Saturday Discussion
February 21, 2009

[2009/02/21 12:32]  Arundel Dragonash: This discussion is going to be fun to summarize!

In the interest of staying current with the summaries, I am skipping a few of the unreported weeks.  Last week, our discussion took one of its more erratic paths, and I knew that discussion would be fun to present to you!  Remember that these topics are discussed openly, with questions that are generated out of curiosity, and answers that are given that show respect to all present.  We are none of us experts in all — or even any– of these topics, but all of us are valuable to the discussion!

The introduced topic this week was the BBC program “Around the world in 80 Religions.”  From this beginning, the discussion proceeded through …

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As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Leadership Team is undertaking a survey of the members of the Anglicans in SL Community to assess how well we are serving your needs, and to gather your thoughts, ideas and visions for the future of the Anglican Cathedral and Epiphany Island.

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Hello all!  I hope you are all doing well, and I wish you a blessed Lent!

Time for me to get caught up on some things here.  I apologize for the recent lack of updates from the AiSL Leadership Team on this blog.  Sometimes I guess I just get so caught up in our work that I forget to stop and share it with the rest of you.  But no more excuses, and on with the updates!
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Cady Enoch is chair of the Leadership Team for the Anglican Cath in SL.  And a fine job she does at that!  Cady has just launched a blog, ‘Cady muses about Second Life‘ and has also just made a presentation to God’s Web Workshop, organized by the Diocese of Southern Ohio.  Her presentation included the workshoppers participating in a pre-recorded SL service!  To read Cady’s thoughts on this and the workshop head over to her blog by clicking here.  Great read!

We had a wonderful, large group of people attending the noon service in the Cathedral today. Several were there for the first time or second time and after the service we had a chance to get to know one another a little. Some who had come new last week, came again this week. It’s always so pleasant to begin to make new friends this way. If you have never attended a service in the Cathedral, I do hope you will find a time to do so soon.

I preached on the gospel passage, Mark 9:2-9, which is the story of the transfiguration. The New Testament reading was 2 Corinthians 4:3-6 and the Psalm was Psalm 50:1-6. I took as my theme ‘Seeing the glory of God’. The text of the sermon is given here.

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A recent opinion piece on Episcopal Life Online stated:

I believe the internet to be a remarkable tool and resource as well as a fine supplement for spiritual growth. It is wonderful taken with the real food of church attendance, just as we take vitamin supplements with real food. We shouldn’t “eat” vitamins in place of food.

In response Cady Enoch, Chair of the Anglican Cath. leadership team writes:

As one of the leaders of the Anglican Church in Second Life, I read with interest the opinion piece “Not by Internet Alone.” I don’t wish to discount Ms. Mann’s experiences, but I would like to present another side of this issue.

This article seems to be based on a misunderstanding of the basic premise of online worship. Our intention has never been to replace the “face-to-face” worship experience with the virtual. According to a recent survey that was conducted among our community members, over 80% of us are also actively engaged with our local faith communities. We enjoy, and are nurtured by, the opportunity to engage in worship and fellowship with other Christians, many of whom we would never have the opportunity to meet in person, as our membership literally spans the globe. As for the members of our community who are not members of a local church, many simply do not have access to one, often due to cultural or geographical constraints, or health issues that prevent them from having the opportunity to worship with others in the “real world.” (more…)

Rev Mark Brown writes:

Today marked a special day for me: I started a new service within the Anglican Cathedral of Second Life and to my surprise my dad showed up!  It is the first time I have preached with my dad present and it was made possible thanks to the virtual setting.  Though we live in different countries we were able to share the church experience.

The service happens within a virtual building (Cathedral) within Second Life.  Wherever you are, assuming you have a good computer and connection, you can attend church.  The service liturgy and Bible readings are typed and read out and my sermon (see below) is preached live.  This is an interesting experience, I literally preach to a computer monitor; though actually I am speaking to people from around the world. And it is this unusual dichotomy that dominates the virtual experience: being both present but actually not being present.  So in the image above I used the word ‘within’, was I actually within the virtual Cathedral?  Well yes, but also I was standing in my kitchen at home before a monitor.  I was both present and not present, depending on how you define being present.  And it is in this definition that most debate exists.  Are you really present when you are not physically in the same space?  Can one be virtually present?  I would argue we are seeing a shift from where being present is only a physical experience to one that will include electronically generated presence.  It will become more the norm that community is possible without ever actually meeting.  The ascendancy of facebook, the expectation of convenience, the ubiquity of mobile technology all point towards a growth in the acceptance of non-physical community.

This will place pressure on our theology of incarnation, of community, of the Eucharist as we the church wrestle with this dramatic shift.  Whatever you may think (and I welcome your comments!) it was simply wonderful to lead a service that included my own father.

To check out my sermon from the service, entitled ‘What is the point of going to church?’ click the play button below (11 minutes in length).
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Rev Mark/Arkin shares:

So there I was early this morning in the office getting on with my day like a good CEO; I happen to wonder out towards the office elevator just as this guy exits and walks towards me smiling. I am about to ask who he is looking for when he holds out his hand an introduces himself as one of the members of the members of  the Anglican Cathedral of Second Life!  What is stunning is that even though I have been his pastor for the past year we have never met.  In fact I had no idea what he looked like! (That is me on the left.)

The Anglican Cathedral of Second Life is church online. Its aim is to be church wherever you are, whatever your circumstance.  You would think that the fact that we don’t meet in person would be an issue, but it works. (Oh yes)  We pray for each other, we care for each other, we grow together in community.  And we participate in church services together.  Over the past 18 months it has grown to five services, a Bible study and a discussion group.

And today I announce a new service which I will lead: It will start on Sunday the 15th of February at 3pm (Wellington, NZ time); which is 6pm Sat in Los Angeles and Sat 9pm in New York. To see what time it is where you live click here.

And you are invited to come and experience virtual church.

It will be an Anglican style service and I will be preaching using voice (as opposed to just text).

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If you are signed up to Second Life:  to get to the Cathedral click here.

If you need to sign up to Second Life: check out my blog post by clicking here.

For more background info see: Christian Mission to a Virtual World.

Or for a more general overview click here.

God bless!

Rev Mark Brown

One of our regulars brought a dilema to our discussion this week: his friend was participating in the dark world of vampire role play.

Dilema? What is problematic about role play?

One of the group compared it to “an elaborate game of tag.”

Who does Role Play hurt? Anyone?

Does some Role Play encourage participants to turn away from God?

Is it fair to compare belief groups like the approximately 200 Christian Groups in SL, to Role Play groups that number in the thousands in SL?

Are role play groups best described as a form of theater, and represent apples to the oranges of religious identity?

As is so often the case, we got ourselves around to the nature of the avatar, and the undeniable connection between the avatar and the person at the keyboard. Given that connection, can an action of one’s avatar (a “cartoon”) be categorized as “sin”?

To conclude, we spent time considering various ways “to offset the evangelism efforts of some of the darker activities and organizations here in SL.”

As you can see our discussions usually ask more questions than they pronounce answers. Each week is unique, as the questions swirl around and through our Second Lives, making connections between us as Christians and friends.

We look forward to you joining in!

God’s peace,

Anne Arundel (Arundel Dragonash)