Church plans services at Manchester comedy club
By Regine Labossiere, The Hartford Courant | July 7, 2007
MANCHESTER, Conn. --A comedy club is a place to find a few laughs ... and God?
So say the leaders of St. Paul's Collegiate Church, a post-denominational congregation in Storrs. So, starting in August, the church will hold Monday night services at The Hartford Funny Bone, a comedy club in The Shoppes at Buckland Hills.
"Faith just got funnier" reads a press release about the new service. And a church leader is quoted as saying, "We sense that a Monday night service in a comedy club at the mall might be just the thing for people who like Jesus but don't like the church."
Ashley Capozzoli, director of membership and connections for the church, called the idea refreshing.
"A lot of times, churches are off the beaten path for people," she said. "I think it's exciting for it to be in the midst of a really bustling area where people are going anyway."
Read the rest at the Boston Globe
I love this idea! I love the idea of taking church to where the people are.
By Regine Labossiere, The Hartford Courant | July 7, 2007
MANCHESTER, Conn. --A comedy club is a place to find a few laughs ... and God?
So say the leaders of St. Paul's Collegiate Church, a post-denominational congregation in Storrs. So, starting in August, the church will hold Monday night services at The Hartford Funny Bone, a comedy club in The Shoppes at Buckland Hills.
"Faith just got funnier" reads a press release about the new service. And a church leader is quoted as saying, "We sense that a Monday night service in a comedy club at the mall might be just the thing for people who like Jesus but don't like the church."
Ashley Capozzoli, director of membership and connections for the church, called the idea refreshing.
"A lot of times, churches are off the beaten path for people," she said. "I think it's exciting for it to be in the midst of a really bustling area where people are going anyway."
Read the rest at the Boston Globe
I love this idea! I love the idea of taking church to where the people are.
Labels: Christian Life
16 Comments:
Man, do I think this is cheesy. I get this kind of uncomfortable, impatient feeling in my gut when I read about this stuff. I am not a fan (at all) of church and church culture. So you changed the setting. Big deal. You are still creating the same church culture you are seeking to change by doing this sort of thing. You can paint an Allis Chalmers tractor green and yellow, but that doesn't make it a John Deere. I have no solution, though. Forgive my issues, dude. I'm just talking friend to friend here.
Hey man,
I don't know what to tell you. I think you may be in a place in your life where the Church really can't do anything right in your eyes, no matter how she tries to be relevant. I don't really have a solution to either.
I think I like this idea, because it is an effort to introduce people to the idea that a Church is not a building, it's a "people". By gathering in a different atmosphere, you are making a statement about what Church is. I just appreciate people that are willing to *try* to expand the Kingdom of God in creative ways.
I just remember the Vineyard, back in the day, when that one Christian comedian used to attend, and every once in a while they'd have an event where he would do a routine.
If I hear the "run for the border, border for the runs" joke one more time, I'm gonna stab myself in the eyeball.
Christian comedy is not funny.
I've heard people do comedy ABOUT Christians and about church, and that can be hilarious. There was a Steve Harvey special on Sunday, and a big part of the time he was talking about the problem with church people, and I was peeing my pants laughing. But Christians... doing Christian comedy... oi...
It's fine if they want to do it as an outreach, but honestly, I don't think they're going to be attracting the kind of people they think they are. The most they're gonna get is people walking in thinking there's a comedy show that night, seeing that it's a church service, and walking back out.
And don't get me started on that "post-denominational" stuff...
"By gathering in a different atmosphere, you are making a statement about what Church is."
I'd say that it's only a different atmosphere if they change the service along with the location.
But I don't necessarily agree with changing the service in the first place. At least, if the service is accomplishing the goals it's supposed to accomplish. Frankly, I don't think the actual church service is the place to do outreaches.
"Frankly, I don't think the actual church service is the place to do outreaches."
I agree. And I don't think church people want to do outreach at church. I think people go to church for themselves. Asking them to do outreach themselves would be like asking a party guest to do the host's job. This sort of thing takes non-church people out of their element and forces them into the church people's element. You can say "we're taking the church to the people", yet you are still forcing people to meet you on your turf. Like I said, you can paint an Allis Chalmers green and yellow, but that don't make it a John Deere.
The purpose of a church service is to come together and worship and revere God, to be nourished by His word and the Sacrament (if you believe such things), and to be encouraged and admonished to live our lives in a way befitting a follower of Christ. It's not a thing for the masses, it's a thing for believers who are gathering to express their faith together. I'm not saying non-Christians shouldn't come to church, it's fine if they do. But they're not going to get out of it what Christians would or understand it as fully as a Christian would.
I think outreaches to the community are fantastic, but if they're going to accomplish the goals you want them to accomplish, you have to understand that non-Christians don't want a church service in a "safe place" like a comedy club. They don't want a church service at all!
Ultimately, I think that when churches try to be "cool" and "relevant" to the community, and they do it through changing up the service, they're doing a disservice to the community and the church members. They're giving the people they're trying to reach an unrealistic view of what church is/should be, and they're not ministering to their current members as well as they could had they left Sunday service alone and done a Wednesday night cookout for the neighbors or something.
The main goal of church should not to be funny/cool/entertaining, though those things certainly CAN happen. The goal should be to love, revere, and serve God, our neighbors, and the world... and when we stray from the original purpose is when we start having churches not using the Bible at all and instead just having coffee shop nights where they make nice with the locals and play some acoustic guitars with the lights down low.
Hi Adam and Sara,
I agree with many of your points. I do think though, that many mainline churches are losing membership more and more because they are inflexible and not willing to embrace some of the modern expression and styles.
I grew up in the Methodist church, which once was a vibrant and charismatic movement that had an incredible impact on North America and the World. Now it is a movement that is losing membership annually. I think some of that has to do with their resistance, as a movement, to change. Of course, there is also a power struggle in their movement between conservatives and liberals for the identity of their movement, and that surely hasn't helped.
But back to the point about change. Change, is neither good nor bad. However, the total lack of change, or change-too-quickly are both bad. But change *must* happen. If it didn't, we'd all be worshiping in Latin, or maybe even earlier languages. After all, we've translated the original Biblical texts to make them relevant to different people groups. Relevancy is overemphasized in the modern church, that is for sure, but it still is essential, if not only at the most basic of levels.
Sara wrote:
The purpose of a church service is to come together and worship and revere God, to be nourished by His word and the Sacrament (if you believe such things), and to be encouraged and admonished to live our lives in a way befitting a follower of Christ.
Very well put.
I think I'd add the purpose of expanding the Kingdom of God, and make disciples of all nations, too. What about you?
I'd say the purpose of a CHURCH is to do those things, but not the church SERVICE.
"I do think though, that many mainline churches are losing membership more and more because they are inflexible and not willing to embrace some of the modern expression and styles."
Hmm. I think I disagree with that. In fact, as far as membership trends in the US go, the National Council of Churches that over the last year, in the 25 largest denominations, there is an increase of .82% in membership. There ARE decreases in certain denominations, like Methodist, PCUSA, Baptist, and Episcopal, but there are also significant increases in Catholic (1.94%), Assemblies of God (1.86%), and Orthodox, with an impressive 6.40% increase since last year.
And I must say that of the 25 denominations on the list, Catholic and Orthodox are probably the most inflexible and least likely to be changing their services to embrace anything new. Granted, there are a LOT of factors that go into this data.
For now I'll just say that my particular church (along with many, many others) doesn't feel the need to change thousands of years of rich, meaningful church tradition in order to cater to people with short attention spans.
I think the problem (and please know that I mean no offense to anyone who likes the newer stuff) is that people nowadays don't really care to research their own history. I'm no theologian, but I have looked some into the history and traditions of the Lutheran church (and the Catholic church, for where would we be without them?) over the past few years, and I can only say that I have come away from my reading with the knowledge that there is such an amazing, deep, and beautiful history behind every word spoken during a service and every "ritual" we perform, even down to the color of stole the pastor wears. With such a beautiful and storied heritage, it surprises me that people would feel the need to "supplement" what God has given us by adding elements of entertainment. To me, it's like walking into the Louvre, pulling the Mona Lisa off the wall, and sticky-tacking up an Avril Lavigne concert poster. The "new" way of doing church just can't compare in any way to its beautiful and meaningful origins, in my opinion.
That should be:
"...National Council of Churches REPORT that..."
Sorry, I'm tired. :)
and:
"...there is an OVERALL increase..."
dang.
So i thought I'd chime in here. Sara points out some good statistics about church growth in America. One thing you will notice is that the denominations that are losing membership (as even the LA Times pointed out in an article) are denominations that have changed significantly over the last few decades (i.e. Episcopal, PCUSA, Methodists, etc). These denominations have, at least in part, moved towards more ecumenical focuses (not only beyond denominational lines but religious lines as well) and their theology has become increasingly liberal as a result. The reason why people are leaving these denominations is because they are being told in church "NO you don't have to change, your religion should look exactly how you want it to be in fact we'll change for you." So people are asking themselves, 'why do I have to come to church to do things that i do anyway and to practice a religion that is entirely contoured to me? I can do that at home.'
Sorry, I have more to say but I accidentally pushed enter.
Scottie said, "If it didn't, we'd all be worshiping in Latin, or maybe even earlier languages. After all, we've translated the original Biblical texts to make them relevant to different people groups."
First of all, to call a comparison between translating the Bible into other languages and having a service in a comedy club "a stretch" is a stretch. First of all, people are not going to miss out on the gospel if it is not placed between punchlines about airline food and how white guys are so lame. Secondly, with the translation of the Bible you had an already hungry Christian body who were asking for the Bible to be translated. It wasn't a bunch of Cardinals sitting around saying, "Hey people aren't coming to church what's a good outreach gimmick? Oh let's translate the Bible!"
The problem with people today is that the church assumes that people are not informed about the church or don't have enough access or the right kind of access. The truth is churches are everywhere and come in all shapes and sizes and everyone knows it. The problem is that people don't want to change, they want to be told that the things they are doing are fine, that they can keep on living their life the same way and God can just mold himself around that. Having these types of "outreach" just feed into the spiritual laziness of our culture.
What most damaging about these sorts of things is that it undermines one of the churches strongest asset: being the unshaken unmoved presence in the world. This comedy club church thing paints the church as just another fad; another gimmicky institution trying to convince people that they are with it. People have seen it before and the ad agencies, TV, and internet do it better.
What we need is to make the church a place to go when people realize that they want something different, something counter cultural. The church is a place to go to wash the after taste of consumerism, situational ethics, and popular culture out of their mouths.
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