Mega Church Part II
Yesterday, Lisa attended a church in northern California that has about 8000 regular attenders. She described it as a complex of three-story buildings and a huge parking lot with people assigned to direct traffic. She and her friends had a little trouble finding the sanctuary because everything looked pretty much the same, but once they got to the right place they waited with others outside closed doors. When the doors opened, they were met with music and bright lights and were ushered into a huge room with an enormous stage.Please understand that I am by no means Mega-church-bashing. They do a lot of things very well. In fact, I very much like this idea of expectancy before worship. I like that people are standing around, psyched to get in and get to praising. There are simply some side effects to such places that I personally would not enjoy. Things like...
...anonymity. My church is one place where I want everyone to know my name.
...impersonality. Try as you might, I doubt seriously that you would ever feel much of a close relationship with a pastor who writes books and works the lecture circuit, or a praise leader whose CD's are in the regular rotation on KLOVE.
...entertainment. It would be hard for me to avoid feeling like the church was there for me when everything seems geared towards keeping things interesting and comfortable.
It all makes me grateful all the more for the College Church. With 400-500 folks on a Sunday morning we would be dwarfed by a mega...but are still larger than many. There is also a feeling that we all know each other. Of course, that's easy for me to say. I grew up there. But I've heard the same sentiment from people who have been with us once. It's just the nature of the people there to treat others like they are old friends. I also like the fact that it looks like a church building. There's a big cross on the facade and pictures, paintings (and, yes, a big mosaic) that put you in mind of spiritual things. Lisa said she didn't see a cross anywhere yesterday.
I know that the mega's work hard at overcoming these things. They usually try to get everybody involved in small groups and they ultimately have the same percentage of givers and workers as everyone else. And they are heavily invested in getting the word of Jesus Christ out to the world. It's odd to think of a place that takes in $160,000 on a normal Sunday of having obstacles but it's true. They are just different obstacles.
A quick couple of post-scripts: Lex did an awesome job with the kids yesterday. You should have seen them RUN up to the stage to hear his story. I loved watching him do that. He has such a gift. The Joseph sermon seemed like filler compared to his time with the children and Sandra's songs and readings.
Also, thanks to Matt for brightening up my day with A Field Guide to Evangelicals. Twisted and sick, just like I like it.
posted by Thurman8er @ 10:05 AM
5 Comments:
Mega-church trends can be a mega-pain-in-the-posteria. We get too caught up in trying to duplicate someone else's success.
I love the field guide. It was a bit disconcerting that I could identify with some of the questions.
I was surprised that there wasn't a question about one's belief in pyjjhoz.
Greg, it's funny you should mention clothing. Lisa said that the praise leader was wearing a "rock and roll shirt," while the pastor was dressed casually and sat on a stool he brought out.
Your point regarding impersonality was good. I had not thought of that aspect of our church experience. Has accessibility become a luxury?
I'd love to preach to 8,000 people every Sunday. But I don't want to have to sit on a stool or be relevant.
The church where I meet is a mega church of 65 members.
Stoogelovers reference to dress codes in the emerging church brought to my mind the dress code in most churches where I have met; preacher and elders wear suits (usually dark,) deacons the sport coats, and the rest of us pew denizens comfortably attired in our cleanest dirty shirt, wranglers, and spiffy sneakers.
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