Along the Silk Road in Second Life

A loss that can be repaired by money is not of such very great importance.

The Arabian Nights: Tales from a Thousand and One Nights

 

          Recently, my good friend in Second Life (SL), Perryn Peterson, reached out to me and invited me over to see the preparations for Silk Road Hunt 5 which kicks off on June 1^st. 

          Being once again taken unawares by the passage of time (Significant Other claims that I’m getting old.), I quickly accepted his invitation and scheduled a meeting.  As an additional lure, Perry promised me a sneak peek at his Halloween project.  (Yes, I know that Halloween is several months away and it’s still spring!)

          The Silk Road Hunt is inspired by the legendary Real Life (RL) trade route between China and the West in times long past. Given how SL is a collection of cultures and peoples from all times and place, both real and imagined, the Silk Road Hunt is an imaginative way to set people exploring across the Grid in search of all these.  The participation of over one hundred merchants harkens back to the original mercantile roots. 

          Inworld, the Silk Road Hunt begins at the Asian Victorian Garden in Mieville.   (Before going into the pavilion and starting the Hunt, take some time to stroll the beautiful gardens created by Mike Olbracht, Mieville’s floral wunderkind.  He has outdone himself this time!)

          Once inside the pavilion, hunters can begin their tales of adventure and attempt to acquire as much loot (gifts) as they can from the participating merchants. 

          This year’s theme for the Hunt is “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.”  Which I happen to think is a very fitting one! (Just a small hint, make sure you read this story again before you start the Hunt.  That’s all I’m saying.) 

          In addition to the main hunt, various merchants are having mini-hunts.  While visiting with Perryn, he shows me around the one being arranged by the merchants of Mountain Rose.  The gifts are phenomenal!  Let’s just say that anyone who succeeds here will be able to set up their own small village and clothe everyone.

          The Mountain Rose mini-hunt starting point can be found here.  Tell ‘em web sent you!

          Perryn has been quite busy since we last met to discuss his Lord of the Rings event.  As I mentioned earlier, he’s also planning ahead for Halloween.  I got a chance to see the Pumpkin Patch and where the Witches’ Woods will be.  Perryn promises the creepiest, crawliest, well, you get the picture.  Watch my blog for more details on this upcoming event!

          A little closer, time wise, the sixth anniversary of the establishment of Mieville will be celebrated in July.  Perryn’s already working on those events which will include a charity yard sale.  I plan on several stories around this including one where my Research Assistant, Tera Trenchcoat, and I go exploring by boat around the twelve sims of Mieville.  (Don’t worry, Tera’s an established sailor and can read a compass which is more than can be said for me.  Significant Other wishes her luck.  I’m not sure why.)

          So, remember!  Silk Road Hunt 5 starts on June 1^st and runs through June 30^th.  Start early and try to go all the way through!  Maybe you’ll run into me!  (Please don’t use that as an excuse to stay away or Perryn will never ask me back.)

          But, most importantly, have fun and appreciate the diverse worlds of SL and all the hard of those who make it all possible for the rest of us!

          I’d like to thank Perryn for taking the time to meet with me and giving me the tour.  Perryn’s a wonderful person who represents all that is right with SL and the communities that make it up.  (And, no, I’m not biased because he laughs at my jokes.)

          Below, I’ve included links to a few pictures of my host, Hunt sites, and a few of the gift.  These are only meant to whet your appetite, go and see for yourselves!  I promise that you won’t be disappointed.

As always, I’m grateful to all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was passing through their lives.   

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I welcome feedback from readers, please either comment on my blog or e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com . 

          If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.

 

Photo No. 1 Perryn Peterson

Photo No. 2 Entrance to Starting Point

Photo No. 3 Silk Road Hunt 5 Poster

Photo No. 4 The Starting Point

Photo No. 5 Mountain Rose Mini-Hunt Starting Point

Photo No. 6 Aladdin’s Lamp!

Photo No. 7 Mountain Rose Mini-Hunt Arrival Area

Photo No. 8 Mountain Rose Gift I

Photo No. 9 Mountain Rose Gift II

Photo No. 10 Mountain Rose Gift III

 

Can Real Life Learn from Second Life?

 The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called "truth."

Dan Rather

 

Lately, I’ve been looking at the point in time and space where Second Life (SL) and Real Life (RL) intersect.  (Significant Other accuses me of becoming too existential and worries when I refer to SL before RL.)

My last foray into this subject was when I blogged about RL religion crossing over inworld. 

This time, I’ll be writing about education in RL being facilitated by SL.

For my two loyal readers (and Significant Other), who may fear that I’m about to once again test the boundaries of my senses.  Be not afraid for I had help with this topic.

I decided to write about SL’s educational potential after several discussions with a good friend of mine inworld.  Her name is Augusta Carolina Maria von Nassau or Augusta to her friends.  (Attempts to develop a diminutive for her have been met with withering looks which have kept me in my place.)  We met in the 1920’s Berlin sim in SL and became fast friends despite what Augusta sees as my Marxist deviancies.  (Significant Other, always trying to ascertain the motives of inworld friends for hanging around with me, feels Augusta uses me as an example of her charity work, looking after someone who obviously shouldn’t be roaming around untended in RL.)

In between our political jabbing, I have come to know a lot about Augusta and her motivations for coming and staying inworld.  Today, I’ll share some of her thinking about the role of virtual worlds like SL in education as well as a little about herself.

But, I have some other reasons for talking about virtual education.   A lot has been happening in RL lately relating to virtual reality (VR).  There’s the virtual headset, Oculus Rift and its recent acquisition by Facebook.  Something has to happen there.  (Either that or Mark Zuckerberg will be looking for a new job!)  SL Go, while I have reservations, shows that someone is still willing to make investments in SL.  Finally, we still have to see what happens with Ebbe Altberg, Linden Lab’s new CEO. 

IMHO, the promise of virtual reality still has to be delivered.  Novels such as Snowcrash and Reamde by Neal Stephenson gave glimpses of what the Metaverse could be.  VR 1.0 was comprised of SL, there.com, Inworldz, and World of Warcraft to name but a few.  Could we see VR 2.0 arising from its predecessor’s ashes with these new investments in hardware and software.  Will SL return to the cover of Businessweek?

So, for all these reasons, now seems to be a good time to talk about SL and its potential for RL education purposes.

Back to my friend Augusta.

In RL, she’s been teaching high school world history for fifteen years.  She also does one twelfth grade course in Twentieth Century history.

Augusta came to SL in a somewhat interesting manner.  (OK, at least it was interesting to me.)  Required to maintain a steady stream of professional development, she was participating in a consortium of courses run by NorthTIER.  Three summers ago, her RL son-in-law encouraged her to try one on either gaming or role play (RP). One of the courses was conducted in SL.  She took it and was hooked.

The assignment Augusta undertook was to write a lesson based on SL that she could use in teaching.  She used the sadly now defunct Versailles sim as her entre inworld.

Augusta was impressed by the high level of realism in the RP.  In December of that year, she was laid up by surgery for five months in RL.  She used that time to immerse herself in SL.  Augusta tried a few sims and ended up, as she puts it, in Jo Yardley’s 1920’s Berlin.  For Augusta, Berlin was a real community with flexibility in the characters that could be created. 

 Inworld, Augusta’s avatar is based on a RL woman, Augusta Carolina Maria von Nassau-Weilburg, a cousin of the first Dutch Nassau ruler.  (One thing I’ve learned about Augusta, she doesn’t cut corners on her research.)  Upon arriving in Berlin, she listened a lot as her character developed initially. 

Her avatar is a noblewoman of diminished means, yet still proud and aristocratic.  (Even when hanging around with proletarians such as yours truly.) 

While conducting her research, Augusta found that it wasn't uncommon for women of many levels of Weimar society to come to Berlin for demographic reasons -- lack of men after WWI.  (For those who aren’t as well read as Augusta, lots of us guys got killed back then especially in the losing countries.)

Augusta felt she needed to really justify why her character was inworld and found that under the Weimar government, many landed noble families lost much of their land, were fined, and had no more legal advantages.  Although the people who lived in estates still saw the nobility as having a legitimate function when the Weimar government started faltering.  They were effectively impoverished too -- they had nice things, but no liquid assets to speak of.  Young women of Augusta's generation (like her own RL grandmothers) wanted a different life and didn't want their parents to arrange their marriages and all that. 

From this arose the woman whom I know inworld as Augusta Carolina Maria von Nassau.  Few inworld, especially outside of 1920’s Berlin have put as much thought and work into their avatars.  (I can only imagine what her RL lesson plans are like.)

While I conduct my interview, Augusta and I are sitting outdoors at the Café Elektric in 1920’s Berlin.  I ask her about what RL lessons can be learned from SL.

She replies that as a history teacher, she have more depth when teaching the Weimar era.  Her students know about the Nazis and the Holocaust, but their knowledge tends to jump from WWI to WWII without considering what happened in between.

My next question is if she sees inworld as a laboratory?

Augusta replies emphatically in the affirmative adding there are people who are making it happen. She mentions Spiff Whitfield who has a sim that he uses in New York state that is a rebuild of Anne Frank's house in Amsterdam and he is also working on one that is set in the medieval era.

Continuing, Augusta says that she has seen wonderful sims here that are based on literature -- many are in Linden Endowment for the Arts (LEA) areas.

 Regarding Spiff's site, for example, Augusta explains it has tasks the students have to run through -- it's very multidisciplinary and a great way to really get into the Holocaust and support the book at the same time.

 But, there are issues with trying to use virtual worlds in RL education as Augusta explains to me.  First, she won’t take teenagers in.  Perfectly understood and I agree with her.  Next, administrations are leery of new technology.  Then there are overburdened colleagues without the time for SL’s steep learning curve.  Finally, SL’s reputation doesn’t help.  (Augusta’s son-in-law was floored upon discovering how much time she spent inworld when he tried to recruit her into World of Warcraft.)

As our interview draws to a close (Both our RLs are calling for us.) I ask Augusta about her future with SL and in experimenting with its educational potential.

Augusta thinks for a moment before replying.  She then says that she would like to spend more time in 1920’s Berlin.  Augusta would like to be more involved with the education groups inworld and their events.  She recently gave a tour of Berlin to one such group and enjoyed it immensely. 

In RL, Augusta wants to participate more actively with societies for technology in education at the state and international levels. She hopes to submit an article to a RL journal on how to use SL to enhance content in teaching.  Augusta’s goal is to become a force for bringing the kind of experimental education offered by SL forward. 

Finally, Augusta will return to blogging!  Her intention is to alternate between her own fictional accounts of life in 1920’s Berlin with educational reflective pieces.  She’s recently added Twitter to her toolset to help expand her reach.

Our interview ends and I thank Augusta for her time and candor.

Coming away, I can’t help but think about this woman and all she does.  While Augusta never complains when we meet about being a teacher, I know that sadly in my country we do not respect or reward teachers as we should.

Yet, despite that, teachers like Augusta continue to educate our young people and strive to find new ways like using SL to do this.  We don’t deserve women and men like her. 

I would ask you to please read Augusta’s blog and follow her on Twitter.  Her handle is @Augusta_vN .  Not for her sake but for yours.  She has a lot to say.

I also think about how thin the fabric between SL and RL is becoming and how maybe someday, there won’t be a distinction any longer.

I want to thank Augusta again for her friendship and for putting up with me during our interview. 

I’ve included a few pictures of Augusta from her personal portfolio.  Except for the picture of us doing the interview, all the rest have been done by photographers more talented than me!

Don’t forget to drop by 1920’s Berlin and visit with Augusta and the others!  (They throw some great parties in that town!  Not that Augusta would know anything about these.)  Just remember to wear period costume please!

As always, I’m grateful to all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was passing through their lives.   

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I welcome feedback from readers, please either comment on my blog or e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com . 

          If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.

 

Photo No. 1 Augusta and web at Café Elektric during the interview

Photo No. 2 Augusta’s official 1920’s Berlin Portrait

Photo No. 3 Augusta attending a book club meeting

 

Three Years in Second Life

 Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.

Buddha

 

          It’s that time of the year again. 

          The anniversary of when I started blogging about my travels across Second Life (SL), the people whom I’ve met, and the experiences I’ve had.  Each year, this time seems to come upon me more quickly than the last time.  (Significant Other says to wait until I’m really old then see how fast time flies.)  This is the third such anniversary.

          My tradition has been to stop and to write about the past year.  This helps me to think about where I’ve been and what may come.  I also question myself about why I continue blogging. 

          So, as I did last year and the year before that, I’m taking a trip down memory lane here. 

          Therefore, be warned, dear readers!  (All two of you!) 

          I find myself still feeling curious when I log into SL.  The original sense of what may happen next is still there.  What I say next may sound odd, (Significant Other arches an eyebrow here.) but I feel like I’m coming home. 

          Now, don’t get me wrong.  I believe I maintain a very good balance between SL and Real Life.  Significant Other sees to that.  Like an ancient Roman general returning to his triumph, I have Significant Other standing next to me, whispering in my ear that not only am I mortal but real.  (And, if I want to keep being both, I’d better keep both feet on the ground.  Motivation is one of Significant Other’s strong points.)  But, Significant Other supports my excursions, if for no other reason than I’m home every night as opposed to some RL adventures which used to keep me away. 

          (Also, please do not draw any inferences from my use of the analogy of a Roman general and a slave in an ancient Triumph.  Significant Other is a fierce proponent of equal relationships.  The operative word here is “fierce”.)

          Likewise, I find inworld a sense of loss when friends disappear and sims go away.  Especially, when there is no warning.  It’s impossible not to care about the people I meet in SL.  As in RL, time spent talking, arguing, exploring, and whatever else we get up to create bonds. 

          To start, what’s been happening with SL in the last year?

          Ebbe Altberg became the Grand Poobah of Linden Lab (LL).  SL GO, the new tool that was going to make us all mobile in RL when we wanted to be inworld was announced with much fanfare and seems to have disappeared of late near as I can tell.  Oculus Rift, the great hope of those who, like me, are awaiting the expected resurgence of Virtual Reality (VR) came on the scene and was snapped up the Evil Empire, Facebook.

          The common theme behind these three events, any one of which could be a game changer, is that all raised hopes and generated buzz but nothing really has changed much yet.  Maybe SL’s organizational inertia is too great to permit anyone or anything to achieve an escape velocity.

          What have been my big accomplishments for the past twelve months?

          Well, first, I finally had my Big Makeover!    

          Thanks to Starla Farella, her skills and her magic, I’ve been reborn inworld.  (Significant Other was really impressed.)  I no longer look like a noob.  At least, I think so.  (This is where I’d really appreciate both my readers to say in public what they said in private.) 

          Then there were the new worlds that I visited in SL. 

          I went to Gor for the first time.  I’m still trying to get my head around that lifestyle.   No judgments here, but this is definitely a world that can only be virtual.  I visited the Regency Era and still marvel at how another age can be recreated inworld.  Then there was Da Vinci Gardens where ideas that are insanely great are literally given wing.

          The border between RL and SL was touched.  (This one worries Significant Other.)  I worked with the Relay for Life team as they worked to raise money for cancer research.  I helped a British television production company look for RL couples whose relationship began inworld.  Then, I met a group of RL people who practice their religion in both worlds. 

New friends have been made and I value you most of all. 

          Tera Trenchcoat accepted the job as my Research Assistant (RA).  I’m grateful for her patience, insight, and being willing to work for nothing.  (I think this finally sunk in the other evening.  Significant Other is still convinced that Tera’s using me as the subject for her RL graduate dissertation in abnormal psych.) 

          Finally, I’ve begun to use social media more and am seeing more folks dropping by to read my blog.  (Either that or the Original Two readers are doing a great job of looking like a crowd.) 

          Many other things happened along the way this past year.  I’ve tried to capture some of the highlights here.  All whom I’ve met and all the places I’ve visited are important to me as they influence me and influence the person I am inworld. 

          The past year has seen loss inworld.  Friends haven’t come back.  I wish them well wherever their paths take them in RL and SL.

          Great sims like Utopia Naked Isle Resort and Ancient Alexandria are no longer with us.  (I’m still trying to lay a guilt trip on the owners of the former, wish me luck!)

          Do I have any disappointments with myself?

          Yes, I do.  (I’m not including Significant Other’s comments here.)

          My writing tends to wander like I do.  I feel I have too many unfinished projects.  But, I’m an itinerant blogger, right?  Maybe I should cut myself some slack with this one.

          I still haven’t interviewed Bunky Snowbear.  The man who tried to walk across the Grid before stopping out of boredom and for a career in inworld movies.  Bunky’s the reason I started my own journey and began blogging. 

          My writing’s not as edgy as I’d hoped.  I’ll work on this. I don’t think people read me for my jokes.

          Finally, I don’t post nearly as often as I’d like too.  It’s not for lack of good material.  There’re stories aplenty inworld.  But, I’ll cop out and say I have to manage RL.  (Significant Other has asked that I point out that this one is all on me which is true.)

          What’s the future hold?

          Plenty!

          I’m an optimist.  I believe in the future of virtual worlds like SL.  Some of the recent events in RL hint at its promise.  There are even rumors of the return of the Lindens! 

          The people and places in SL are something to behold and I encourage all to come inworld and to see for themselves.

          To wrap it up, I’ll still keep blogging!

          Let’s see where we all are this time next year!

          See you around the Grid!

As always, I’m grateful to all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was passing through their lives.   

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I welcome feedback from readers, please either comment on my blog or e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com . 

          If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.

 

Does God Exist in Second Life?

 God will not look you over for medals, degrees or diplomas but for scars.

Elbert Hubbard

 

          Let me begin with apologies to Hans Kung for the liberties I took with the title to this post. 

          And, no, I’m not going to get metaphysical with you with this post. Believers know that God is everywhere even in virtual worlds.  (Think about that next time you’re having one of your escapades inworld.)  Non-believers just shrug and go about their business.  (Not having to be self-conscious about their inworld escapades.) 

          I’m writing today about a community in Second Life (SL) who are believers and who have brought their faith in God with them inworld.  They worship together in SL and return to Real Life (RL) where they practice their faith as well.

          This community is not role-play but an actual virtualization of their faith and beliefs.  I’ve written about SL communities before.  But, those were either groups who came together inworld for things they might not do in RL (like ride dragons or go to nudist beaches) or just hang out inworld.  The “fourth wall” wasn’t pierced.  In what I blog about now, an eighteen wheeler is driven through it. 

          The community I’m blogging about is the First United Church of Christ as they go by in SL.  In RL, they are a ministry of the Southern California Nevada Conference of the United Church of Christ (UCC) and are staffed by UCC ministers and a group of lay staff and volunteers inworld.

          I became aware of First UCC when I met Becca (“Bec”) Kellstrom from SL via my social media efforts with Twitter.  (All that work is starting to pay off with new friends!)  Bec is a pastor at First UCC. 

          After tweeting for a while, Bec was kind enough to agree to meet with me for an interview about First UCC and the role of religion inworld. 

          At the time of appointed meeting, I rez into the arrival area of First UCC and Conference Center and meet Bec for the first time.  We talk about our respective faith based journeys.  (For the record, I do believe in God.  He may wish that I don’t advertise this fact.  I belong to an organized religion.  Although, I disagree with them on just about everything.  The only reasons that I can think of for them not throwing me out is charity on their part and the desire to keep the seat occupied.)  Apparently, Bec and I had been altar servers for the same organization once upon a time.  We swap stories of candles, incense, bells, and passing out.  (You had to have been there to appreciate.)

          After reliving old times, Bec and I get down to talking about her and the First UCC. 

          Bec begins by saying that her family started attending a United Church of Christ congregation back home when she began high school. She began to recognize a call to ministry in college, and after seminary, served a church in a small town. Jerome (“Jer”) Newstart, pastor of First UCC, arrived as a nearby colleague two years later and they became friends. They kept in touch after he attempted to retire, Bec grins as she says this, and then Jer began talking about SL and its potential for ministry.

While some think of SL as a game, Bec explains, Jer discovered people live whole, full lives here, and want opportunities to explore their faith. With so many religions and other Christian traditions represented, he felt strongly about adding a UCC presence back into SL.  Bec answered the call because she had some free time and as Jer is one of her absolute favorite people, she figured she'd give it a try.

First, UCC is a real ministry Bec continues.  She and Jer both hold clergy standing in their respective UCC conferences.  They are both seminary trained and were ordained by their home congregations.

I ask about First UCC’s mission.

Bec explains that they began as a way to serve and reach out to people who identify as gender diverse and quickly discovered that's only part of it. There's a huge educational component about the fact that there are religions, never mind Christians, who accept and affirm God working in and through the lives of people of various sexual orientations and gender identities.  The LGBT community is part of a diverse inworld congregation served by First UCC.

In addition, in RL, they are now sponsoring a student through Children International, and it is believed they’re the first SL congregation to make an effort like this.

Bec finishes saying, “We worship, we have fellowship, and we educate.”

One other piece Bec discovered is that people are surprised they're not out to convert everyone, to anything. Respect really is key for First UCC, where ever a person is in their beliefs on a wide range of subjects and faith perspectives.  She’s had conversations with atheists who appreciate that they're not trying to convert them, who are pleasantly surprised by First UCC’s progressive views.

Next, I ask about First UCC’s status with ICC in RL.

Bec explains that they are an in-world ministry of the Southern California Nevada Conference of the United Church of Christ.  They are incorporated as a non-profit in California with a board of directors that includes Bec in RL.

Jer is friends with the Conference minister, too, Bec adds, and will talk about SL at the next big Conference meeting, which brings together RL church members and pastors.  Conferences are groups of churches around the country.

The UCC has a congregational form of operating, which means local churches get the last say in all their decisions.  The General Synod and the national office of the church are definitely very progressive. In RL, congregations run the gamut.

Basically, Bec continues, some are what we call "Open & Affirming" of folks who identify as LGBTQIA, etc., and that was a vote the individual congregation took.  Others have not made such a declaration. Some will, and some won't.

Bec states that this ministry was started as an "open & affirming" one, which makes them a bit different.  What's great, she says, is that this ministry is getting support and recognition by people from their RL churches.

          I ask Bec about her duties as pastor and the challenges of caring for a congregation and its needs inworld.

          Bec replies that there is quite a bit of pastoral care.  She also spend quite a bit of time with our members who are gender variant. They have church members who are in various places on their journeys of transition, as people who are transgender, so she listens.  Bec offers support for where they are, what they are growing through, praying with and for them.  She continues that they offer a comfort and welcome for people who can't be their authentic selves in RL.

          And, in her spare time, Bec connects with and communicate with the people who show up here, or who find her on Twitter or Facebook. She’s in charge of the church’s social media.

          My final question to Bec is about First UCC’s plans for the future.

          Bec lists sponsoring one more child through Children International (since the one we have will turn eighteen in February), adding worship services suitable for multiple time zones so that their friends around the world can come together, and continuing to love and educate people about what the church can be at what she feels is the very best of their faith.

          Not wishing to wear out my welcome with this very busy woman, I thank Bec and take my leave.

          As I said earlier, this is not my usual type of story.  People here are freely going back and forth across the virtual divide practicing their religion either by prayer or by works.  The Metaverse as once imagined in the very early days of SL seems very close to realization here. 

          For anyone traveling on their own journey of faith and who may seem lost or seeks some companionship, I would encourage them to drop by First UCC and meet with either Bec or other members of the ministry and talk.

          The grounds of First UCC are beautiful and in addition to the church buildings there are gardens and pathways to wander in if you’re seeking a place a quiet contemplative place for prayer or meditation.  There are also donation bowls where maybe some may wish to make a contribution to help First UCC in their ministry work and to defer the costs of the sim.  (This is my suggestion not theirs.)

          Also, please remember that this sim is a religious site so proper attire and conduct is expected.  (If I have to explain to you what this means, don’t even think of going there until we speak.) 

          There are regular services and events at First UCC.  Details may be obtained at www.firstuccsl.org  for inworld and www.ucc.org  for RL.  (Or follow Bec on Twitter!)

          I’ve included links to pictures from my visit but these don’t do any justice at all.  Go and see for yourselves.  You’ll be glad you did!       

          I’d like to thank Bec again for taking the time to meet with me and answer my questions.  I’d also like to thank Jer Newstart and Josh for taking time from their busy schedules to meet with me. 

          I wish all of them and their colleagues and congregants well in their ministry!

         As always, I’m grateful to all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was passing through their lives.   

         My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I welcome feedback from readers, please either comment on my blog or e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com . 

          If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.

 

Photo No. 1 Bec and web

Photo No. 2 Pre-service Get Together

Photo No. 3 View from Conference Center

Photo No. 4 Interior of Church

Photo No. 5 Church Grounds

Photo No. 6 Zion Chapel

Photo No. 7 Zion Chapel Interior

Photo No. 8 Conference Center

Photo No. 9 Arrival Area

Photo No. 10 Coastal Pathway

Photo No. 11 Peace Grove

Photo No. 12 Art Garden Entrance

Photo No. 13 Art Garden Grounds