The pastor's a wizard, and some worshippers look like cats: This is church in virtual reality
CBC
Pastor Bill Willenbrock starts his church service like many others: with an introduction and a prayer. But take a look around, and things might seem a little unusual.
He hosts his services in Night Church, a map that lives in the virtual reality program VR Chat, which anyone can also download for free.
Willenbrock himself is styled as a buff wizard. Text with his digital alter-ego name, PastorBrock, floats slightly above his head.
"I kind of consider myself a virtual evangelist or missionary," he told Tapestry's Arman Aghbali.
"It was just very fascinating to see what kind of conversations people would have in this VR platform."
When the COVID-19 pandemic turned indoor gatherings into possible superspreader events, many people who are part of religious communities had to rethink their relationships with their churches.
Some churches have held masses outdoors, in car parks or via online chat. But a few patrons have had surprising success by breaking bread in virtual reality.
Willenbrock, who is based in Whitehall, Mich., used to work as a minister at a Lutheran church there, to a mostly older congregation.
Now, he spends most Sunday afternoons at Night Church, speaking in front of a crowd of about 40 people sitting in the pews of a medieval-styled church. In real life, all of the attendees are at home or otherwise apart. But with the help of VR headsets and the internet, they've gathered in this shared space.
Some of them are represented by digital avatars that look like relatively realistic humans. Others have chosen to take the form of anthropomorphic cats or other animals. One person came as a hovercraft.
Willenbrock started venturing into VR chat spaces nearly every week about a year before the pandemic started — just hanging out and talking to others who logged in.
Since then, he left his church, converted to the Eastern Orthodox church and currently works as a hospital chaplain when he's not leading Night Church sessions online.
Liam Kelly, a university student from Brandon, Man., describes virtual reality chat rooms as an in-between place between reality and make-believe. Yes, some people use avatars of cartoon characters, and many will say or act out childish things.
But once they start coming to a regular hangout spot such as Willenbrock's church a few times, deeper connections start to form.