http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/62754_mega18.shtml
Inside the pink, century-old Queen Anne United Methodist Church, worship is a sparse, graying affair. Fifty is considered young here, and hip replacements and recent widows have been popular subjects for prayer requests.
On one typical Sunday, as the Rev. Rex Van Beek donned his white robe and began a sermon on human worth, he confronted not just sin and Scripture, but rows and rows of empty pews.
"I'm a sinner ... am I a worthy pastor?" he asked the scattered few. Cavernous silence greeted him, until a reedy, elderly voice piped up from the back: "We think you are."
A few Sundays later, 1,200 clapping, singing, swaying people filled the auditorium-sized Cedar Park Assembly of God in Bothell. Wearing a smart gray suit, the Rev. Joe Fuiten leaped to the microphone, surrounded by young couples, toddlers, bright-eyed teens, floodlights, two televisions, three video cameras and a nine-piece band.
"I know I'm looking at a bunch of failures today. Don't mean to be rude to ya. But hey! We're forgiven!" he told the crowd, popping a thumbs-up sign. A big-screen TV behind him flashed, "God wants you to talk!"
One fading, the other flourishing, the two churches illustrate a significant trend in modern Christianity. For decades, mainline Protestant churches have been losing millions of people nationwide, while "megachurches" -- usually large, suburban and evangelical -- have blossomed.
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i'm atheist so i don't know why i even care but i think it's really sad and stupid that the traditional churches are losing ground to these newfangled "megachurches". i *liked* the quiet sanctity of the old churches... i mean i'm not religious, but old churches just have a religious *feel* to it. i do *not* think that churches should strive to be like Starbucks or whatever. i thought the whole point of church was that it was a house of god and that you go there to get closer to him. if there is a god (which i doubt) i bet he's pissed off cuz people are remodeling his house so that they want to go to it more often. :frown:
btw, i do have my own selfish reasons for caring i guess... i just liked it better when they didn't care if you went to church or were religious or not. i swear, ever since these "megachurches" came up, my christian friends are like "you should come, it's FUN!" sorry, but i'm going to go to a church, it'll be because i want to talk to the big guy, not because i want to get my jollies.
Inside the pink, century-old Queen Anne United Methodist Church, worship is a sparse, graying affair. Fifty is considered young here, and hip replacements and recent widows have been popular subjects for prayer requests.
On one typical Sunday, as the Rev. Rex Van Beek donned his white robe and began a sermon on human worth, he confronted not just sin and Scripture, but rows and rows of empty pews.
"I'm a sinner ... am I a worthy pastor?" he asked the scattered few. Cavernous silence greeted him, until a reedy, elderly voice piped up from the back: "We think you are."
A few Sundays later, 1,200 clapping, singing, swaying people filled the auditorium-sized Cedar Park Assembly of God in Bothell. Wearing a smart gray suit, the Rev. Joe Fuiten leaped to the microphone, surrounded by young couples, toddlers, bright-eyed teens, floodlights, two televisions, three video cameras and a nine-piece band.
"I know I'm looking at a bunch of failures today. Don't mean to be rude to ya. But hey! We're forgiven!" he told the crowd, popping a thumbs-up sign. A big-screen TV behind him flashed, "God wants you to talk!"
One fading, the other flourishing, the two churches illustrate a significant trend in modern Christianity. For decades, mainline Protestant churches have been losing millions of people nationwide, while "megachurches" -- usually large, suburban and evangelical -- have blossomed.
--------------
i'm atheist so i don't know why i even care but i think it's really sad and stupid that the traditional churches are losing ground to these newfangled "megachurches". i *liked* the quiet sanctity of the old churches... i mean i'm not religious, but old churches just have a religious *feel* to it. i do *not* think that churches should strive to be like Starbucks or whatever. i thought the whole point of church was that it was a house of god and that you go there to get closer to him. if there is a god (which i doubt) i bet he's pissed off cuz people are remodeling his house so that they want to go to it more often. :frown:
btw, i do have my own selfish reasons for caring i guess... i just liked it better when they didn't care if you went to church or were religious or not. i swear, ever since these "megachurches" came up, my christian friends are like "you should come, it's FUN!" sorry, but i'm going to go to a church, it'll be because i want to talk to the big guy, not because i want to get my jollies.
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