VR Church Bible is one of many evolving spiritual spaces in the other way around. It has seen its size and popularity skyrocket during the pandemic. COVID-19.
Founded in the United States 2016 by means of DJ Sotoa pastor based in FredericksburgVirginia, VR church bible has seen the number of participants steadily increase year after year.
“Some religious people said, “Hey! I want to help and volunteer” and so there was a revelation and I think we started a new type of church“, said DJ Soto.
“We have all the functions of a physical church, or what you define as a physical church and we express it here in the metaverse“.
When they increased the number of shifts per week, DJ Soto said it was like a psychological change.
“We are no different from other churches, both physically and in the metaversehe said, explaining that theynow communicate with hundreds of people in live worship. Our influence certainly runs into the thousands“.
“Making Manuscripts More Meaningful”
Garrett Bernalwho attended the event for the first time and identifies as a member of the Chruch of Latter Day Saints applauded and praised the construction of the church in virtual reality.
“They’ve got 3D artwork, so they’ve got verses installed everywhere, and for that, they’ve installed 3D artwork“, he said.
“I could read the verses, especially these buildings, and I could see a rendering of the verse I was reading, which made the manuscripts much more meaningful to me“.
Mr. Soto believes the future of church attendance lies in the metaverse because “it makes it possible to reach people who are physically unable to attend churchhe stated.
Alina Delp is one of those people. In 2010he was diagnosed with a disease neurovascular who locked her up at her house.
“When you have a chronic illness and can no longer participate in what others are doing, people slowly but surely drift away. So it was just me, my husband and our cats“, she says.
The VR Church has changed all that, she believes.
“Suddenly you have power again. Suddenly we are important again. Suddenly you’re human again‘ she said crying.
“Suddenly you feel like you can do anything in the world, while you were told time and time again that you couldn’t do anything anymore..”
RV better than being in a physical church?
Delp was ordained a priest of VR Church and was one of many baptized there. However, some have questioned the validity of virtual sacraments, such as baptism, performed in the Metaverse.
“Theological reflections are like our bodies and matter, in part because God came in human form and showed great compassion and empathy for humans“, said Paul Raushenbush of Interfaith Youth Core.
“What are the consequences now that we increasingly meet in digital spaces?“.
“Christian theologians have yet to ask themselves what it means when they come together in digital spaceshe added.
But while some question whether a church can actually exist in virtual reality, others feel the experience can be equal to, and sometimes better than, a physical church.
“Many congregations – and this includes all denominations, all religions – think the building matters“, said Jeremy Nickelfounder from Evolvra meditation room in the Metaverse.
“They think the church is the building, or the mosque is the building, or the temple is the building. The church, the temple, the mosque or the synagogue, it’s the people, it’s the things you do together, it’s how you change the world together. And so we don’t have this illusion“.
Soto explains that it’s not about it avataror what they want to look like, but from the real mind-to-mind connection that takes place in the metaverse and its spiritual spaces like VR Church.
“It’s just crazy what we can do now. I can’t imagine what it will look like in eight yearshe stated.
Article translated from English