|
Big churches offer unique ways to worship |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Written by Pamela Miller, McClatchy-Tribune
|
|
Friday, 30 March 2007 |
|
|
|
|
As guitar-driven rock accelerated and five mammoth video screens flashed with high-speed urban imagery, hundreds of young people swayed in a dark and crowded hall, ready to start the party.
But this was no nightclub. This was church — a new youth service called the Gathering at Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie, Minn.
"We don't want to just be Bible listeners," youth pastor Chad Erlenborn told a crowd abuzz with spiritual excitement. "We want to be Bible doers."
To attract more young people, or to keep them in their pews, big churches are reinventing some of the ways they worship.
They are creating interactive weekly services nothing like traditional liturgies.
As the Gathering broke up and young people in hoodies and jeans hugged, high-fived and chatted on twinkling cell phones, Scott Stensrud, 15, raved about the new style.
"I've gone to Wooddale forever, but I like this much better than the other services here," said the Minnetonka High School student. "The contemporary service, that is more like, for our parents. But a band with a bass guitar and drums? That is just the best."
A similar scene plays out on Sunday nights at the Sanctuary, an alternative service at CrossRoads Church in Cottage Grove, Minn. "We want to communicate in a new way so people curious about Christianity can come and say, 'Oh, this is what Christians do,'" said the Rev. Brad Kindall.
Here's what they saw on a recent Sunday: The worship space was bisected by an opaque curtain, a symbol of the divisions between people "that Jesus strips away," Kindall said. During the service it came down in a dramatic way.
Meanwhile, at the Upper Room at Christ Presbyterian in Edina, Minn., which Pastor Kurt Vickman calls "an experiential, holistic worship community," worshipers "live what we proclaim," he said.
For example, at a service focused on forgiveness, they received $5 Starbucks or Caribou Coffee cards, inscribed them with a name and "made a commitment to try to be reconciled with that person over coffee," Vickman said.
CHURCH NOT AS USUAL
The new crop of alternative services is evidence that churches are trying to address young adults' "profound sense of frustration with church as usual," said Jim Beilby, associate professor of theology at Bethel University in Arden Hills, Minn. The informal, intimate services also borrow from the emergent-church movement, which has given rise to small, eclectic congregations, often led by megachurch expatriates, that emphasize close community and social justice over "structure and steeples," he said.
For Beilby, that's all to the good. "Christians are called to rearticulate their expressions as the culture changes," he said. Without such adaptation, many large churches would almost certainly lose younger members who feel isolated, censored or bored, he said.
Wooddale isn't waiting for that to happen. The Gathering represents a third style of worship at the campus-like megachurch, which also offers two traditional and four contemporary services every weekend.
Growth and change have been hallmarks at Wooddale, which has thrived under the 30-year leadership of the Rev. Leith Anderson.
But Wooddale has not taken continued growth for granted. While the Gathering's creators tout it as a way to help young people connect with God, it's clear that if it succeeds, it also will help Wooddale grow.
The Gathering honors the relationships that define the "millennial" generation, Anderson said. "At traditional services, people sit where they've always sat," he said. "At contemporary services, they sit where they're most comfortable. At the Gathering, they sit with their friends."
Jill Steen, Alison Vuolo, Caroline Welch and Jackie Michovich, all 14 and students at Eden Prairie Middle School, hugged often during a recent service, especially during prayers.
"It's so nice to come here and just be yourself," Steen said. "The other services were so much more serious."
Yet the Gathering is far more than mere entertainment. When Erlenborn asked worshipers to pray aloud, the air vibrated with whispered supplications for an end to the Iraq war, a cure for AIDS, a halt to modern-day slavery.
ONE CHURCH, MANY STYLES
One reason the Gathering doesn't look like a traditional service is because most worshipers come with their friends, not their families.
Wooddale families do go to church together — just not always to the same service.
On a recent Sunday, four generations attended. Norma Rickabaugh, 79, and her son and daughter-in-law, Doug and Rita Rickabaugh, worshiped at a traditional service. Doug and Rita's daughter Kristy Kaiser attended a contemporary service with her husband, Drew, and baby, Lilly. A second daughter, Sheri Dack, went to the Gathering with her husband, Jon, after putting baby Elijah in the nursery.
To Kristy, the contemporary service, which attracts many young families, has the best music and pacing.
The Dacks wanted something edgier, and found it in the Gathering.
Families can still discuss "what happened at church," Norma said. That's because Anderson gives the same sermon at all eight services.
"Some alternative services end up feeling disconnected from their church," said Dan Collison, Wooddale's worship arts pastor. "This integrative approach allows families to talk about the sermon around the dinner table even if they went to different services."
Beilby said he has reservations about separating the generations during worship. "We lose something when we lose intergenerational worship," he said. "I hope we won't conclude that this is the only real way to do church."
Anderson and Collison acknowledge that further changes probably lie ahead. But for now, they're delighted by the Gathering's popularity, "and especially at the way young adults have invited unchurched friends," Anderson said.
"Young people are far less reticent than their elders to talk about their faith and to invite others to share it," he said.
'I FEEL CLOSER TO GOD HERE'
If recent crowds are an indication, the Gathering is succeeding as a vehicle for worship and growth.
In the quartet of 14-year-olds, Michovich, the only one whose family doesn't belong to Wooddale, said she started attending at Welch's invitation. "My family doesn't really go to church," she said. "I've been to a few Catholic services, but I feel closer to God here."
But how can she hear herself think?
"You can't really hear your friends or anything," she said. "You can only hear your own thoughts, and send them toward God."
___
SUPERSIZED CHURCHES
What's a megachurch? Most commonly defined as a church with 2,000 or more members. While the term is generally associated with evangelical churches, there are also some very large mainline Protestant and Catholic churches. Nationwide, megachurches continue to thrive and grow. About 100 new ones are built each year, according to a study by Warren Bird and Scott Thumma of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research.
Do most Twin Cities metro-area churchgoers attend megachurches? No. About 30 percent of total church attendees (Protestant and Catholic) in the metro area go to churches with 2,000 or more members, said church demographics researcher John Mayer. There are 74 churches that fall into the category. But the average metro-area church still has fewer than 300 members, Mayer says.
How does that compare with the national situation?
Nationwide, only 8 percent of Protestant worshipers go to churches with 2,000 or more members, according to Bird and Thumma. But megachurches have been disproportionately influential as they build sprawling campuses in suburbs and exurbs, spin off satellite churches and occasionally provide bully pulpits for charismatic leaders who seek broader influence on the culture and politics.
Minnesota loves megachurches: The Twin Cities area has one of the highest concentrations of megachurches in the nation, Mayer said. Why? There's a cultural love of things large, he said. In addition, the Twin Cities area has high church attendance, many prominent church leaders, a strong economy that encourages giving and readily available land.
Pros and cons: A big, affluent church can offer worshipers myriad opportunities for friendships, worship and activities, proponents say. Critics say they focus on a business model and entertainment at the expense of spirituality and engagement. Last year, World Council of Churches President Samuel Kobia blasted megachurches, saying they "have no depth, theologically speaking." | Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register. |
|
|  | "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth." | |
|  | We're not that bright, even though in our own little world, we're geniuses. We like 80s hair bands and one-hit wonders, but among us we have respectable tastes, too. Metallica, Iron Maiden, U2. Pursuit of all things trivial is a lifestyle, not just a game. We like some sports, love other sports, and can find something to say about anything. We watch TV and movies and we've read a book or two, even a few classics (Yes, Classic Comics count!)
We call it insight, you call it what you will. | |
|  | Felix Wong is an outdoor enthusiast living in Fort Collins. A mechanical engineer by day, he is especially passionate about bicycling, running, and backpacking. | |
|  | Hola Amigos! I'm Sandra. I like to believe that people are 70 percent good and 30 percent dumb. I'm stickin to that story. Reading this blog might make you want to be good, but probably just dumb. | |
|  | Donovan Henderson is editor of NEXTnc. | |
|  | Here at Nextnc we have some characters. Get a sneak peak behind the curtain and find out what amusing antics our staffers get themselves into on a weekly basis. | |
|  | What is up FoCo?
I am a recent college graduate of Minnesota State University Moorhead. After recieving my B.A. in English and Mass Communications this past August I moved down to Colorado.
I enjoy long walks on the beach, candlelight dinners, and heavy metal. My hobbies include reading and writing, music, movies, and getting drunk. Some of my favorite contemporary authors include Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Palahniuk, and Kurt Vonnegut. My top movies are anything directed by Kubrick. I enjoy listening to anything that rocks.
Right now I am just trying to get to know Colorado and FoCo better. Mostly in order to find the best drink specials on each day that ends in Y. So if you know where I can get a cheap drunk on, let me know!
--Drew | |
|  | Life's little morsels of inspiration, observation and encouragement seen through the eyes of the Nextnc reporter.
| |
|  | Ms. Giles currently lives in Colorado where she stars in her own private reality show. She writes aphoristic accounts of her life, taken completely out of context, and embellished with characters and situations disguised to resemble something close to interesting. | |
|  | over and out | |
| | My name is Michelle Turley and I'm 28 years old. I live in Severance with my hubbie, Brandon. We have 2 dogs and a cat. We enjoy camping, four-wheeling, and just being in the mountains. I like to cook, clean (go figure), flea market, and play poker. I have so much to say about poker... | |
|
|
