How the faithful worship changed dramatically during the pandemic with many turning to online services as churches closed in-person services for safety. Now some are practicing their religion in a whole new way.
D.J. Soto is a bishop who founded Virtual Reality Church in 2016. “It’s spirit-to-spirit interaction. We remember each other from the week before, we know each other’s voices. We start to recognize each other’s avatar,” Soto said.
“So it just really is an enhancement for so many people, particularly those that can’t attend a physical church.” Membership in his VR Church increased dramatically during the COVID shutdown. Worshippers attend using virtual reality headsets and create an avatar. Everything from scripture readings to baptisms can take place in the metaverse.
VR Church participants say it enhances their religious experience. “I was able to see a rendering of the verse I was reading, which made scripture much more meaningful for me,” Garret Bernal said. “Other people who identified with faith said hey I want to help out and volunteer and so there was like this epiphany where we were like, oh wait a minute we have this, I think we just planted a church, we started a church,” said Soto.
“We have all the functions of, of how you would think a physical church, or how you would define a physical church, we’re expressing that here in the metaverse”. When they increased services to every week, DJ Soto said it felt like a psychological shift.
“We are no different than any other church, whether it’s physical or if it’s in the metaverse,” he said, explaining that they now “interact with hundreds of people in live worship. Our influence is certainly into the thousands”.First-time attendee Garret Bernal, who identifies as a member of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, applauded and praised the build of the virtual reality church.
