A religion-based virtual reality program has gained users as the COVID pandemic continues to force some into isolation.
VR Church, a program created in 2016, allows Christian churchgoers to attend online services. Using VR headsets, users can listen to passages and immerse themselves into simulations of the verses being read.
On online cliffs and pastures, attendees can experience firsthand the Bible stories the pastor tells. The churchgoers can also read the audio they’re listening to on 3D graphics, arrange a baptism and interact with each other.
With the pandemic still keeping people at home, membership at VR Church has grown massively.
“We interact with hundreds of people in live worship,” said creator Bishop DJ Soto in conversation with EuroNews. “Our influence is certainly into the thousands.”
Soto got the idea for VR Church after using AltSpaceVR, an online area for people to connect with each other. After seeing how people from all around the world were able to build a community, he decided to merge his interests, VR and church, together.
According to Reverend Jeremy Nickel, a self-proclaimed “VR evangelist” and creator of his own virtual church, SacredVR, this family environment that online services create is what makes this technological shift so special.
“One of the reasons we’ve become so popular is you get the meditation that you need, but you get the community also,” said Reverend Nickel in conversation with ABC. “We have deep relationships, hundreds of people from around the world who know each other and wonder, ‘Is your dog, OK? How’s your wife?'”
In addition to the sense of community, users of VR churches say they feel that they experience a greater attachment to religion through online services. Garret Bernal was forced to use VR Church for the first time while staying isolated after being in contact with someone who had COVID-19. As he walked alongside avatars of people from all over the world in the reenactments and read the scripts, he told ABC he felt more of a “connection to God” than he did in in-person services.
For Alina Delp, who has been forced to stay home for 12 years after being diagnosed with a neurovascular disease, it was not just the remote aspect that appealed to her, but the understanding in the community. Helped in part by the option to remain anonymous by the platform, many users have turned to VR Church to speak to others about personal matters. According to Delp, every attendee has been received with sympathy because of the program’s emphasis on love.
As VR’s popularity continues to grow, VR church’s popularity continues to grow alongside it. According to Soto, he expects that, in the decade to come, the VR world will take on a bigger role.
“I don’t think the physical gatherings should go away,” said Soto to ABC. “But in the church of 2030, the main focus is going to be your metaverse campus.”
