Archive - May, 2008

“Celebrity” churches

May 31, 2008 in Church with 4 Comments

There’s reports on the net that Chris Tomlin and Louie Giglio from the Passion Movement in the States are going to set up a church in Atlanta.

Man of Depravity suggests that this will become the fastest growing church in America.

I’ve heard Louie speak many times, and think both he & Chris are extremely anointed individuals. I’m sure that they’ve really spent time praying about this, and that God has put this call on them.

I do think this raises the question of “Celebrities” leading churches though. Will this become the fastest growing church because God will use it to bring about revival and lots of people will come to faith, or will it be because lots of people in other churches want to be at Chris & Louie’s church, and leave their current place of worship? Does it matter?

Church consumerism or “Church Hopping” seems to be on the increase, where people are constantly looking to get the best “service” they can. If the music/worship/teaching/ etc isn’t suiting them, they look for somewhere else. If a well known Christian celebrity comes to town, then that’s obviously the place to be!

Of course, in one sense, we are the one catholic and apostolic church, so where we actually worship probably doesn’t matter a huge amount as long as we’re in a place where we can worship God and grow in our relationship with Him, but some questions I have:

  • What about the smaller, less famous churches who lose people to be at the next big thing? Do mega-churches with popular pastors/worship leaders find smaller churches are jealous at their perceived success, making unity difficult?
  • Are mega-churches always successful?
  • How difficult is it for leaders like Chris & Louie to keep focussed on Christ when they are seen as the celebrities?

I’ll post again when I’ve thought about those questions a bit more!

Fresh expressions and stuff

May 10, 2008 in Church with Comments Off

Today, I’ve spent the day at a Diocesan Gathering where people from across the Rochester Diocese have been discussing Fresh Expressions and new ways of being church. It was amazing that there are people from across the area who are prepared to give up a warm, sunny Saturday to look at the future of the church in our country.

Paul Bayes, the Archbishop’s Adviser on Mission & Evangelism, spoke about the impact of the new Bishops’ Mission Orders, and what these can mean for new churches. There were different seminars – I went to one on Foundations21 (which was a bit disappointing as it turned out to be more of a sales pitch for a very overpriced Alpha-type course rather than a session looking more generally at using the internet as a tool to engage people with the Gospel) and one on the impact of culture on discipleship and leadership in the church today, delivered by the LICC.

I came away so grateful for my church. Seeing how other churches are just about managing to hold family services every couple of months or are starting to use “alternative” worship ideas that have actually been around for a number of years makes me realise that however frustrating Pip n Jim’s can be at times, we’re actually engaging with our community much more than some other places are.

What surprised me was the lack of young people. And I don’t mean teenagers. Or even students. Esther & I probably made up 50% of those under 40. Maybe it was because it was a nice sunny day, or because of Radio 1′s big weekend nearby. But if the church is going to have any future, we need to engage younger people.

London’s Clown

May 4, 2008 in News with Comments Off

I like Boris…he’s comical, one of the better presenters on Have I Got News for You, and has a reputation for putting his foot in it that makes him seem like a bufoon. Does this mean he can run our Capital City? I think Mark’s picture answer’s that question!

Apparently, he didn’t drink alcohol for the duration of the election campaign, to ensure he wouldn’t do anything stupid. Now he’s been elected, will he become teetotal? Seeing as in his acceptance speech he said something along the lines of “I’ll start work tomorrow, but tonight, let’s have a drink” I doubt that very much.

Thankfully, I don’t live in London. But I do work there, so things such as public transport and policing do affect me. So I’ll look forward to reading about his gaffes in the news!

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