time and place still recovering after a nuclear holocost a few decades ago doesn't sound like the setting for a romance story. But even in bleak places such as that, one can find hope for a future. Recently, Rebel Wolf, the Baron of the Deathlands, announced there had been a wedding there, officially their first. He had carried out the event himself.

Yep, we had our first official wedding in Deathlands  at the old Cat Lick Church! Rev Wolf married Siccity  and Bynji! They actually might be really married as wolf IS a  registered minister in the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster in RL. Best man, ..er Wolf was Fourpaws. Feel free to send them gifts or Lindens.  Congrats guys!

Messaging Rebel about the event, his first remark was, "I do divorces too." He apologized for not getting pictures, It was in a hury, not a shotgun wedding but they are from Europe and were going to bed, so it was a quick service." Then he got back into character, "Do you, yeah I did, swap spit?  Yer now married." But he did have a picture of the couple that he took earlier. He told me given the short notice, he wasn't able to wear much of anything special, "I wore my gun of course and semi-clean combats." Sadly the only thing resembling a tie that he had was an old noose.

The wedding itself was in what the locals called "the old Cat Lick church. That's a pre-nuke religion they tell me." When asked if it meant Catholic, he stated what it used to be called was lost to history as people struggled to survive, "It's a old church, and we called it he Cat Lick Church, as the records are incomplete. I dunno what they do with cats, but live and let live." He checked some old notes he had written earlier, "Obliviously it's a dark chapel of some kind that didn't fare well on Nuke Day.  Today is is run by some strange old religion called Cat Licks.  I fail to see what licking cats has to do with anything. Not that we have many cats still alive." He would say that cats in the area tend to stay clear of people, as with the shortage of food many find them tasty.

Wolf did wonder if the marriage might have some real-life standing as in real-life he is a registered minister of the "Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster." When I asked if pasta was served at the reception, Wolf responded, "There were rats at the church, do those count?"

And so that's the story of the post-apocalyptic sims's first official wedding.

First image credit: Rebel Wolf

Bixyl Shuftan
 

Return to Grace Baptist Church

 
By Bixyl Shuftan

It was seven years ago that the Newser reported about the Grace Baptist Church. This Easter weekend, when I was looking for a church to write about, they just happened to be having an afternoon service when I took a look at the place. So I went in. As before, the church was in a brick building with a chapel and two smaller rooms. In the smaller building was what looked like a 50s dinner. This time the pastor was Pastor Michael Boyd (michael Baily). He was giving his sermon on voice, and when I stepped inside, some of the parishioners greeted me as I took my seat. At the end of the service, he turned on the screen and invited people to sing along in real life to the woman singing.

After the service, I spoke to Pastor Michael, whom answered in voice. He was happy to hear I had been there before, explaining I probably interviewed Pastor Bryan Sarjeant (leroy.zoon) shortly before he stepped down. "Brian and I were co-pastors for a while," he explained, saying the man had to stop for health reasons. Brian had been an Army ranger, ended up on disability, and "struggles with a lot of things." He had been ministering on a regular basis until it proved too much and overwhelming for him.

Brian was with Pastor Michael for his first year. He did say if he had a problem, Brian was always available, "He hardly comes on Second Life any more." He does continue to maintain the church's website ans "the behind the scenes stuff." One of the more interesting things Brian does, Michael described, was when he assumes control of the church's bot account, which really does look like a robot. The robot will walk out of it's usual place in one of the smaller rooms and step outside to pay the tier.

Pastor Michael told me he had 22 years of experience in the ministry in real like church. Doing so in a virtual church can be quite different. But on the other hand, it fits into his skills in both ministry and computers. Plus he told me he's not as quite as mobile as he used to be, saying he once had a health problem that led him to almost dying in the hospital. "This is where God led me, and I'll stay here until He leads me somewhere else," he explained.

Of what experiences stood out, Pastor Mike thought for a moment, then recalled "this gentleman who came in" whom was in his 70s to 80s. He ended up passing away, "we had a memorial service in church for him." There was also one lady, Amy, whom offered to decorate the church. But "the all time best, I came one morning, the building was gone!" Fortunately Brian came by to fix the problem. So Pastor Mike could chuckle about it, "Only in Second Life can a building just walk away."

I then brought up the Pandemic, and asked if over the past year many more people have been coming. Pastor Mike answered, "Yes, but not as many as you would think." He told me a few more came, but he didn't get as big an influx as expected. It seems more people are opting instead to see live video over Youtube and livestream, "not so much Second Life."

Boni, one of the parishioners, had a few things of her own to say (also in voice), "The one good thing about this church, they pray for you. They will stop right there and pray for you. ... Prayer is a big thing, it's really important. ... We here, the Bible says pray without ceasing. That's our communication with Him. ... That's the one great thing about this church, outreach ... prayer time after Bible study ...people can submit their prayers.

"I do know one thing, people who can't get out because they're disabled ... for me, it's been great to come to a church that preaches God's word, outreach to people ... at the end of every message, 'You are the church, go be the church.' ... It's helped me in my real life, share on my FB page.

"It's been a great experience here. From the right side of my heart,my own experience. I enjoy coming here. ... There are times I can't come, can listen to a mixer. Three different ways, SL, mixer, and Youtube. On Youtube, a chance to listen to it later. With the busy schedule everyone has, sometimes you have to listen later.

"It's not how full the pews are, but reaching people where they're at. People walk in and out all the time, you never know. ... The mustard seed you plant may get watered by someone else."

Of nonhuman avatars, Boni commented, "I went to this thing one time, Virginia and I went to a place that was all furries," and mentioned they were from a group called Faith-filled Furries, "Some churches will say no furries or ask you to leave for some reason, but not here." She would say the only people asked to leave were ones being disruptive, such as trolls. She went back to the furs, commenting at one prayer one fur asked that someone's mike be turned off, that the group didn't want to use voice.

Virginia, whom was there, had this to say, "I'm so happy I found this church in Second Life.  We're blessed to have this church here.  I was just talking to someone that was here tonight he was so happy he was here.  He's been to a few other churches in SL."

Someone got out a pink hammer that made cute "boink" noise, and they were joking about it being the ban hammer for a couple minutes. Then the people left needed to head out. 

The Grace Baptist Church meets on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 5PM SL time, and on Sundays at both 5AM and 5 PM. They also have a Thursday Zoom Study at 4:30 PM, and a Friday Bible Study at 5 PM SL time. For more information, one can check out their website at http://gracechurch-sl.org , or email them at pastor@gracechurch-sl.us .

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lionheart%20Pumbaa/40/71/29
 
Bixyl Shuftan
 

Return to the God’s House of Prayer Church

By Grease Coakes

Just looking over one of my articles, I remember visiting a church at House of Prayer (180/127/33) that I had a positive experience with here in Second Life. I thought I’d pop in and it looks a lot different than about a year or so ago. However one thing struck me as strange is that they asked me to change out of my furry avatar.

Kevin Jones35 Resident who happened to be on the church’s senior staff asked me to take off my furry avatar. I was baffled at first thinking that Jesus and churches would be the last thing to ask someome to change their appearance. However I didn’t want to anger a church over something silly. When I came on later shortly before the bible study at the beach at 6pm SLT I found a newbie human avatar and took off my AX3 fox avatar.

When Kevin saw me in a human avatar he IMed me this response, "We are trying to be a rl church in sl so that was one of the rules."

After taking some pictures I asked him, "But here's a fair question, wouldn't Jesus love someone equally whether someone was a furry or a human being? Perhaps you wouldn't find a furry in a real life church, but I would think a furry would be accepted within God's house."

He replied, "Yes and if it where me I would not have that rule, but being on staff I try to make sure I inform others of the rule and give them time to change their avatar."

Fair enough something to keep in mind if you wear paws and a tail if you visit this church. Even if Kevin didn’t agree with the rule, he still has to enforce it. At least have the decency to respect that rule. When I looked around the area I was surprised that I didn’t see just 5 or 6 avatars but I saw about 20 or so sitting in the seats.

Around 6pm SLT the Rev. Britt AKA Babailey spoke at the front in voice chat. He announced there would be a men’s meeting soon after. Talking about the cold, he asked people to pray for the homeless and shut in/s that they would be able to fight against the cold. He was very thankful for the church and staff and he liked saying he liked Jesus all the time in the morning and night and to pray for other churches in Second Life. It sounded to me that he wanted to cover all the bases to pray for everything. Lots of people were typing amen in main chat and praising Jesus.

That night the Reverend read bible verses over voice chat. That night he read chapter 5 from John verses 1 through 18. After reading the bible verses, he announced that it was in week 2 of a series called "straight ahead." Each week he announced he would address one of four principals. Last week he asked everyone to see everything from the eyes of God encouraging everyone to think like God. I commented, "You mean to see everyone and everything with love?" Willma PAPAPEDRO Resident happened to agree with my statement.

The preacher spoke over voice chat about how people made excuses about how their lives are miserable. He was stating when people take responsibility for their actions and come to Jesus, their lives would change dramatically. He also said rather dramatically with a southern drawl that someone in the crowd was surrounding himself with excuses and didn’t know how to get back up. I wasn’t sure who he was talking about but it was entertaining nonetheless.

After the bible study at 7pm SLT, I was given a landmark for a men’s meeting. I said what the hey so I ported upstairs. Johann Breguet led the men’s prayer in a different room. It was more open discussion on various bible verses such as “Thessalonians 5:16-24 King James Version.” In fact Johann asked me to read this out loud, “I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.” He talked over voice how you shouldn’t pray or talk to God angry or bitter. To me that made sense. If I had negative thoughts, maybe that’s something I should stop doing. Positive thinking creates positive results.

Johann was saying in voice he’s used to his masculine voice which may sound harsh to women. I had suggested he could pray to Jesus to help with that. I had also said in voice chat that prayer is important,but you should also work towards your goals. You can’t pray all day and expect $10,000 to show up in your lap.

Johann Breguet was nice enough to pray for me so I said sure. I told him I wanted him to pray for me to write more so he wished my writing to be guided by god’s hand. I prayed for him that he was would find the woman that’s right for him that would accept his strong voice.

All in all I had an awesome and inspiring experience at god’s house of prayer church. I recommend going there if you’re feeling down and out. Even though it has an anti furry law if you show up as a human people there might be able to help you with your problems or anything you would like to talk about.

House of Prayer (180/127/33)

Grease Coakes

Editor's Note: Every church the Newser has previously covered didn't have a problem with what avatar you were as long as you could fit through the door. In fact, checking Grease's previous article about the HOP, there was a furry among them as well then.

Grace Baptist Church of Second Life

By Bixyl Shuftan

Where can one go in Second Life to go to church? One such location is the Grace Baptist Church of Second Life. Located in Lionheart Pumbaa, the location is the setting of an active church on the Grid that has several events every week. The church also has members in a Relay for Life team: Crusaders for Christ.

The church makes it's home in the Lionheart Estates, which Becky Shaman described in an article last year, mentioning it at the end. The grounds are made up of two brick buildings, plus a yard between them. The building on the right (facing west) is the main one, where the congregation meets and most of the official events are held. Besides sermons, inspirational Christian videos are also shown in the chapel area. At the front of the building, one can get information about the church, or donate to a Relay kiosk.

Not all meetings are held inside the building. In the yard area is a circle of chairs, which can be used for discussion groups. The left, or Southern, building is a game room with bowling, carnival, and arcade games, with a teleporter to a paintball arena.

I met up with the pastor of the church, Pastor Bryan Sarjeant (leroy.zoon). So what defines a Baptist church from other denominations? "All Baptist Churches are independent churches joined together to support missionaries," Bryan told me, "We also all believe that (people) can only be saved or born again after they reach that age they truly know right from wrong - so no infant baptism."

Grace Baptist Church is less than a year old, established on June 3, 2013. Bryan informed, "In first life I am a Southern Baptist Chaplain and my associate pastor (or co-pastor) has 15 years experience as a Southern Baptist Youth Pastor." The two had met in August 2013.

Bryan is also a Relay for Life team captain, Team Crusaders for Christ, "I found out about Relay for Life through the Tombstone AZ team, "To Tough to Die" last season. I decided to start a church based team this year and we have members from multiple churches on the team. ... The office/HQ is on the other side of this region. ... My home (real life) church actually has its own team so I am on two RFL teams - one in SL and one in real life. I am a retired army and a disabled vet. So while my wife and kids will walk the track in real life, I will be manning the tent."

Grace Baptist Church has worship services on Saturday at 5AM and 5PM, and Sunday at 6:30 AM and 8:00 AM. Other events include a Wednesday service at 5PM and a Friday Night Bible study at 5PM.

Lionheart Pumbaa (39/72/29)

The New Life Church

Second Life reflects real life in a number of ways. Among them, people coming to church here on the Grid. Among them is the New Life Church, led by Sixgin Ares (Pastor Dan) and Lynne Applewhyte.

Sixgin is a pastor in real life, and has been in Second Life for a few years. In 2008 when interviewed by Second Life Newspaper, he was in charge of the Church of the Living God in the COTLG sim.

Lynne had gotten her start in another Grid, the Opensim New World. There, she learned how to build, and eventually owned two sims there. Forming the "New Life Church," others could join up and get a home there if they asked. The group went from a beginning number of five to 380. Trouble was, she found the place rather unstable.

She had first found out about Second Life in 2006, hearing about it on "Good Morning America." Giving it a try, however, "Everything was gray." A few years later, she had a new computer and was willing to give it another try. She began preaching there as well, finding it more stable. She continued to expand her ministries. She still does some work on Opensim, though is no longer expanding there.

Lynne first met up with Sixgin in 2011, him still preaching at his own church. Soon, he began holding services at hers. "He's pretty handy to have around," Lyne told me, then grinned, "So I married him. Actually, we met in real life. We married in December."

New Life Church in Second Life has several events a week. The Saturday service is at 11:45AM with Sixgin. The Sunday services are 11:45AM with Sixgen and 4:45 PM with Lynne. Tuesday has another sermon by Lynne at 4:45 PM. On Thursday at 4PM is a prayer group. On Friday, there is a Bible study group at 5PM.

There are dances at the nearby club every Saturday evening, and a small freebie store close by. There is a movie theater, which can show a total of 11 movies. There's also a 7Seas fishing area.

When asked how many attended services, they answered 14-16 was a frequent number, but it was growing over time. Anyone is welcome to join their church, and those with artistic talents are especially welcome. They sometimes preach at other places and groups in Second Life, such as Sarafina Flow's River of Life Ministries. They also do skits, recordings of some which can be found on youtube. They also have a group in Facebook: New Life Christian Center in Second Life.

Of those coming by their church on the Grid, "We find people come and go fairly quickly." Of the five founding members, "only we and Carpenter are left." They were introduced to Inworldz, but didn't find it as "cost effective" to establish a church as in Second Life, "there was a nice church … but few showed up."

Last Easter, a number of pastors came to New Life Church. Sixgin built a special stage, and the visiting preachers had up to a half an hour each to give a sermon. Their Christmas session had a candlelight service.

Lynne mentioned, "I was ordained a minister in real life. The ceremony was also done in Second Life." She mentioned one of the men from the board that approved her came to Second Life to see the church for himself. He observed things for a couple weeks. The inworld ceremony was about an hour. Sixgin and Lynn also redid their marriage ceremony in Second Life.

They described church services as "Biblical … rather than preach the law, we preach the love of Christ." The chichi is non-denominational, "we have all kinds come here."

Drama is of course not tolerated. So far, there have been no grieving incidents. Sixgen commented, "I feel when we preach the word here and preach in truth … God protects us." They've talked to an occasional troubled soul, once in a while suggesting to the person they go for professional help. Lynn told of a student asking her to pray she did well in college. She told her she would, but told her she still had to study, "We try to give practical advice in addition to praying to God." They brought up the mana from Heaven described in Exodus, reminding although God answered the Hebrews' prayer for food, they still had to go out and gather it, "A lot of people think God's going to do it all for them. … you have to earn it."

Although New Life Church is in a virtual world, Sixgin and Lynn say it's still a real ministry. Their plans for this Easter, during the interview in mid-March they felt they would have a revival. At the time, there was still a little landscaping being done, the current building being a recent one. Their tier was currently being covered by a friend.

Sixgin and Lynn mentioned one tale involving a visiting minister. A writer, he decided to do the pictures in Second Life for one story he was working on, "When he had a scene, he would pull his alt and act out the scene." He later published his story on Kindel. On his website, he included a picture of the New Life Church.

The New Life Church is in the Shelton sim. Porting to (179, 226, 52) will take one just outside the chapel.

Bixyl Shuftan