Scott
Puritan Board Graduate
Not that anyone here needs proof, but obviously preaching, doctrine, and teaching are becoming less important in many churches today. Evangelical churches are turning to gimmicks Here is a quote from an article in Business Week on Megachurches: "œTo reach [] untapped masses, savvy leaders are creating Sunday Schools that look like Disney World and church cafés with the appeal of Starbucks. Although most hold strict religious views, they scrap staid hymns in favor of multimedia worship and tailor a panoply of services to meet all kinds of consumer needs . . . Kids are often a prime target audience for megachurches. The main campus of Groeschel's Life Church in Edmond, Okla., includes a "˜Toon Town´ of 3D buildings, a 16-foot high slide, and an animatronic police chief who recites rules. All the razzmatazz has helped Life Church quadruple its Sunday school attendance to more than 2,500 a week."
Interesting thing is that the number of church attendance in America is statistically flat, in spite of the claims of these groups. The megachurches and the like basically have a Walmart effect, attracting church members from other churches like Walmart attract consumers from other stores.
In places where Christianity is growing numerically and is otherwise healthy, it is preaching, not gimmicks, that is strong. One example is China. The number of Chinese Christians has increased from 1 million in 1950 to an estimated 80 million today. Most of these are in underground house churches. An average church service in one of these underground churches is very simple. They typically last two to three hours. They have allot of singing and loud praying. They also have a sermon that averages an hour in length. They really care about the Word. They do not have animitronic police officers or other gimmicks.
Scott
[Edited on 11-14-2005 by Scott]
Interesting thing is that the number of church attendance in America is statistically flat, in spite of the claims of these groups. The megachurches and the like basically have a Walmart effect, attracting church members from other churches like Walmart attract consumers from other stores.
In places where Christianity is growing numerically and is otherwise healthy, it is preaching, not gimmicks, that is strong. One example is China. The number of Chinese Christians has increased from 1 million in 1950 to an estimated 80 million today. Most of these are in underground house churches. An average church service in one of these underground churches is very simple. They typically last two to three hours. They have allot of singing and loud praying. They also have a sermon that averages an hour in length. They really care about the Word. They do not have animitronic police officers or other gimmicks.
Scott
[Edited on 11-14-2005 by Scott]