Church in the Metaverse

I would like to do a short blog series on the topic of the Metaverse and church, ministry and mission that happen in it and are affected by it. Maybe next week.

The Metaverse did not suddenly fall from the sky and land on our foreheads. Online virtual spaces have helped us launch religious environments for the past 20 years in Second Life, Roblox and Habbo as well as digital church experiments like Church of Fools (2004). The hype about Metaverse church is actually quite embarrassing to many Christians who have been participating for many years in this experiment.

I would like to talk about why I started a virtual seminary rather than transcode a church worship service. Suddenly Seminary started in 2004 and has been providing all kinds of creative immersive spiritual experiences of both worship and teaching. Why launch a church service to give a two hour experience once a week when you can create spiritual experiences every day, all week long. This is why virtual monasteries (and seminaries) are a better model to transcode to Metaverse than church worship services.

So what issues of ecclesiology, philosophy, theology are coming up for you? What questions might you have regarding technology and platforms? What wisdom might you provide as the church moves even deeper into the possibilities of Web 3.0?

Leave a comment below and I will try to include your input.