jamey attended a service at one of the larger churches in the area. apparently as part of a spectacle for amusement to the children the pastor had different barnyard animals run around the church and then gave money to the children for capturing some of the animals. people scrambling to pick up poop before it got treaded over and into the lines of comfy chairs. suffice to say people on his blog are not too happy, but one guy hit it right that this is a spectacle event. jamey admits that this had nothing to do with the message, the cheerleaders that tumbled down the aisle did, but not the animals. this was just a stunt to get people into lines of comfy chairs (having trouble calling them pews). i understand the role of the 'seeker sensitive' church in the evangelical community, but this doesn't help to build the Kingdom of God.
Pastor Maury Davis has been known to have an unorthodox preaching style. Davis grabbed two chickens and threw them into the congregation and choir, offering $20 to any student who could catch them. Davis wasn't finished, after the chickens were safely back in their cage, he turned ten little pigs loose in the sanctuary and more than a hundred kids squealed after them,...
...turning the church into a barnyard. Sheldon Fiddler thought it was cool. It was all for attention and after word spread of what Pastor Davis had planned, the church was packed. No one wanted to miss this. But do these extreme measures belong in church? Isn't worship supposed to be reverent and sacred? Davis says, that's just a matter of opinion. While the message may not necessarily be what these kids will talk about in school, Davis believes what they heard may somehow have a bigger impact on their lives than what they witnessed.
to give some thought to this. 1. it cannot be given creedence of being preaching when there isn't a tie into the gospel message. this is marketing. so i'd give the pastor props for being an unorthodox marketer, but then again, it's not unorthodox marketing, except for the scene of the spectacle. in my opinion worship should be reverent ushering in transformation and sacred centered on God, not a distraction to the cultural norms of the world. being in my role i can resonate with davis's emphasis for being relevant to the children, but his tactic is "of the world" not set apart as Christ calls us to be.
again, i'm reminded of this quote shared from a friend. "what you win them with is what you win them too." which makes it a struggle for me to understand these pastoral thoughts of "what they heard may somehow have a bigger impact on their lives than what they witnessed" because what they heard had little to do with what they witnessed and we know that remember more of the images we see than the exact wording or phrasing of a full talk.
as a youth minister in my area, conerstone is one of those 'competition' churches that i frequently interact with. i claim that i don't compete as a youth minister, and so far, my church doesn't put an emphasis on "the numbers" we've come to the point that to be fullfill a gospel message and live a Christ like life we are counter cultural in practice & praise, which doesn't do spectacle for the sake of spectacle. to me this is kingdom building and the place where the people of cornerstone and other spectacle churches will find their way too when the church can't do anything more exciting to get people into church except maybe to blow up the church.
note: if this is rambling or disjointed, more than normal, make note of prior post...
