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the influence of mega-churches
The mega-church influence was felt as well during Friday night prayers, where 6,000 worshipers gathered in a cavernous room on the convention center's ground floor for a choreographed production of sight and sound.Now I'm all for music in worship; anyone who's heard me talk about my congregation surely knows that. But I do not attend services seeking "a choreographed production of sight and sound". I attend services to pray in community. Both parts of that, "pray" and "community", are important. Is 6000 people community? I think that's at least 5500 too many for me to have that kind of connection, personally. Maybe I'm societally deficient.Multiple cameras projected the service on several enormous screens suspended over the hall. A live band buoyed a service that was conducted almost entirely in song.
From what I understand (and have caught occasional glimpses of on TV on Sunday mornings), mega-churches are theatre, first and foremost. They are performances, deemed successful if the audience cheers or claps along enthusiastically (and maybe gets up to dance). Can you reach God by making a joyous sound, singing a new song? Of course! Is that what happens in those services? I wonder. Sometimes, for some people, of course -- but is the format an aid or a roadblock?
I don't know. I can ride that sort of wave of spirit in my 30-person Shabbat minyan and in our 300-person monthly musical service. Is 300 different in principle from 3000 or 30,000? It feels like it is. I know almost all of the 30 people and a good proportion of the 300, which probably makes a difference, but that's not all of it. I've been to services where I didn't know anyone and yet felt connected. I think it's also that among 30 or even 300, I can still feel like I matter. Among 3000? Not so much -- at that point I'm just an anonymous face in the crowd, not part of the community. Any face will do to build a crowd, but community happens person to person, soul to soul. Being just a face in the crowd is no different from being alone -- I might as well stay home and pray with fewer distractions. But that's not what I want.
One specific idea originating in mega-churches has come up in
discussions a number of times, and I find it particularly revolting:
the notion that instead of handing out prayer books, you project
the text, perhaps done up in Powerpoint, on big screens. Shoot
me now. Quite aside from the issues of doing this on Shabbat
(yeah, most Reform Jews don't care, but some of us do), quite
aside from how mood-detracting this is, there is the fact that
such a format is quite hostile to those of us with vision problems,
precisely at a time when movement leaders are telling congregations
we need to be more welcoming, friendly, and accessible. If your
quest for techno-gimmicks and new, young, hip members comes at
the expense of the committed congregants who are already
there, what message does that send?
"If the mega-churches can do it, maybe it'll work for us," said one member of Temple Holy Blossom, a large Reform congregation in Toronto. "I'm open to anything. As long as Jews are praying, I'm happy."The key phrase, treated here as a given, is "as long as Jews are praying". I hope that's what's happening in these kinds of worship services, but I'm not ready to assume it. I would like to hear from people who like this worship style. In what ways does it work for you? Are those benefits unique to this style of worship, or do you also get them through other styles (and if so, which)? What aspects of this worship style have made you struggle, and how have you overcome those difficulties?
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I can't get into mega-churches. I certainly hope your religion isn't infected with the evil that is power-point and religi-tainment.
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