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Now you can
go to church in 3D online
The Bishop
of London, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, was guest preacher in the UK's first
3D online church service. He appeared as a cartoon double in Church of
Fools, conceived by web magazine shipoffools.com.
The project
was launched at the 20th National Christian Resources Exhibition this
Spring. The Rev Jeremy Clines, 35-year-old chaplain of St John's College,
York, also logged on as a cartoon double and led the service - from 225
miles away! "The visible congregation of 20 cartoon characters can be joined
by up to 500 'lurkers' at any one time, who can move invisibly round the
sanctuary and crypt." said Simon Jenkins, editor of shipoffools.com, "There
are hymns, prayers, a liturgy and the congregation is able to walk, sit,
kneel and whisper to each other about how good the sermon is - like real
church. They'll even be invited to put something in the collection plate -
via mobile phone."
Built by
hi-end digital media company Specialmoves, who create cutting-edge
interactive solutions for the likes of Vivendi Universal and MTV, the
initiative aims to make Christian worship accessible to web surfers who may
never darken the doors of their local church. Lead sponsor is the Methodist
Church. The vicar-turned-novelist GP Taylor, best-selling author of
Shadowmancer, preached in the online church in June.
The idea
came out of shipoffools.com's internet game show, The Ark, during which 12
Bible heroes and villains were successively voted off Noah's famous floating
zoo - Big Brother - style. More sailing' are planned.
"When
Future Church was chosen as the main focus for this year's National
Christian Resources Exhibition we considered it an ideal place to unveil
this pilot project," said Steve Goddard, co-editor of shipoffools.com. "It
picks up the challenge of Archbishop Rowan Williams' 'mission-shaped'
initiative - to create new church expressions for Generation X-Box."
Now
established as one of the most popular religious sites on the web,
shipoffools.com, the self-styled magazine of Christian unrest, attracts more
than two million page requests each month from more than 80,000 people. It
recently concluded a hugely-successful campaign with the Methodist Church
encouraging 20 and 30-year-olds to offer suggestions for an 11th
Commandment.
The online
church has run as a pilot from May to the end of this July. "The full costs
of creating the environment have still to be met," said Simon Jenkins. "So
the project's future depends on finding enthusiastic sponsors. Long term, we
hope to work in partnership with a variety of churches in creating online
environments which offer genuine spirituality to people on the outer edges
of faith."
You can
find the site on
www.churchoffools.com |
