Season 5 Is Here — And the Metaverse Isn’t Waiting
Season 5 of The Church Digital Podcast kicks off with a conversation that should make every church leader sit up straight. Jeff Reed sits down with Ryan Sidhom, Lead Pastor of River City Church Vancouver, to unpack what actually happened when Ryan took a mission trip — not to a foreign country, but into the metaverse.
No passport required. Just a headset and a willingness to go where people already are.
What a Metaverse Mission Trip Actually Looks Like
Let’s be honest — most church leaders hear “metaverse” and picture a gimmick. A tech toy for teenagers. Not a serious ministry frontier.
Ryan Sidhom thought differently. He strapped on a VR headset and went in — not to build something yet, but to listen. To walk around. To talk to people. To understand the culture before planting a flag.
That’s classic missionary methodology. You go first. You observe. You ask questions. You earn the right to speak.
What he found wasn’t a ghost town. It was a community. People hanging out, building relationships, processing life — in a digital space that felt very real to them. The loneliness epidemic didn’t stop at the edge of the physical world. It followed people right into VR.
That should wreck you a little.
Relevant Magazine Noticed — And That Matters
The metaverse church conversation is no longer just a niche podcast topic. Relevant Magazine picked it up. That’s a signal.
When mainstream Christian media starts covering a ministry trend, it means the idea has crossed an important threshold. It’s no longer fringe. It’s entering the broader church conversation.
For church planters and ministry leaders, this is the moment to pay attention — not to jump on a bandwagon, but to ask a serious missiological question: Is there a people group here that the church isn’t reaching?
The answer, increasingly, is yes.
The Theology Underneath the Headset
Here’s where it gets important. This isn’t just a strategy conversation. It’s a theological one.
Presence matters. Incarnation matters. Jesus didn’t send a scroll. He showed up. And while we’re not saying VR is incarnational in the full theological sense, the principle holds: ministry happens where people are.
If millions of people are spending significant hours in virtual spaces — building friendships, experiencing community, wrestling with identity — then the church has a decision to make. Stay on the shore and wave, or get in the water.
Ryan’s mission trip was an act of theological conviction, not just technological curiosity. He went because people are there. And people need Jesus.
Next Steps for Metaverse Church: What’s Actually Buildable
This is the part where the rubber meets the road. What are the actual next steps for a church wanting to engage the metaverse?
Start with presence, not programming. Before you build a VR campus, go in as a regular user. Attend spaces. Have conversations. Don’t lead with “I’m a pastor.” Lead with curiosity and genuine human connection.
Find the existing community. Virtual worlds have regulars — people who show up consistently, who know each other, who have formed real relational bonds. Your first job is to find those people, not create an audience from scratch.
Lower the barrier to entry for your team. You don’t need every staff member in VR. You need one or two early adopters who are spiritually mature, relationally gifted, and genuinely curious. Send them in. Debrief together.
Think long-form discipleship, not event-based ministry. The metaverse isn’t great for a one-off outreach event. It’s great for ongoing presence. Plan for relationships that develop over weeks and months, not a single virtual service.
Document everything. You are a pioneer. What you learn matters — not just for your church, but for the broader body of Christ. Take notes. Share what you’re seeing.
The Frontier Is Open
Acts 1:8 gives us geography — Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the ends of the earth. The principle is expansion. Go further than is comfortable. Cross cultural lines. Find the people everyone else is overlooking.
The metaverse is a new kind of Samaria. Unfamiliar. A little weird. Carrying a stigma in some church circles. And full of people who need to hear the Gospel.
Ryan Sidhom went. He came back with a report. Now it’s your turn to decide what to do with it.
Your Next Step
Listen to the full episode with Ryan Sidhom on The Church Digital Podcast — available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. Then do one thing: put on a headset (or download a free social VR app like VRChat or Rec Room) and spend 30 minutes just being present in a virtual space. Don’t preach. Don’t perform. Just observe.
You might be surprised what you find.
