That would be a cool evangelistic talk/series title, wouldn't it? (Y'all welcome to re-use it.)

But I'm talking about a virtual life in an online world. A "second life" if you will, and what makes that so attractive to so many people.

Second Life (SL) is a privately owned, partly subscription-based 3D virtual world, made publicly available in 2003 by San Francisco-based Linden Lab, and founded by former RealNetworks CTO Philip Rosedale. Users can visit this virtual world almost as if it were a real place. They explore, meet new people, participate in individual and group activities, and, if they decide to visit often, learn new skills and mature socially (in the sense of learning the culture of the virtual world). It now boasts over 2 million citizens, and counting"

Anecdotally, I've found that people are very willing to chat and online chats are great practice for real-world conversations.

So here's the challenge to all you readers out there in cyber-space:

• How about a virtual church plant? You might need to buy some virtual land for your building, but the capital will be much lower than a real-life church plant. Can you imagine the "New Church Plants" listing in the next Sydney Anglican directory?! "Location: somewhere on the Internet. Name: Second Life Anglican Church. Rector: Archangel Dean."

• How about cyber-evangelism in Second Life or its equivalents? Lots of space and room to advertise for outreach events, walk-up (or fly-up) evangelism, cafes to chat in, the sky's the limit"
• How about building your own avatar (your visual representation in Second Life) as a Biblical figure or Christian minister so people will initiate conversations with you?! Of course, avoiding visual representations of God or Jesus. We wouldn't want people worshiping you in Second Life now, would we?

• How about furthering the Diocesan Mission by sharing the great news of Jesus Christ with avatars and the real people behind them? It is dead easy to start conversations, even as you get orientated with other newbies on Orientation Island and Help Island. The opportunities on the Main Island are legion.

Other virtual worlds worth exploring include: Active Worlds, Entropia Universe and the Dotsoul Cyberpark.

WORD TO THE WISE: Beware! Even at the orientation and newbie stages, these virtual worlds are scarily addictive. Real life is where you really belong, not Second Life.

Andrew is Your.ydneyanglicans.net's resident digital scholar and the pastor of the Asian Bible Church (ABC), a congregation of St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney. Happy 1st Birthday ABC!