When is the Digital Missionary Gaming Workshop?

June 25, live on Discord. Register and we will send you the link and the run of show.

Who is behind the workshop?

theChurch.digital and missionary.digital, a community of pioneers making disciples in digital spaces, hosted by Leighton Seys (Director of Community), featuring Dr. Steven Kelso (DrLevelUp) and Nathan Webb (Nerd Pastor Nate).

Why this // why now

The people you are
called to reach
are already online_

There are millions of people who will never walk into a church building. They will, however, log in tonight.

They are gathering on Twitch. They are running raids in Discord. They are telling their realest stories inside a game world because it feels safer than telling them anywhere else.

For a lot of the church, that is a problem to solve. We think it is a mission field to enter.

Gamers, geeks and nerds are not a niche. They are a people group. And most of them grew up feeling like they did not belong in church. They deserve a missionary who actually speaks their language.

That missionary might be you.

What you will walk away with

From player to
digital missionary_

This is not a lecture about whether digital ministry is real. It already is. This is the workshop where you learn to do it.

01

Games as parable

Games are not just games. They are parables. Learn to read the sacred stories already being told in the worlds your people inhabit.

02

A theology of fun

Play is not a distraction from the holy. Fun, joy and imagination are theological. See why the spaces gamers love are mission ground.

03

Become a digital missionary

Walk out with a framework for meeting people where they already gather. Where you already hang out. With the people you already know.

Who this is for

If you have ever felt
more at home in a story_

This workshop is for you if you are:

+ A pastor or leader who senses the mission moved and the church has not moved with it.
+ A gamer, streamer or creator who suspects your platform is already a parish.
+ A church planter wondering what it looks like to plant in digital spaces.
+ Someone who has been told digital does not count, and never quite believed it.

You do not need permission. Consider your calling validated.

The lineup // June 25

Three talks.
One mission_

One day, live on Discord. Hosted by Leighton Seys.

// 01 Welcome + Kickoff Leighton Seys, your host

// 02 Gaming as Parable Dr. Steven Kelso // DrLevelUp

// 03 Theology of Fun Nathan Webb // Nerd Pastor Nate

Start time: {{TIME}} {{TIMEZONE}}. Register and we will send you the Discord link and the run of show.

Your guides

Led by people who
actually play_

LS

Leighton Seys

Your Host · Director of Community, theChurch.digital

Welcome + Kickoff

Leighton is the Director of Community at theChurch.digital and your host for the day. He leads the gaming and metaverse outpost, where ministry happens on Twitch and in the spaces gamers already call home. Online he goes by FlatCap.

A passionate digital missionary, Leighton brings a background in pastoral ministry and church revitalization, with nearly twenty years of experience in digital ministry. He knows what it looks like to build real community in digital spaces. He does it every week.

Dr. Steven Kelso

DrLevelUp · The Guiding Lantern

Talk: Gaming as Parable

Doc believes the best lessons in life travel through story and discussion, not lecture. He is a professor and Dean of Students at Kansas Christian College, where he has spent over ten years raising up the next generation of servant leaders through Bible, theology and leadership courses. He earned his doctorate in 2024, but he will tell you the real classroom is wherever someone is willing to ask an honest question.

He also moonlights as a fantasy tavern-keeper known simply as Doc, proprietor of The Guiding Lantern, where fantasy, whimsy and tabletop RPG lore combine to teach leadership to gamers, dreamers and anyone who has ever felt more at home in a story than in a lecture hall.

A lifelong gamer, DrLevelUp is a massive fan of JRPGs like The Legend of Heroes and has the Platinum Trophy on nearly every version of Skyrim. He does not shine a spotlight. He lights the next step.

Nathan Webb

Nerd Pastor Nate · Checkpoint Church

Talk: Theology of Fun

Nathan is an ordained United Methodist elder and the lead pastor of Checkpoint Church, a digital-first congregation built for nerds, geeks and gamers that lives on Twitch, Discord and YouTube. He holds the title Nerd Pastor Nate not as a brand but as a theological claim. The people who grew up feeling like they did not belong in church deserve a pastor who speaks their language.

His work sits at the intersection of digital ministry, pop culture theology and missional imagination. Through his Substack Pixel & Pulpit and the Digital Missional Network, Nathan has become a practitioner voice for churches treating digital space as a genuine mission field.

He is the author of God and the Machine (Abingdon Press), a six-session study on AI and faith. When he is not preaching or streaming, he is probably playing something cozy or thinking too hard about why a niche indie game is secretly about grace.

Questions

Before you
log in_

How much does it cost?

Nothing. The Digital Missionary Gaming Workshop is completely free. Register, show up on Discord and bring your questions.

When is it?

June 25, live on Discord. Start time is {{TIME}} {{TIMEZONE}}. Register and we will send you the link and the run of show.

Where does it happen?

Entirely on Discord, the place a lot of gamers already call home. Once you register you will get the link to join us at discord.thechurch.digital.

Do I have to be a gamer to come?

No. If you have never touched a controller but you sense God moving in digital spaces, you belong here. If you have a Platinum Trophy and a Discord server full of friends who have never set foot in a church, you really belong here.

What is a digital missionary?

Someone who carries the gospel into the digital spaces where people already gather. Not as a broadcast channel, but as real presence in a real place where real discipleship can happen. This workshop helps you become one.

Who is behind this?

theChurch.digital and missionary.digital, a community of pioneers making disciples in digital spaces. Hosted by Leighton Seys, our Director of Community, featuring Dr. Steven Kelso (DrLevelUp) and Nerd Pastor Nate.

Save your seat

Register free_

Drop your details below. We will send you the Discord link and everything you need for June 25.

The people you arecalled to reachare already online_

From player todigital missionary_

Games as parable

A theology of fun

Become a digital missionary

If you have ever feltmore at home in a story_

Three talks.One mission_

Led by people whoactually play_