Coronavirus: Leicester Church Uses Minecraft To Teach Bible To Teens


Coronavirus: Leicester church uses Minecraft to teach Bible to teens



17 May 2020



A church has turned to Minecraft to teach its youngsters about Christianity during the lockdown.



So that the youth club can continue Bible lessons, the St John the Baptist Church in Leicester has been recreated on a server.



Josh Young, who organized the event, said that it was a way for younger people to meet them "where they're at" and interact with them in a different world.



Virtual reality means they have also been able to get creative with lessons.



Mr Young, for example, created an underwater whale to teach them about Jonah's story. He also challenged the teens to build boats to learn more about Jesus calming a storm.
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The 27-year old youth worker added, "Having a community of young people is really important and that's what I wanted to continue in the lockdown."



"They don't like to hang out with their friends, and some of them are really struggling right now. They can chat, meet and play Minecraft games without even being physically present. It is a tool for building community and engagement.



"Young people can live in this online world. The Bible teaches us to meet people there, in their locality.



"Jesus pushed the boundaries of what people thought was typical worship, he would be happy with the idea that the church is moving forwards."



Every Wednesday, around 20 children between 11 and 17 spend two-and-a half hours on the server.



In that time they're free to explore the world or pursue their own projects, but for 30 minutes they are teleported to a communal area to complete a Bible-themed challenge.



Mr Young said that they had made certain that adults could prevent bad language and control who joined, and that permission was given by the parents for their children.



Rosie, 15, is a teenager who regularly joins. "I love it because my friends can talk to me while I play, it's just like meeting up for our usual youth club," she said.



"I thought it great when Josh teleported everyone together to the same place. We had a competition for the best boat to be built from Matthew, Chapter 8 when Jesus stopped the storm. My team won it because we built little lightning storm clouds."



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