Megachurch Sells NFT Indulgences — 'Buy One Soul' Now

Megachurch Sells NFT Indulgences — 'Buy One Soul' Now

Because salvation should come with gas fees, creator royalties, and a Discord channel.

NewLight Megachurch announced Wednesday the launch of “Indulgence NFTs,” a limited-edition line of blockchain-backed absolutions marketed with the tagline: Buy One Soul, Get Eternal Access. The launch pairs confession with a subscription model, promising spiritual peace (plus priority access to revival merch).

"We modernized the sacraments so faith can scale," said Rev. Caleb Etheridge, Senior Pastor and Chief Spiritual Officer at NewLight Megachurch. "Think of it as confession-as-a-service — with receipts."

The rollout reads like a VC pitch that wandered into a pulpit. The church published a whitepaper (three pages of theology, two pages of tokenomics) and launched a minting site that displayed real-time metrics: supply, floor price, and a tiny changing GIF of a halo.

Tiers (because salvation needs segmentation):

• PewStarter — 0.03 ETH (introductory): one confession receipt NFT, an emailed certificate, and access to the weekly livestream prayer circle.
• Creator Bless — 0.25 ETH: influencer-friendly prayers (tags included), a co-branded prayer sticker, and a short-form highlight for your socials.
• Purgatory Platinum — 1 ETH: priority absolution, a first-row virtual seat at the next revival, and an animated certificate minted on HaloChain (patent pending).
• Eternal Access — $9.99/month: auto-renewing micro-indulgences, early access to drops, and entry into the "Forever Flock" Discord (gated channel: #afterlife-onboarding).

Each NFT carries a 7% royalty that funnels into the "Heaven Growth Fund" (mission trips, studio upgrades, and better livestream bandwidth). The church accepted ETH, credit cards, and — for legacy donors — ramen coupons.

The market reacted exactly like a market. The initial mint (sold out in 18 hours) produced a secondary market where resellers listed certain Indulgences at multiples of the mint price. The ForgiveFi marketplace quickly filled with listings boasting "proof of redemption" and screenshots of ledger entries.

"There is a surprisingly strong appetite for tradable absolution," said Mason Dreh, founder of ForgiveFi. "We just provide liquidity for the soul economy."

Backlash arrived in the two expected flavors: outraged parishioners and opportunistic brand partners. A group of longtime members circulated a petition arguing that forgiveness is not a commodity. A sponsorship deck leaked showing a potential tie-in with a fitness supplement ("Repent-and-Revive: 15% off with code REBOOT").

Project fine print provides performance art levels of legal clarity.

"Purchasing an Indulgence NFT may provide spiritual consolation but carries no legal effect; please consult your conscience and a tax advisor," reads the Terms & Conditions.

NewLight says the experiment is sincere (and scalable). Critics call it commodification. Scalpers call it Q3 product-market fit.

When asked whether burning an NFT burns a sin, Rev. Etheridge paused and then said, "It burns gas fees — and sometimes that's close enough."