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For the last time, Mr. Samuel Rodriguez Jr.The pastor of the New Season Church in Sacramento, California, gave a speech on the platform. City Impact Church near Auckland, New Zeland, He it wasn’t really there.
Even though the speaker was quite harsh this time, the congregation didn’t care one bit. Mr. Rodriguez, an annual in-person guest, did not wander the platform or as a gesture He he usually did.
Hundreds of congregations in Auckland, Mr. Rodriguez, 51, stands before them, but as a holographic representation.
Inside the dark auditorium, the image of the visiting preacher seemed to rise above the platform, a three-dimensional representation rather than a “flat” screenshot of a video. Except for the obvious distance between their soles her shoes and props, the hologram looked realistic and came out clearly on video screens scattered across the room.
can’t be done her Visited in person each year due to pandemic travel restrictions and scheduling conflicts, Mr. Rodriguez’s sermon was vertically recorded and staged using 4K video. New Zeland using a local holographic production company.
Writing on Twitter after the 4th of July presentation, Mr. Rodriguez referred to her Interest in the “Star Trek” series: “As a tough Trekkie, the church Combine technology, innovation, and science within the confines of our incredible faith to change the world with the gospel of Jesus.”
In a phone call, Mr. Rodriguez aforementioned He had to severely restrict her Pulpit style to accommodate holographic recording technology.
“Sometimes I’m a little passionate when I talk” He aforementioned. “I had to be completely still for the image to be captured in a way that could be transmitted. So this was the heavy load on my side: Sam Rodriguez standing still for 40 minutes while preaching and being completely still with minimal movement [my] hands.”
Mr. Rodriguez He received direct messages and applause on Instagram and Facebook. “You know, Father SamI felt like you were there. Like it was scary. He was different” He he said, quoting a viewer’s response. He aforementioned He It is considering purchasing the technology, which could cost $60,000 and more, to connect the two New Season Church campuses. He can speak in two places at the same time.
He aforementioned her The church has 3,000 members between its main campus in Sacramento and a satellite 396 miles south in Downey, California. Most the church‘s membership in Sacramento, Mr. Rodriguez said, and 500 people in the suburb of Los Angeles attended.
“I would speak live in Sacramento, but this transmission will be a live hologram in Los Angeles.” He aforementioned. “I believe the future of multi-regional church ministry is to use holograms. I call it the ‘sacred hologram’.”
However, church growth professionals are not ready to fully endorse the concept.
“I can see a scenario where people use holograms, but I don’t see it as anything more than a novelty until it’s less like the ghosts in Disney’s Haunted Mansion,” said Ed Stetzer, editor-in-chief of Outreach magazine. Professor and dean at Wheaton College, an evangelical school in Illinois.
“Going from 2D to 3D isn’t that big of a change,” he said. “If you’re comfortable watching a multi-zone priest on a screen, I think you’ll be comfortable watching a priest hologram. But at the moment I think it would be more of a distraction than a useful innovation.”
Reverend Tim Shapiro, president of the Center for Congregations in Indianapolis, Mr. Rodriguez “in the first wave of using hologram technology”. other congregations, He He said he might not be ready.
Mr. Shapiro, whose group advises congregations in Indiana, said using holograms “may become inevitable” in larger congregations, particularly congregations with multiple locations.
He said it’s too early to tell if there’s excitement or interest around. [holograms] primarily fueled by the excitement around technology or the energy behind it, a richer worship experience when used”.
A 2020 study by the Connecticut-based Hartford Institute for the Study of Religion estimates that there are approximately 1,750 mega-churches in the United States, defined as Protestant congregations, with at least 2,000 adults and children attending pre-pandemic attendance per week. It was determined that 70% of these were multi-regional enterprises.
A Los Angeles company is trying to connect religious groups to technology.
We spoke at all levels of different religious organizations. the church“Like bishops and preachers in small community churches, to megachurches and even some well-known world leaders in religion,” he said. port, a Los Angeles firm that makes equipment for creating holographic transmissions. Mr. Nussbaum said his firm was not involved in Mr. Rodriguez’s business. New Zeland Activity.
No religious group has bought the company’s $60,000 phone booth-style recording setup, but after 1,000 conversations with potential buyers, Mr. Nussbaum said, “something really special is going on with this thousandth person.”
Mr. Nussbaum said the firm expects to introduce a desktop model this year with a price tag in the $2,000 range, with subscription services for content like workout routines. Units can also initiate high-definition video transmissions sent via Internet streaming to a network of similar machines.
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