[pea-jay]

The New York Times had a great article on the MegaChurch, the catch-all form of worship springing up in your average boomburg near you. I couldn't help but shake my head in disbelief on some of the stuff in the article, which is 11 pages long, by the way.

SNIPPETS:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')n fact, everything about Radiant has been designed to lure people away from other potential weekend destinations. The foyer includes five 50-inch plasma-screen televisions, a bookstore and a cafe with a Starbucks-trained staff making espresso drinks. (For those who are in a rush, there's a drive-through latte stand outside the main building.) Krispy Kreme doughnuts are served at every service. (Radiant's annual Krispy Kreme budget is $16,000). For kids there are Xboxes (10 for fifth and sixth graders alone). ''That's what they're into,'' McFarland says. ''You can either fight it or say they're a tool for God.'' The dress code is lax: most worshipers wear jeans, sweats or shorts, depending on the season. (''At my old church, we thought we were casual because we wore mock turtlenecks under our blazers,'' Radiant's youth pastor told me.) Even the baptism pool is seductive: Radiant keeps the water at 101 degrees. ''We've had people say, 'No, leave me under,' '' McFarland says. ''It's like taking a dip in a spa.''

When the church was under construction, people would occasionally ask McFarland if it was going to have stained glass or a steeple. ''No!'' he'd answer. ''We want the church to look like a mall. We want you to come in here and say, 'Dude, where's the cinema?' ''

The spiritual sell is also a soft one. There are no crosses, no images of Jesus or any other form of religious iconography. Bibles are optional (all biblical quotations are flashed on huge video screens above the stage). Almost half of each service is given over to live Christian rock with simple, repetitive lyrics in which Jesus is treated like a high-school crush: ''Jesus, you are my best friend, and you will always be. Nothing will ever change that.'' Committing your life to Christ is as easy as checking a box on the communication cards that can be found on the back of every chair. (Last year, 1,055 people did so.)

[mryan]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/03/27/urban. ... index.html

[JohnDenver]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pea-jay', ' ')Please leave your thinking caps in your Excursions or Escalades.

[Chicken_Little]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JohnDenver', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pea-jay', ' ')Please leave your thinking caps in your Excursions or Escalades.

[threadbear]

What dumb f****. The interior of BC, Canada is full of them too. People want life simplified down to it's component parts--and then they don't even get that right.

Radiant--Now we know what Hell looks like. The road to it isn't even paved with good intentions, just corporate bottom line thinking.

People who are this willfully stupid get everything they deserve in the future. I just feel really sorry for their children. They don't deserve it.

[pea-jay]

Here's a peak at that church, courtesy of their web site.


http://www.radiantchurch.com

it's...interesting.

[DomusAlbion]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Chicken_Little', 'Y')ou think 650,000 people in the middle of the desert makes any kind of sense?

[Chicken_Little]

So let's hear your prognosis, John Denver, for the good citizens of Surprise, Arizona, all 650,000 of them.

Nothing to say?

Are you sure?

i didn't think so.

Now go get your f**king shinebox.

[mgibbons19]

Places like that surely can't last.

About the church, it says a lot about the paucity of community in those areas. Notice the article says most of their ministry is done through side doors. Bringing ppl in based on the many services they provide, and hoping they stay. Daycare, workout classes, recovery, marriage counseling, sunday morning donuts and coffee. All these are things that more traditional communities provide through their kinship and community networks. But since edge cities are made up of ppl who are from somewhere else, on their way to somewhere else, with no real friends in town, those networks literally do not exist.

Isn't it funny too just how deeply antithetical this "spirituality" is to Weber's Protestent Ethic? Roughly the same ppl sect-wise, but vastly different in approach.

[threadbear]

Great post, Gibbons. You nailed the source of the problem. It's not just collective insanity, there's a lot more going on here.

[pea-jay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'M')ocking people about their cars... I'm shocked pea-jay. Shocked. The least you could have done is include a photo.
What kind of car do you drive pea-jay?

[mgibbons19]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('threadbear', 'G')reat post, Gibbons. You nailed the source of the problem. It's not just collective insanity, there's a lot more going on here.