NEWS RELEASE
What if a city the size of Detroit, MI or Birmingham, AL had never experienced Easter before? What if a major urban centre like Dallas, Texas or Sydney, Australia was about to commemorate Easter for the very first time? Wouldn’t that be a historic occasion?
And that is precisely what is happening for the first time this week on Second Life – churches from different denominations are jointly enacting and remembering the last week of Jesus’ life on earth, in virtual reality.
“Second Life” is an online virtual reality world with a “population” of 5 million. It’s a place where people from all over the world leave behind their “first life” and live out their “second life”, taking on the name, identity and even body (called an “avatar”) of a virtual reality dweller. Its growth in the past year has been astronomical, partly due to global media exposure.
This year, Second Life’s citizens will be celebrating Easter together for the first time.
Throughout this week, churches and ministry centres in Second Life are holding events and open houses to share and discuss the events of Jesus’ last week in Jerusalem. This will culminate on Good Friday, 6th April, when key events of that week will be enacted in virtual reality:
You will be there with the children and young people to greet Jesus with palms and shouts of “Hosanna to the Son of David!” as He enters Jerusalem;
- You will watch Jesus angrily turning over the tables of the moneychangers in the temple as He explains what the House of God is really for;
- You will witness the empty tomb and the resurrection of Jesus and His appearances to the disciples on Easter.
Events continue through this week, and the Good Friday tour starts at 10 a.m. Second Life Time (SLT, 10 a.m. Pacific; 1 p.m. Eastern Time), and again at 2 p.m. SLT (5 p.m. Eastern), with a lunch reception at noon SLT (3 p.m. Eastern) and wrapping up at 6 SLT.
If you aren’t already among the 5 million residents of Second Life, to be a part of this event you will need to join Second Life (there is no fee, but you will need to choose a name and body first!) at www.secondlife.com.