News Brief

Bishop to headline at Church of Fools

-6/5/04

The Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, will be guest preacher in the UKís first 3D online church service next week.

He will appear as a cartoon double in Church of Fools, conceived by web magazine shipoffools.com, and being sponsored by the Methodist Church.

The project is launched at the 20th National Christian Resources Exhibition (12 noon, Tue 11 May, Sandown Park Exhibition Centre, Esher, Surrey).

Rev Jeremy Clines, 35-year-old chaplain of St John's College, York, will also log on as a cartoon double and lead the service - 225 miles away!

"A visible congregation of 20 cartoon characters will be joined by up to 500 'lurkers' at any one time who will move invisibly round the sanctuary and crypt," said Simon Jenkins, editor of shipoffools.com. "There will be hymns, prayers, a liturgy and the congregation will be able to walk, sit, kneel and whisper to each other about how good the sermon is - like real church. Theyíll even be invited to put something in the collection plate - via mobile phone."

Built by hi-end digital media company Specialmoves, who create cutting-edge interactive solutions for the likes of Vivendi Universal and MTV, the initiative aims to make Christian worship accessible to web surfers who may never darken the doors of their local church. Lead sponsor is the Methodist Church.

The vicar-turned-novelist GP Taylor, bestselling author of Shadowmancer, will also preach in the online church in June. "I'm looking forward to continuing my ministry through this innovative new development in the way we do church," he said.

The idea came out of shipoffools.comís internet game show, The Ark, during which 12 Bible heroes and villains were successively voted off Noahís famous floating zoo - Big Brother-style. More sailings are planned.

"When Future Church was chosen as the main focus for this year's National CRE, we considered it an ideal place to unveil this pilot project," said Steve Goddard, co-editor of shipoffools.com. "It picks up the challenge of Archbishop Rowan Williamsí ìmission-shapedî initiative - to create new church expressions for Generation X-Box."

Now established as one of the most popular religious sites on the web, shipoffools.com, the self-styled magazine of Christian unrest, attracts more than two million page requests each month from more than 80,000 people. It recently concluded a hugely-successful campaign with the Methodist Church encouraging 20 and 30-year-olds to offer suggestions for an 11th Commandment.

The online church will run as a pilot from May to July 2004.

"The full costs of creating the environment have still to be met,í said Simon Jenkins. ëSo the projectís future depends on finding enthusiastic sponsors. Long term, we hope to work in partnership with a variety of churches in creating online environments which offer genuine spirituality to people on the outer edges of faith."

With more than 350 charities, missions and church suppliers taking floor space, the Christian Resources Exhibition is the biggest show of any kind held at Sandown Park each year.

"I was present at the planting of the CRE acorn in 1985," said Rt Rev Richard Chartres, Bishop of London, who will officially open the show (10am, Tue 11 May). "I am thrilled to see how the event has grown into something that no self-respecting Christian leader can afford to miss."

Jonathan Kerry, Co-ordinating Secretary for Worship and Learning at The Methodist Church, said: "The Methodist Church is trying to meet the challenges of the present day. We want to seriously engage in the 'missing generation' of under-40s and explore new and fresh forms of being church. The internet is a major source of information, news and debate, and we feel it could be a way of involving people in church life."

Sponsoring the Church of Fools comes on the back of the 11th commandment initiative jointly organised by The Methodist Church and shipoffools.com, which was a text messaging competition aimed at finding out what matters to young people.