First off, I ask that responses not be cynical. I don't want to derail this thread. I'm looking for a a quality discussion on this regardless of your faith/beliefs.
I'm usually quiet about my faith because I don't have an overwhelming desire to either flaunt or defend it (both to and from Christians who would find my interpretation of scripture rather liberal). For years I've been out of the church. Recently, I decided to give my cousin's church a try-- and while some of the messages are well crafted (mostly about how to live an optimistic, fulfilling life) I find the atmosphere to be completely different from the nondenominational churches of my childhood.
The church I visited (and visit when I'm home periodically) is a megaplex. Complete with a bookstore, coffeeshop, massive auditorium, basketball court, daycare, classrooms and Walmart-sized parking lot. A majority of the service is led by an extremely modern praise team (electric guitar, drum set, bass etc). Lyrics to praise songs are positioned on two massive projection screens on either side of the auditorium. There’s nothing particularly substantive about them (no more than “Jesus loves me”). There is always a new "set" themed to the monthly topic. The audiovisuals and IT team strike me as impressively modern aged, tapped into dozens of new media outlets and even utilizing videoconferencing for the pastor to engage other speakers live during the sermon. There are no traditional hymnals. People are dressed daily casual, with the young people dressed they way I attended most of my college classes (hoodies, sweatpants etc). Sermons are rather light. They talk about purpose, examine one or two Bible verses and then conclude. At first, it was a bit of a culture shock. Offering is an event, where they encourage a percentage of people's incomes to the church (not surprising, given the infrastructure!).
What I was impressed with is the mission work. As I work in Global Health, I was particularly impressed by all the development assistance coming from this megaplex in the forms of human resources, microfinance and medical support to all reaches of the world (clearly there’s a disconnect between the “country first” mantra of the Republican Party and the actual work of faith-based organizations). A number of couples had actually physically adopted or sponsored children abroad. Dozens more had contributed to funds to provide AIDS relief. The church was well informed about current crises in Zimbabwe and offered prayers and support (again, I was impressed at the knowledge of current events being passed along).
I apologize for this thread being mostly stream of consciousness, but this church, this megaplex, appeared to me to be more of an incredibly active community center for social interaction. I asked about the lightness of the sermons, and was told that deeper levels of Christian apologetics were reserved for smaller focus groups that took place various evenings. These actually are fairly substantive—dealing with interpretation and discussion, more than just a passing “study” of scripture. I was curious about the political breakdown of the congregation given the church’s worldly attitude.
I know that all churches haven’t changed this dramatically, but what’s your take on some of this? A piece of me is largely “grossed out” by the praise teams, the showiness, the “Jesus-is-your-friend” claim and the painful attempts to market Christianity as the next cool thing (like new coke). Another part of me admires the work being done and the ability of the monstrosity to mobilize thousands of people and do good things. Another part misses the formality and tradition of a service with traditional music that doesn’t sound like a indie rock band’s take on simple praise songs.
What’s your take?
I'm usually quiet about my faith because I don't have an overwhelming desire to either flaunt or defend it (both to and from Christians who would find my interpretation of scripture rather liberal). For years I've been out of the church. Recently, I decided to give my cousin's church a try-- and while some of the messages are well crafted (mostly about how to live an optimistic, fulfilling life) I find the atmosphere to be completely different from the nondenominational churches of my childhood.
The church I visited (and visit when I'm home periodically) is a megaplex. Complete with a bookstore, coffeeshop, massive auditorium, basketball court, daycare, classrooms and Walmart-sized parking lot. A majority of the service is led by an extremely modern praise team (electric guitar, drum set, bass etc). Lyrics to praise songs are positioned on two massive projection screens on either side of the auditorium. There’s nothing particularly substantive about them (no more than “Jesus loves me”). There is always a new "set" themed to the monthly topic. The audiovisuals and IT team strike me as impressively modern aged, tapped into dozens of new media outlets and even utilizing videoconferencing for the pastor to engage other speakers live during the sermon. There are no traditional hymnals. People are dressed daily casual, with the young people dressed they way I attended most of my college classes (hoodies, sweatpants etc). Sermons are rather light. They talk about purpose, examine one or two Bible verses and then conclude. At first, it was a bit of a culture shock. Offering is an event, where they encourage a percentage of people's incomes to the church (not surprising, given the infrastructure!).
What I was impressed with is the mission work. As I work in Global Health, I was particularly impressed by all the development assistance coming from this megaplex in the forms of human resources, microfinance and medical support to all reaches of the world (clearly there’s a disconnect between the “country first” mantra of the Republican Party and the actual work of faith-based organizations). A number of couples had actually physically adopted or sponsored children abroad. Dozens more had contributed to funds to provide AIDS relief. The church was well informed about current crises in Zimbabwe and offered prayers and support (again, I was impressed at the knowledge of current events being passed along).
I apologize for this thread being mostly stream of consciousness, but this church, this megaplex, appeared to me to be more of an incredibly active community center for social interaction. I asked about the lightness of the sermons, and was told that deeper levels of Christian apologetics were reserved for smaller focus groups that took place various evenings. These actually are fairly substantive—dealing with interpretation and discussion, more than just a passing “study” of scripture. I was curious about the political breakdown of the congregation given the church’s worldly attitude.
I know that all churches haven’t changed this dramatically, but what’s your take on some of this? A piece of me is largely “grossed out” by the praise teams, the showiness, the “Jesus-is-your-friend” claim and the painful attempts to market Christianity as the next cool thing (like new coke). Another part of me admires the work being done and the ability of the monstrosity to mobilize thousands of people and do good things. Another part misses the formality and tradition of a service with traditional music that doesn’t sound like a indie rock band’s take on simple praise songs.
What’s your take?
) I go to another church where a great group of young adults meet to worship and spend time studying the Bible
