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.
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.
One of my friends in Second Life recently told me about a “Biblical production” performed onstage, “dance, music, narration ... special effects ... exceptional production.” I had never known this particular friend to express any religious feelings, so my interest was raised, and hopped over. The notecard of the event read, “Unity Production Presents ‘ The Creation Story, ‘ A full length Broadway style performance based on the story of God, as Creator, from the angels perspective.”
The sim was crowded when I got there, so it took a while for the stage, and the actors, to rez. The actors portrayed God and the Devil, Adam and Eve, and various angels. The show was all in dance and gestures, with no words. Once it was over and the audience gave their applause, they changed to their normal looks and chatted with anyone who wanted to talk. Some just had a little fun with gestures, such as **Under the mighty hand of God!!** which squished an avatar flat on the ground.
My friend introduced me to Pet Karu, whom was the head of Unity Productions. Asking Pet where they got the idea for the play, she told me she and her friends were part of a “meditation group,” but it was different than most as listening to music and certain styles of dance were considered one of the ways people could meditate. One day when they were listening to songs, someone brought up theater and they talked about going out to see performances on stage, “lets see how this song looks.”
Eventually, they got the idea to do a play in Second Life, a Christian one. When they called for actors, some soon left, but others stayed. The point was they wanted to get the Christian message, “not just from the pulpit, not just from church, but in a new light.” Many of their items had been donated, from the props on the stage to the pillows in the stands. Pet considered the donations, “an example of God’s grace online” and a reason to keep going.”
Pet mentioned others in Unity, such as Liliana Dinzeo, Sixgin Ayres, and Levi Soulstar, who helped make the group what it is, “It’s been fun.” Of Jewel Lordhunter, “Jewel is new to Second Life, but she felt God’s planing.” Liliana was also somewhat new when she first came across Unity.
Unity was officially formed in July 2010, with the group members getting together around May. Pet stated Unity was also “becoming a real-life entity.” They had already registered the name, with plans to build a company outside virtual reality, looking for actors, “We want to be able to offer a forum ... people who have written books, help them to get published. ... We will be going cross-country ... to encourage, to uplift, to remind of God’s love.” Pet wanted to lift the spirits of, “the downtrodden, the confused, the cancer survivors ...”
“For us, real life and Second Life blend,” Pet told, adding they wanted to appear friendly and approachable to others, “not like the church people they ran away from.” She brought up that Metaverse TV had sent someone to their show earlier, and was happy to have the attention of the press.
Even though the play was on computer screens, Pet reminded the effort put in was hard work, “no one person can do this. It takes the labor of all that you see to bring this together.” They had a few problems in the past, such as having to change roles due to unexpected events. The group had sponsors, as well as a gift ship below the stage for additional funds. The cash is not just for expenses. Unity raises money for charity to the Heifer International group (www.heifer.org). The group feeds the hungry, but in a different manner than many aid groups. Instead of simply giving people food, what they give is livestock, crops, and tools, so they can raise their own food, “better to teach a man to fish than give him one.”
After Unity is finished with “The Creation Story,” Pet explained that they would be doing “Jesus Christ Superstar,” but not how the audience might expect as it would be done, “with a Unity Productions twist.” It will play in spring 2011. They were also planning to do performances in additional venues. They were also invited to perform at one stage, a monthly event with small shows, “It’s amazing what God is doing.”
Pet mentioned the “argue ball,” a ball of emotes people with disagreements sit on and have the option of various gestures such as poke and shove. The purpose of it was to make fighting look silly.
Pet introduced other members of Unity. Ewan Glenelg had once been a pastor of a church in Second Life. He saw the Unity group as a way to both express his faith and use his theatrical background, “It’s been a blessing to help.” He and his wife also run North Bound Marina and Sugar Shore Ballroom.
Guyguy Lemon is also a pastor, “for me it is doing the Lord’s work to bring many to Jesus Christ. (the show) is a vehicle to help people to accept the Lord.” He considered the message of Unity stripped of the dogma and other things that smell like the church audience members try to avoid, “Instead, we’re only after God’s love. No comments about color of skin. What matters is your heart.”
Jewel Lordhunter, “It’s been a blessing living in Second Life. I feel tremendously blessed. People here are very close to me. I’m sincerely blessed to have found a new family. If not for God, I wouldn’t be here. These people are my love and support. We’re available not just to do the show, but to anyone who needs someone to talk to, we’re here for prayer, advice, whatever they like - except free Lindens (chuckle). Second Life has been given to us, not just this virtual world, but a real Second Life. ... Life with the King, we are His family. And for that, we’re spoiled. (grin)”
Pet also mentioned others not present during the discussion, such as Sixgin Ayres, who played Adam, who runs Church of the Living God in Second Life. There were also Lukes LionHeart, Shan Charisma, Miles303 Parkin, and Lycan444 Denfu.
“The Creation Story” performs over North Bound Marina every weekend this January, Fridays at 6 PM, Saturdays at 2 PM, and Sundays at 4 PM. The location is at North Bound Marina at ( 22, 37, 1142). They also have a website at www.unity-productions.org. They are currently raising funds for Heifer International.
"The goal of UP is to portray that Christians are not the intolerant fuddy-duddies or bigots that has been portrayed globally for centuries. We aspire to share the love of God with all who will listen; using various mediums - the arts. traditional bible study, inter-faith discussions. Anyone can open a church, but UP provides us the latitude of presenting our Creator in a fashion that is comfortable and removes the ho-hum from a starched sermon. We try not to pound the Bible into your head, but instead to drive hard the point of the unfailing vastness of God's love to mankind."
