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Posted by David (Member # 1) on :

Virtual Devils Curse Internet Church
By Jason Hopps

LONDON (Reuters) - The world's first Internet church has fallen victim to a plague of virtual demons, some of whom have been logging on as Satan and unleashing strings of expletives during sermons.

Reuters Photo

The "Church of Fools" was launched last week as a unique chance for Christians to worship interactively by choosing a "3D" animated character who could kneel, sing hymns, talk to others, hear a sermon, or shout "Hallelujah."

The site attracts between 5,000 and 10,000 worshippers daily and those who log on can also give money to a collection plate via mobile phone.

But the temptation to misbehave has proved too much for some.

"We have had problems from a small number of worshippers, which happens in any Internet chat room, and we are bothered about individual harassment, which we are taking seriously," said the site's deputy editor, Stephen Goddard.

"We're increasing security day by day to eliminate the disruptive behavior, such as the profanity, but we're determined to carry on...At least we're not preaching to the converted," he added.

The Church, sponsored by the Methodist Church but organized by the multi-denominational "Ship of Fools" project, said it had removed a "shout" function where people could speak to the whole congregation. Some were using it to hurl abuse or yell: "Satan loves you."

Read on...

Posted by David (Member # 1) on :

Has anyone tried this virtual Church?

If so what do you think?

I am curious.....

Thanks,
David

Posted by Bro. Greg (Member # 2943) on :

LOL Yea David I went and checked it out. It is very interesting. Awsome concept! It would be a great place used correctly! I don't think it should take the place of liturally gathering together but for a chat setting it seems to be a great concept. Flash has come a very long way! I would like to investigate deeper into the scripting of the program myself and possibly look into setting up one myself to get out the Gospel. It is ran by the Methodist Church and the only thing that I didn't understand is why they chose the name as, The Church of Fools! That is a little vague but if I be a fool it is for Christ! Other than that, it is an awsome concept!

Posted by David (Member # 1) on :

I agree Bro. Greg this would be a good tool if used in the right manner.

After reading the below from from the Barna Group I believe anyway we can get people to fellowship is a good way. We are to lead people to Jesus Christ, not to a Church building.

- - - - - - - - - -
Number of Unchurched Adults Has Nearly Doubled Since 1991

Did you know that the number of unchurched adults is growing rapidly in this country? This week’s report not only measures that growth but also explores the background of unchurched people and provides insights into connecting with them more effectively.

Read full story...

Posted by Spurgeon (Member # 3401) on :

I think it has potential for evangelizing, especially to a younger crowd. But my experience with their website has been, well, less than I had hoped for. I hope you won't mind if I share my experience there.

It's a Methodist church project and it runs on shockwave. It's touted as a three-month experiment.

Well, I had to upgrade my shockwave player because I could not get in (it said loading application and did nothing; upgrading allowed me to get in). You can visit the sanctuary, the crypt, and look at the church icons which look like graphic cartoons. One called "Christ meets his mother" can be viewed at
http://server2.cof.smhost.net/v8/html/images/3_gollon.jpg

If you look at Icon 2, it appears to be a photo of a statue of Jesus entitled "Blue Christ" -- he's wearing a thorn of crowns and nothing else. I'm not sure that it or Icon 5, entitiled "rise" would go over well in a Baptist church. Icon 6, Howson's "Christos Aneste" looks like its out of a graphic (comic book) novel.

quote:
Images at the six "stations" within the sanctuary are from Presence: Images of Christ for the Third Millennium, an exhibition of contemporary art commissioned in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the charity, BibleLands.

Mark Cazalet, Christ Sentenced, 1999, collection of John and Elizabeth Gibbs, photograph by Mark Cazalet.

Jill Sim, Blue Christ, 1999, photograph by Jill Sim.

Chris Gollon, Stations of the Cross IV: Jesus meets His mother, 2003, photograph courtesy IAP Fine Art.

Albert Herbert, Jesus falls under the cross, 1987, copyright Albert Herbert. England & Co Gallery and Bridgeman Art Library.

Antony Gormley, Rise, 1983-4, photograph courtesy of the artist and Jay Jopling/White Cube (London).

Peter Howson, Christos Aneste, 2004, photograph by Peter Howson.

I still haven't heard a service yet although a sermon text is posted online. It was a decent sermon.

the text box is small and it makes it hard to post long sentences. For example, I wanted to copy and paste from "To God Be The Glory" and virtually sing online; I had to cut the sentences to the verses and chorus in half. No one joined in, although about a half-dozen to a dozen were online with me, the participants seemed more interested in exploiting a bug (there are apparently invisible pews) and proclaiming "I sit on air".

However, I had about a dozen illicit proposals from an avatar named Mary; I thought they had a filter.

I was also asked for ASL (my age/sex/location) and was told, "Spurgeon, you are old." SIGH.... [grumpy old voice]Why in my day,....[/grumpy old voice]

Also, if you want to use the contect menus, you need to right click and hold down the right mouse button. Kneeling is an akward mouse maneuver the first time.

There is a novelty feature to it. I think it has great promise, and if it becomes a place where witnessing can happen, I'm for it. But this is an experiment, after all.

God bless you all.

Posted by Spurgeon (Member # 3401) on :

Sorry, that image link doesn't work now. I'm not sure why.

Posted by Daniel S (Member # 1714) on :

Greg (and the rest of y'all too),

Here's whet they say about the name:

quote:
Why are you called Church of Fools?
Church of Fools is the working title we chose for this three-month experiment in online worship. We chose it because the church is a project of Ship of Fools, the Christian web magazine and online community. We quite like the title, though, because it pokes fun at ourselves and shows that we're not attempting to overthrow "real" church. We're simply curious as to whether online 3D church can be made to work or not.

I'd also note that it is sponsored by the Methodist Church of the United Kingdom (Great Britain), not the United Methodist Church here in the USofA. I'm not a big fan of "Ship of Fools" but this "Church of Fools" might be a good project. I've not been in yet, either. Maybe when I get some time... (yeah, right [Roll Eyes]

)

Posted by David (Member # 1) on :

I do believe this is a good project, but I believe this format is to liberal.

It would be good if used correctly.

I also ask the price to have this set up and it was way out of my league:

$53,000.00 plus hosting costs

Ouch!!!

But maybe someone will be able to handle that price.

Just thinking out loud.....