The Saturday discussion group, “Being Christian in SL” continues to be a popular venue for fellowship and conversation at the Cathedral. Recently the topics have ranged from dealing with bias against Christians, the practice of evangelizing in RL and SL, the role of ordained ministry, and the language we use in in discussing/conceptualizing “God.”
It seems that the discussion participants can be broken down into two camps (generalizing broadly). There are those who attend with a desire to share their personal experiences of being Christian, both within and apart from SL. Then there are those who relish the opportunity to explore the wider questions of the use of language in describing our experience of the divine, and wrestling with our theological conceptions of it. In an attempt to accomodate both groups, we will be providing two discussions at the same time. Please come join us in our experiment! You can join in either discussion… or wander between both! There is only one rule we ask participants to follow: show respect for all speakers and their opinions.
The discussion group meets each Saturday at 11 a.m. Second Life Time (SLT). Please join us at the benches to the right of the Cathedral doors in the courtyard. We look forward to seeing you there!
We are pleased to invite you to join the opening reception of the ECVA-SL art exhibition “Spiritual Connections: Experiencing the Holy Spirit in Second Life”
Sunday, June 29th
about 1:15pm PDT/SLT (or after the 12:00pm service at the Cathedral).
Look for the teleport to the exhibit room in the Conference Center once you land on Epiphany Island.
Also, we are looking for a volunteer to help document the show in photos!
IM Trudy Takacs or Gareth Janus
“Hi everyone! I’m Moz Barthelmess – in the real world, I’m Tim Hutchings, a student at Durham University in the UK. Mark posted a notice to you about my research a few weeks ago.
I’m here at the Cathedral as part of my PhD study of online churches, and have spent some time attending services and getting to know some of the regulars here. To get a better understanding of the Cathedral and its visitors, I need to talk to as many of you as possible – so at this stage I’d like to ask for volunteers for interviews.
Absolutely everyone is welcome to take part, whether you visit the Cathedral once a year or once a day. If you’d be interested in helping, send me an IM. Thanks!”
This past sunday Rev Mark preached on Psalm 46 and the importance of being still. Easy words to say, seriously hard to practice. Check out this practical and helpful 8 minute message!
.
.
.
NOTE: this and other messages are available as part of a podcast: click here to subscribe.
The Anglican Cathedral in SL Leadership Team met this past weekend to take a look at all we have accomplished so far, and to make plans for our future.
(more…)
Posted by Mark Brown under
Research Leave a Comment
Recently Madeline Klink (avatar : Lenore Lemmon) completed some research on religion in Second Life and I have invited her to share her findings with us. Madeline writes:
I recently graduated from Reed College in Portland, Oregon with a BA, and my senior thesis was a study of the Campivallensis Catholic Meditation Center in Second Life – a place with which I am sure many of you are familiar. There have not been very many studies of religion in virtual reality yet, and almost none have been completed – so the goal of my project was to explore possible research methods as I tried to understand how virtual religion might someday integrate with offline religious practice.
Like Moz, who wrote a blog post earlier, I began my study by spending time with the denizens of Campivallensis – attending Bible study, interviewing them and others, and holding a couple of group discussions. Then, I reached out to the Catholic church, examining current theology and talking with Catholic theologians to try and understand what the Church’s position on virtual reality might become. Using what I learned, I came up with four aspects of Campivallensis’ practice that might challenge people who are used to an offline paradigm: (1) Great awareness of the physical versus the virtual, and the importance of each; (2) The concept that even if a person has multiple avatars, all those avatars are likely to be equally religious; (3) A focus on individual ideas and interpretations; and (4) The existence of communities grouped solely by interests.
I think that these four aspects probably apply to other SL religious groups’ practices too, especially other Christian groups – so it’s worth thinking about them in the context of Anglican practice on Second Life. Each aspect might pose a challenge to typical offline practices – but a challenge is not necessarily a bad thing.
(more…)
In July of this year we will celebrate one year of offering church services! Given the unique virtual environment we are still thinking through the most effective way to present a service.
You are invited to contribute your thoughts through a special survey that will assist the leadership team in planning church services into the future. To take this short survey CLICK HERE.
Your thoughts are welcome!
This past sunday Revd Mark shared about how he became a Christian. Through this personal account he encourages people to put their hope in God.
To listen click on the play button below. (17 mins in length)
.
The following is an update on the Group Discussions on “Being Christian in SL” that are held every Saturday at 11a.m. SLT. Arundel Dragonash, one of the discussion facilitators, gives us a summary of the discussion held on June 7, and a taste of what happens during these very interesting exchanges!
(more…)
