Virtual Worship
I attended my first virtual worship service today. It was an evening prayer service (GMT) in the Anglican Cathedral in Second Life. I am fairly comfortable with online community from my open source experience, but this is a notch above. I had a nice chat with the worship leader after the service. The question of virtual sacraments is, um, a big one. But apparently Lambeth is already addressing the issue through the Ecclesiastical Law Society. So, um, yeah ... we'll see how that goes ...
Here's a screenshot:
3 comments:
I should also share this tip: you are expected to copy and paste the longer prayers from the service sheet rather than typing them out (I actually got gently reprimanded). I would worry that that was cheating, but that would be like worrying about using the proper fork when at McDonald's.
Hi Chad,
Erszhebet Maertens here...glad to see that you enjoyed your first time at the Cathedral. Second Life does take some getting used to and particularly worshipping in this way. 8))
I have to say though, as the worship leader of that service, you were not "gently remprimanded". I made the "suggestion" (I did use that word) of copying and pasting because it is the most practical thing one can do given that the liturgy is provided to you via the notecard. Typing a long prayer or longer responses is not quite the same as typing "Amen"... It was a useful direction, I thought, as we had several latecomers where new to the service and were not likely to read the "Welcome" - I did have in the "Welcome" the following: "Today I will be typing the liturgy which you have received. I will also be saying the liturgy so if you have voice enabled you will be able to hear me. I will leave a pause for you to type your response into the chat line. The best way to do this is to copy and paste into the chat line from the service notecard."
We are all approaching our worship with sincerity and the best intentions and I personally can't see copying and pasting as "cheating"... After all, we prepare the liturgies by copying and pasting from online CofE, Episcopal Church and other leading internet liturgical referencing services 8))
I hope this has not put you off and that you will come again soon 8))
Thanks for the response, Erszhebet. I did blush a little when you singled me out in the service, but you are right that I should have read the "Welcome" message ahead of time, and you were well within bounds to mention this protocol as you did. In general, as a newcomer I found the service very welcoming, and I would encourage anyone to try it out with an open mind. :^)
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