MEGACHURCH

Use this forum to discuss past Good Words.
LukeJavan8
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 4423
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2009 6:16 pm
Location: Land of the Flat Water

Postby LukeJavan8 » Fri Dec 16, 2011 12:21 pm

I have no problem keeping or using any unsolicited
item, like labels. I too had a stack thick enough to
fill a desk drawer. I recently got rid of the desk, and
threw away about 90% of them, keeping only the
ones that were in my "style". I never respond to any
solicitor either, except to tell them that I am on
the "Do not Call" list of the Fed Gov't. I called them
again on the first Friday of November, and have
received 56 calls in the 6 weeks following. They say
you can file a complaint, but being a governmental
agency, I have doubts it will work. Calls from all
over the country about credit. If you try to get a
live person on the phone when the calls come it,
they hang up on you, and an hour later the same
call from same state comes again. Very nervewracking.
-----please, draw me a sheep-----

Philip Hudson
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2784
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2006 4:41 am
Location: Texas

megachurch

Postby Philip Hudson » Tue Jan 03, 2012 5:40 pm

I belong to a church that is almost a megachurch. It is a megachurch on Christmas and Easter. I find it to be a warm fellowship that does not try to bilk people out of their hard earned cash and that doesn't preach or teach an off beat doctrine. Because we are divided into smaller Bible Fellowship Classes we have the social advantage of a small church with the programatic advantages of a large church.

I believe there are many more megachurches than the cited number. There are probably several hundred in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Many Catholic Churches in DFW are megachurches, something one might not have thought had one not done a little investigation.
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.

LukeJavan8
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 4423
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2009 6:16 pm
Location: Land of the Flat Water

Postby LukeJavan8 » Wed Jan 04, 2012 2:13 pm

Interesting the Catholics have mega churches.
The Christmas and Easter crowd, called C&E
Christians are most popular everywhere. Unfortunately
not with their money. My experience with the mega
variety is that they rely heavily on emotional services,
heavy with acoustics, video presentations, monstrous
musical adaptations with live orchestras, etc. Getting
the emotions is important, and if it supports "faith", that
is OK, but it also seems far too often that is all they
offer.
-----please, draw me a sheep-----

Perry Lassiter
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 3333
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:41 pm
Location: RUSTON, LA
Contact:

Postby Perry Lassiter » Wed Jan 04, 2012 4:34 pm

The megachurches I have studied get those characteristics from their Sunday worship services which are aimed at "seekers." Largely aimed at younger audiences, the loud, repetitive music is similar to the pop stuff currently in vogue. A younger minister in his 40's once commented on a religious radio station that didn't appeal to me much. He said he grew up listening to a very different kind of music than I did, so he "grocked" this. The mega-churches have other services and classes for members, sometimes even "schools" to go deeper into theology and Bible study.
pl

LukeJavan8
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 4423
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2009 6:16 pm
Location: Land of the Flat Water

Postby LukeJavan8 » Wed Jan 04, 2012 6:38 pm

Yes, these are the characteristics I have noted as well.
-----please, draw me a sheep-----

Philip Hudson
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2784
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2006 4:41 am
Location: Texas

mega-church

Postby Philip Hudson » Thu Feb 09, 2012 6:09 pm

I have followed the responses closely and I see that there is a wide range of opinions about the definition of a mega-church. I think some people’s opinion may be influenced by mega-churches that are on television networks. Many mega-churches are not TV churches and many TV mega-churches are not like those the responders have described. Some mega-churches may be "seeker" churches, whatever that means, and some are given to unusual music and worship styles. Our church is an ordinary church. It is little different than it was when it had 100 members 150 years ago. We do have worship with a large choir, a magnificent organ and an orchestra, but the music runs from the traditional, to the classical, to recently written high quality music. There are no 7-11 songs. (That means seven words sung eleven or more times.) We are not given to emotionalism. There are no hard sells. The sermon is dynamic but it is also scholarly and designed for the maturation of the Christian and the introduction of the non-Christian to the fundamentals of the faith. We are neither fundamentalist nor liberal. My great-great-great grandfather, a pastor in his day, would feel comfortable preaching in my church and would be well received.

An advantage of being big is an economy of scale. It allows for multiple specialized choirs and orchestras and for many educational programs. It encourages a large ethnic and cultural mix. It allows a much larger and diverse mission to the world. I feel that the individual can practice his calling from God with more resources. Perhaps we can praise God on a larger scale (but not differently nor more pleasingly to God). The same God is praised and worshiped in the smallest Christian church as in the largest Christian church. I have been a member of all sized churches except for the Mega-mega-church. Some of those seem to preach prosperity and not humility, success and not sanctity.

In parting, if you were an active member of the church I belong to and you were not attending, you would be missed.
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.

LukeJavan8
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 4423
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2009 6:16 pm
Location: Land of the Flat Water

Postby LukeJavan8 » Thu Feb 09, 2012 6:15 pm

Here they look like two or three high school gymnasiums
hooked together, or perhaps a college or city
auditorium or field house. There is lots of emotionalism,
acoustics, huge screens for photos and big band
instrumentalizations - all contributing to a well
orchestrated performance. I see them more as
performance than anything, tho' if they contribute
to worship that is OK. If people get something out
of it, again OK. But don't see worship primarily as
something people get, but as something they
give to God.
-----please, draw me a sheep-----

Philip Hudson
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2784
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2006 4:41 am
Location: Texas

mega-churches

Postby Philip Hudson » Fri Feb 10, 2012 2:53 am

LukeJavan8 and others,

You are so right on the last part of your previous post, Luke. Worship is a drama in which we are the actors and God is the audience. It is our desire to honor him.

If you are still worried about programs, I know that there are some mega-churches that are just as you describe them. But there are many mega-churches the way I have described them.

If you think historically, you will notice the cathedrals of Europe. They are mega-churches in a sense. I have had the opportunity of worshiping in several cathedrals in England and they have many markings of a mega-church: large buildings, trained choirs, orchestras on occasion, organs that make our organ look and sound puny by comparison, expert and compelling preaching, the celebration of Holy Communion in an impressive ritual that invites all believers to partake, and huge ministerial staffs, to name a few. I know that they are also the headquarters of a bishop and, in the case of Canterbury, the headquarters of the entire Anglican and Episcopal Church, but they are primarily places of worship.

I will not name or describe specific mega- and mega-mega-churches (like field-houses as you say) in this forum. But if anyone wants a detailed discussion, please e-mail me at hudsonpw@tx.rr.com.
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.

Philip Hudson
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2784
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2006 4:41 am
Location: Texas

Mega-churches

Postby Philip Hudson » Fri Feb 10, 2012 2:54 am

LukeJavan8 and others,

You are so right on the last part of your previous post, Luke. Worship is a drama in which we are the actors and God is the audience. It is our desire to honor him.

If you are still worried about programs, I know that there are some mega-churches that are just as you describe them. But there are many mega-churches the way I have described them.

If you think historically, you will notice the cathedrals of Europe. They are mega-churches in a sense. I have had the opportunity of worshiping in several cathedrals in England and they have many markings of a mega-church: large buildings, trained choirs, orchestras on occasion, organs that make our organ look and sound puny by comparison, expert and compelling preaching, the celebration of Holy Communion in an impressive ritual that invites all believers to partake, and huge ministerial staffs, to name a few. I know that they are also the headquarters of a bishop and, in the case of Canterbury, the headquarters of the entire Anglican and Episcopal Church, but they are primarily places of worship.

I will not name or describe specific mega- and mega-mega-churches (like field-houses as you say) in this forum. But if anyone wants a detailed discussion, please e-mail me at hudsonpw@tx.rr.com.
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.

wurdpurrson
Lexiterian
Posts: 168
Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 7:43 pm
Location: Olympic Peninsula, WA

alternatives to megachurches

Postby wurdpurrson » Fri Feb 10, 2012 6:34 pm

All of the prior comments make me appreciate what I am: a back-slid Anglican neo-Pagan with Taoist leanings. My UU friends tell me I'm a Unitarian.

Perry Lassiter
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 3333
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:41 pm
Location: RUSTON, LA
Contact:

Postby Perry Lassiter » Sat Feb 11, 2012 1:14 am

Does that mean you have it all together?
pl

wurdpurrson
Lexiterian
Posts: 168
Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 7:43 pm
Location: Olympic Peninsula, WA

Postby wurdpurrson » Mon Feb 13, 2012 6:15 am

Mostly. In measured doses, one at a time.

LukeJavan8
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 4423
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2009 6:16 pm
Location: Land of the Flat Water

Postby LukeJavan8 » Mon Feb 13, 2012 1:34 pm

With regards to God being the audience, too often
people don't understand that. They quit all
Church because it does not "turn them on".
-----please, draw me a sheep-----

Perry Lassiter
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 3333
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:41 pm
Location: RUSTON, LA
Contact:

Postby Perry Lassiter » Mon Feb 13, 2012 2:23 pm

Some of that comes from churches seeking to entertain in order to bring people in. Someone has said, "he came to scoff, but stayed to pray." To scoff might be changed as "to be entertained." That approach produced a tendency to shallowness, but you have to wade through the shallows to reach the depths.
pl

LukeJavan8
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 4423
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2009 6:16 pm
Location: Land of the Flat Water

Postby LukeJavan8 » Mon Feb 13, 2012 7:44 pm

Very good point.
-----please, draw me a sheep-----


Return to “Good Word Discussion”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Ahrefs [Bot], Bing [Bot] and 1 guest