Virtual Worship- In SecondLife, nobody knows you're a lapsed Catholic

I read an article from Sunday's Chicago Tribune about the use of online churches for worship purposes. It can be found online here.

The lead is what really drew me in to this religion story. "If all goes well, the naked lady won't show up this morning when Pastor Craig Groeschel preaches his Easter service. But several cats will probably drop in. A horned dragon might perch on the crimson seats. There could even, perhaps, be an emu strolling in." When I first read it, I remember being shocked, and obviously intrigued since I kept reading it. Another aspect that I liked about the article was an explanation of the church's online service, and a comparison to other lifelike games on the internet. The reporter even got a comment from a member of the clergy who is an avid gamer to comment about the use of the site. Although the use of online characters (avatars) was explained early in the story, I didn't understand the lead until I was almost done with the article. Also, the benefits and drawbacks to worshiping online were discussed. The reporter also included the number of avatars that visited the church in one day, and compared this to other sites where avatars interact so readers can gage the impact and popularity of these sites. Overall, I thought this was a well-written and interesting article about a topic I had never heard of before.