My Ministry in Second Life

“My Ministry in Second Life”

Sermon for the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse

August 29, 2010

By Fred Toerne

On March 5 of this year I was born to Second Life.

In the virtual world known as Second Life,

that is really how they refer to it.

One is born into that virtual world.

A virtual world is like a video game,

with a three dimensional environment

rendered onto a two dimensional computer screen.

Second Life is a free (no charge) virtual environment,

but of course, it’s possible to spend a LOT of money there!

When you enter Second Life for the first time,

you are given an avatar,

an onscreen virtual body

in which you appear to yourself and others.

You choose your name, and your name

and your virtual body will be yours all through your Second Life.

They’re working on ways to let you change your name,

At least in the way it appears on screen,

But so far, you cannot change it.

You can, however change the appearance of your avatar,

And that is one of the first ways you will find

To spend real money

in this virtual world.

You can buy clothes, shoes, hair, skin, eyes, and all sorts of ways

to change the appearance of your avatar.

In fact, you can appear to be almost anything or anyone you want!

The concept of an avatar comes from ancient Vedic religion.

A divine being, usually the god, Vishnu,

Takes on physical form, often human form,

In order to appear in our world

And to help people move toward salvation.

In the movie, Avatar,

the leading characters placed their consciousness into bodies

that appeared like the inhabitants of an alien world.

In the avatar bodies, they could survive in an alien environment

And interact with the other beings whom they found there.

Likewise, in Second Life, each resident of that virtual world

Can take on a form of her or his own choosing

And interact with the environment and the creatures

That he or she will find there.

On our bulletin for today is a picture of my avatar,

Standing to one side of the Church of the Dawntreader,

With ocean and waves as the background

and rocks that resemble those of the Oregon Coast.

My avatar in the picture is wearing a traditional clerical collar,

And that’s what I usually wear to lead worship.

That’s why I’m wearing a clerical collar this morning -

so that I’m dressed like my avatar.

The Church of the Dawntreader is really a beautiful virtual place;

it is there that I lead worship services every Thursday at 10:00a.m.

People from all over the world gather there,

So there is one universal time zone, our own time zone,

Since the company that runs Second Life, Linden Labs,

Is located in San Francisco, California,

And their time zone is the same as ours.

The first time I attended a worship service

at the church of the Dawntreader,

I was somewhat startled

To find a dragon in attendance!

I wasn’t sure what to think, as you can probably imagine.

Maybe I should not have been so surprised…

The church was named for one of the Chronicles of Narnia,

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,

where one of the major characters turns into a dragon.

(You might want to watch movie listings –

the movie version of that book is coming out in December. )

At any rate, the dragon sat respectfully during the service

And participated in the discussion period afterward.

By now, I’ve gotten used to the idea of sharing worship

With all kinds of creatures.

One frequent attendee is a blue, furry fox.

In the case of Second Life –

and in the Furry community in the real world –

the term furry refers to anthropomorphized animals,

also sometimes called “anthros.”

All kinds of creatures are welcome at the Dawntreader church,

And it is a welcoming congregation for LGBTQIA folk,

Much like our own UUCP.

(Wow – that’s quite a serving of alphabet soup, isn’t it?)

As you can probably imagine,

Many of the church and religious groups in Second Life,

Just as in First (or real) Life,

Are not so welcoming of people who are different

in various ways.

Part of the ministry of the Church of the Dawntreader,

And part of my own ministry there,

Is to provide a place and opportunity for refuge

For those who feel or who actually have been excluded

From other spiritual communities –

again, in Second Life and in Real Life.

One example is a church musician

who was asked to stay away

from the church he was serving in Second Life

because he was known to be male,

and yet enjoyed appearing as a female avatar.

It’s sad that discrimination of that sort takes place

Even in a virtual world where almost anything goes

In the name of religion.

But the Dawntreader church is very open and welcoming.

I could not be there otherwise.

In fact, before inviting me to serve as a pastor there,

The founding pastor asked me about the church’s statement

on the subject of homosexuality.

In brief, it says that “pelvic issues”

Are not central to the Gospel,

But Charity might be!

I told him that I agreed wholeheartedly,

And I’ve been leading services there weekly ever since.

The experience is important to me in a number of ways.

In sharing some of them with you,

I hope that we can think together about some of the ways

That virtual worlds can bring people together

And even promote peace in the world.

There are Unitarian churches and fellowships

that meet in Second Life.

I find my need for the depth and breadth of Unitarian spirituality

Is met right here at home, in my real life.

As I’ve said before to many of you,

Nowhere else in my life

Have I been able to experience and express

The full range of my own spirituality

except right here with you.

At the same time,

I have felt a need for an opportunity

to share my own Christian faith more fully,

and the church in Second Life

has given me the opportunity.

I am a Christian agnostic:

That is, I approach my own faith

from a position of not knowing.

I just cannot buy the a priori assumptions of the theist,

Taking the idea of the existence of God

As an assumption before we even begin

to talk about what and how we believe – or don’t believe.

I find the presence of the Divine in each and every one of you,

And that is enough of God for me to see and know.

So I’m very much at home here, and I guess I always will be.

I choose to call the presence of God that I see in you

By the name of Christ,

And so I am a Christian.

I have also sensed the same Divine Presence in many people

From all over the world

Whom I have met only by encountering their avatars

And sharing in conversation with them,

through online chat.

The difference and the beauty of Second Life

As a graphics based chat client

Is the opportunity to meet people in a form they have chosen.

Let’s face it:

The bodies in which we are present together in this beautiful –

And newly beautified – place

Are an imperfect representation

of the minds that are inside those bodies.

With an avatar in a virtual world,

We have the opportunity to appear in a form

That better represents who we really are.

That immersive quality,

Of meeting people as we choose to be,

Is a unique way to come together

As people who could meet each other

in no other way than online.

And Second Life offers an opportunity to meet people

in many different environments,

in parks and cities,

in dance clubs and homes

in churches and temples

even in representations

of outer space and other worlds.

At any given moment in time

There are 40,000 to 70,000 people present in Second Life,

So there are plenty of opportunities to meet people

from many different places and ways of life.

It is a unique way of engaging people for dialogue

and for education.

Our own local universities are deeply involved in Second Life.

Washington State University has two regions in Second Life,

And many of the buildings from the campus in Pullman

Are represented in virtual form

On the virtual campus.

The University of Idaho is even more involved.

They have a virtual representation of the old Admin Building,

The I – Tower, and some of the physical features of the campus.

In fact, just for fun, I want to share with you that my best friend,

Who is in the congregation this morning,

And is a graduate of the University of Idaho,

Has a photograph of his avatar

Standing proudly on the top

Of the virtual representation of the I – Tower.

But best and most important of all,

in the region known as Idahonia,

far above the virtual campus with its trees and hills

is a “Skydome.”

The Skydome is a Skybox, as they are called,

a building that floats in the virtual sky

above the virtual ground of Second Life,

and there they have virtual classrooms

where students from all over the world

can attend real classes with real professors

in real time

and have real interactions

with each other.

They even have a special animation

That allows the students to raise their hands to ask a question.

The professors can tell who has raised their hands

and how long the hands have been raised in each case.

Another way Second Life has been a great opportunity for people

Has been allowing people with different kinds of abilities

To get out into the world

And interact with others

in ways that we could not do otherwise.

As some of you know all too well,

I have a sometimes debilitating condition

known as Meniere’s Disease.

It causes dizziness and a sensation like seasickness,

sometimes even when I’m just walking around inside my home.

At the very least it can make it difficult to get around

and impossible to drive.

Much of the time I can do very well,

Even in the middle of an episode

If I can just stay very still and quiet,

preferably sitting up and doing something interesting.

Needless to say, it’s very difficult to do any kind of ministry

while sitting very still and quiet,

but I CAN do it in Second Life.

It has been a very great opportunity for me

To share my abilities

And to get to know lots of interesting people

at the church in this virtual world.

I am not alone in experiencing this kind of interesting second life

despite the inability to do things that most people take for granted.

There is an organization that works within Second Life

Called Virtual Ability, Inc.

That reaches out to people with different abilities and challenges

Including the inability to see, hear, think or learn

according to common patterns.

There are so many opportunities to explore

Within the virtual world of Second Life

That all I can do at this point is list some of them.

Second Life has a virtual economy worth billions of dollars

in U.S. currency.

Linden Labs, the parent company is a billion dollar company,

And they make their money primarily

From the sale of virtual land,

space on their servers, in effect.

The first person to make a million dollars (U.S.)

In the context of a video game

Made his money on Second Life.

On the land that people buy

They can build homes, offices, parks, woodlands, lakes –

- almost anything one can imagine.

In fact, the creation of content for Second Life

Is entirely the work of the people who play the game,

The residents of Second Life, as we are called.

Much of the content is free or very inexpensive.

One can find avatars, clothing, houses, furnishings, animations,

And many other kinds of content for one’s Second Life

At no charge at all or for only pennies.

Music and other art forms are to be found on Second Life

in abundance.

Live music concerts, where musicians and their audiences gather

In avatar form

In all sorts of venues

are happening constantly.

Dance animations enable people to participate, at least on screen.

There are often 300 or more opportunities to share

In performances of live music

In any given 24 hour period.

Sometimes the music is really very good.

There are hundreds of art museums –

even opportunities to purchase original works of art -

in Second Life.

Governments and businesses have facilities

For meetings and the dissemination of information

In their own buildings and on their own land

In Second Life.

Where so many people are able to gather and communicate

Where so many shared experiences can lead to friendship

World peace can surely be promoted:

At any rate, that is one of my hopes.

I could go on and on,

But I think it’s high time for me to stop.

If you want to learn more, ask me – or better –

Just visit secondlife.com,

with secondlife as a single word.

You can read about it, watch videos about it,

Maybe even get your own avatar and visit to see for yourself.

For now, Second Life is open

only to those 18 years of age or older,

although 16 and 17 year olds will soon be able to join.

If you do come into Second Life, please let me know:

Give me your avatar name, and I will “friend” you.

I’ll be delighted to chat with you and show you around.

Whether you are interested in seeing for yourself or not,

I feel that knowing about the virtual world of Second Life

Is worth the time we have invested this morning.

Blessed be!