A Spiritual Center Finds Community Connection Online

Custom virtual rooms and interactive features keep the Brother Jacob Spirit Peace Center participants connected and engaged

Priority: Remote Spiritual Education that's Affordable and Engaging

In the wake of the 2020 pandemic, the Brother Jacob Spiritist Peace Center, moved their in-person activities online. Located in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the center is dedicated to the teachings of the 19th Century Frenchman Allan Kardec and sharing Jesus' gospel. 

Junior Oliveira is a Center administrator who leads the implementation of new technologies at the Center. 

"Our challenge was to quickly learn about the communication tools available to develop continuity in activities," Junior says. "We started using Zoom in its free version but we only had 40 minutes for each meeting. We had to let everyone know that at any time the meeting would be interrupted and that we would be back soon."

The organization then migrated to Google Meet but found it to be limited for their online classes and virtual coffee meet-ups. 

"A product was needed that brought together the greatest number of benefits and that could still generate people's engagement," says Junior. He was searching for a solution when he found a YouTube video showcasing Kumospace's abilities in the classroom. Junior tried it, and was delighted that it made the Center's classrooms more engaging with the vivid life-like settings and interactive features like the ability to embed links within a virtual space.

"Kumospace delivers much more than an online meeting of people on a static screen," he says. "Each day more people fall in love with the experience of 'living in the moment' on Kumospace as if they were in a place that was previously attended in person."

Building A Spiritual Center Online

To engage the Center's pupils' Junior and his team created several virtual floors in Kumospace where they regularly host spiritual gatherings, various classes, and virtual coffee gatherings.

"We have the Kardec Classroom, a floor dedicated to the studies of the Spiritist Doctrine. We use the tablet in Kumospace to link to all the books from Allan Kardec's Codification of Spiritism so students can research without even leaving the floor," says Junior. "It's a great feature that Kumospace provides."

The center has also designed a floor, they call the Cantina, where people can gather for virtual coffee. "In Spiritist Centers, there is traditionally a cafeteria or a dedicated place for a chat with coffee. It's very common here in Brazil," says Junior.

"In all floors we provide access links to our appointment center. In it,  people schedule times for individualized service or assistance. There is also the link to requests for prayers, another activity that our volunteers carry out for the benefit of others."

According to Junior and his colleagues, the Center's pupils and volunteers have found Kumospace to feel like they are in real-life gathering spaces and they have been able to deepen their connections within the spiritual community. "We are really grateful for Kumospace," he says.