Being a Church-Mart
Killing the Buddha has a piece called Church-Mart about a church with over 10,000 members.That is what the church is all about. The megachurch has over 10,000 members, a paid full time staff of 100, and ten departments. Among the departments are a children's department with a themed kids' play land, a worship department with extremely skilled musicians who create worship songs for the people at the megachurch to sing, and a singles department that organizes meetings to help people find godly husbands and wives.Sounds like being a member of that church is pretty easy and satisfying. We know that being a Unitarian Universalist isn't easy. Is it satisfying?The reason to have such a large church is so it can meet the needs of most of the congregation. The idea is that Americans like their churches like they like their Wal-Marts -- they want one place where things are easy to find and accessible, a place that can satisfy every faith need they could possibly have. So, the church's theology is simple: Believe in Jesus and you'll go to heaven; don't believe and you'll in end up in hell. In between, let God help you live a successful life on every level: family, business, community. Like Wal-Mart, the church has a culture of simplicity and convenience. And it works.
posted by Paul Wilczynski @ 7:30 AM
3 Comments:
I used to be a member of a megachurch, and attended several others, and I do find megachurches are like Wal-Mart or McDonalds. They are pretty and flashy, but not of much substance. The staff is so busy trying to get their 10 billionth 'McChurch' member that there is no time for either important discussions of theology or even important daily life matters.
I am much happier since I came to a smaller Unitarian-Universalist church. (and the UU's consider the church I attend a large church! it has 800 members).
While I'd like to see the UU church get better about outreach, I don't want to see a UU megachurch. I think that if a church gets so large that programs become more important than people, it's time to plant another small church.
Presto,
Thanks for the response. I've been to one service at one megachurch, and I got the feeling that a lot of the people who attended the service really got something - whatever that was - out of the service. I got the impression they felt they really benefited by being there.
I'm not sure if I get that feeling that UUs always feel like they got something out of a service. Perhaps it's a function of the individual church, of course.
Paul,
I'll tell you what megachurches do better than other churches, including UU.
1) The music and production values are top notch. They often have a full professional music staff, as well as professional theater personnel for sound and lighting. (I know, I used to be a paid sound guy in 3 different churches.)
2) Megachurches, as well as other charismatic churches, do a great job of getting the emotions going. First, the music sets the mood. Then the minister, through both the subject matter and delivery, such as cadence and getting emotional him/herself, gives a stirring delivery of his/her sermon. Third, there are the crowd dynamics. There is no rush like being part of an emotional crowd. I often get the same feeling at protest rallies when the speaker gives a stirring speech and the crowd goes wild, or even at an exciting baseball game.
The drawbacks are an obvious lack of theological depth and lack of time for individuals, but in my opinion most people are there for religious theater and emotional stimulation, not a philosophical discussion.
What I wonder, is if there might be a best of both worlds out there somewhere. The UU churches I have attended so far are intellecually stimulating, but are often devoid of passion. I'd like to see UU combine that philosophical depth with depth of emotion and passion. If we did that, we'd be unstoppable. Dr. King did that, why can't we?
I know that many UU's are afraid of showing that passion, or evangelical fervor, if you want to call it that, but I think that if we want to be effective in changing our world for the better, we must be able to stimulate the heart and soul, as well as the mind.
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