S8E2 - Metaverse Church vs Analog Church—with Pastors DJ Soto & Jay Kim

Device & Virtue

Can you strap on VR goggles and go to church in the metaverse? We asked the author Jay Kim of Analog Church and the pastor DJ Soto of Virtual Reality Church to argue all the wrongs and rights.

Finally, an episode where Adam & Chris aren’t the ones doing all the fighting!

To be fair both these guys are pastors so the debate is probably more of mild-mannered discussion, but it covers some important ground about what it means to be the church, and what the future of the church might look like.

VR CHURCH—PASTOR DJ SOTO

DJ Soto, Bishop & Pastor or VR Church

D.J. Soto began preaching in the metaverse in 2016. Originally thinking he would plant physical churches, he soon realized a new vision to plant churches in the metaverse. He is now the Bishop of Virtual Reality Church and MMO Church, which are futuristic church expressions that is intended to be radically inclusive and consistent with Christianity’s long history of adapting to new forms of media.

• About DJ Soto at VR Church
• Wired Magazine interview with DJ Soto (Feb 2018)

Check Out what VR Church building looks like “inside”—YouTube

ANALOG CHURCH—PASTOR JAY KIM

Jay Kim author of Analog Church

Jay Y. Kim serves as lead pastor at WestGate Church in the Silicon Valley—really!—of CA and as teacher-in-residence at Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz, CA. He's the author of Analog Church (IVP, 2020) and Analog Christian (IVP, 2022). Some of his written work has been featured in Christianity Today, The Gospel Coalition, Missio Alliance, Relevant, and other publications.

• Visit Jay Kim’s website
• Outreach Magazine interview with Jay Kim (January 2020)
• Jay Kim is the author of Analog Church: Why We Need Real People, Places, and Things in the Digital Age (InterVarsity Press)

THE QUESTIONS

DJ’S QUESTION(S) FOR JAY

• How do you define church? What would "count" as a church experience.?
• Can a metaverse church fulfill all the functions of a physical church?

JAY’S QUESTION(S) FOR DJ

• What are the most significant limitations of virtual church, as you see it?
• Do you think there are any potential drawbacks or even dangers to the customization and control afforded in VR (e.g. avatars curated to project an aspirational self rather than a more genuine self)?

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