| Type | Human-led institution of religious transhumanism |
|---|---|
| Established | 2013, Hollywood, Florida |
| Founders | Bill Faloon and Saul Kent, according to a 2016 account |
| Address | Pompano Beach, Florida, as listed in October 2026 |
| Activities | Longevity lectures, fellowship and memorial services |
The Church of Perpetual Life is a Florida institution that brings the pursuit of longer, healthier lives into a religious and communal setting. Its stated mission pairs radical life extension with fellowship through regular, holiday and memorial services.[1]
Origins and institutional setting
The church was established in Hollywood, Florida, in 2013. Zoltan Istvan’s 2016 account names Bill Faloon and Saul Kent as founders. As consulted in October 2026, the church’s website lists Neal VanDeRee as officiator, Faloon as founder and Charlie Kam as board president, and gives its address in Pompano Beach.[2][3][1][4]
Beliefs and intellectual influences
The church calls its members “Immortalists”: people who expect future technology to overcome disease, aging and death. Its homepage explicitly acknowledges that this technology does not appear to be currently available. Biotechnology, nanotechnology and artificial intelligence appear in its vision of radical longevity. The desired outcome is continued healthy life, not simply the survival of a person’s memory or a digital representation.[4]
Its About page names the nineteenth-century Russian thinker Nikolai Fedorov and science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke as “prophets.” Alongside scientific rationality, its stated purposes invoke a Creator’s plan for extended lifespans and a “Common Task” of developing technology for enduring life. Information-sharing and support for members facing medical problems are included among these purposes.[1]
The Fedorov reference gives this vocabulary a specific historical background. As Charles Tandy and R. Michael Perry explain, Fedorov’s Common Task meant the eventual physical resurrection of all the dead through human scientific effort. He connected responsibility toward earlier generations with overcoming separation among the living. This was a universal moral and religious project, not merely a private wish to live longer. By naming him a prophet, the church places its longevity aspirations in conversation with that older project; it does not make every part of his philosophy church doctrine.[5][1]
Gatherings and fellowship
Istvan visited as an invited speaker and transhumanist advocate, rather than a detached observer. His 2016 account describes talks about longevity research, followed on his visit by a song, dinner and conversation. He portrays a setting open to people of different religions, where a shared interest in life extension provides a basis for spiritual community.[3]
A dated public announcement illustrates the lecture format: Hollywood’s municipal calendar advertised José Cordeiro on “The Singularity and Beyond, The Death of Death” for February 23, 2017. The church’s current Services page offers in-person meetings, Zoom participation and YouTube streams, as well as wedding and funeral services. Together these materials show how an educational program and ordinary forms of communal support sit within a church setting.[7][6]
Cryonics and remembrance
Cryonics supplies a prospective bridge between death and the future imagined by the institution. Its Bio-Stasis page presents preservation of the body as a route toward possible revival and rejuvenation through later scientific advances. This is the church’s rationale for preservation, not evidence that revival has been achieved. Within that framing, remembrance takes on a future-oriented meaning: the preserved person is discussed in relation to a hoped-for return.[8]
A concrete example is the Bedford Day presentation published on the church’s site in January 2026 and linked to its own SlideShare account. Ben Best’s deck begins with remembrance of James Bedford, presented there as an early cryonics patient; its outline then turns to COVID-19 and cryonics updates. The transition from memorial material to a technical presentation makes the combination of commemoration and education visible in the artifact itself.[9][10]
Place in religious transhumanism
Within Hieropedia’s classification, the church is relevant as a human-led institutional expression of religious transhumanism. AI appears among the technologies expected to extend life; the documented authority rests with human organizers, speakers and selected intellectual predecessors. Its distinctive contribution to this comparison is the conversion of a technological expectation into a continuing social setting: meetings, learning, mutual support and remembrance.[4][1][6][9]
See also
References
- Church of Perpetual Life, About (accessed 1 October 2026)
- Gian Volpicelli, The Transhumanist Church That Has Faith in Technology, VICE (31 December 2014)
- Zoltan Istvan, I visited a church that wants to conquer death, Business Insider (29 February 2016)
- Church of Perpetual Life, homepage (accessed 1 October 2026)
- Charles Tandy and R. Michael Perry, Nikolai Fedorovich Fedorov, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, §§1–2
- Church of Perpetual Life, Services (accessed 1 October 2026)
- City of Hollywood, Jose Cordeiro speaker on The Singularity and Beyond, The Death of Death (23 February 2017)
- Church of Perpetual Life, Bio-Stasis (accessed 1 October 2026)
- Church of Perpetual Life, Benjamin Best – Bedford Day 2026 presentation (January 2026)
- Ben Best, Bedford Day 2026 presentation, Church of Perpetual Life upload, slides 1–3 and 9–10
Institutional pages document the church’s self-description and published programs. Historical reporting and an invited speaker’s account have different relationships to the subject. The sources do not establish present membership, uniform personal beliefs or the efficacy of proposed treatments; a published presentation is not a complete record of a service.