the influence of mega-churches

[cellio]

This article on mega-church worship style in synagogues discusses some happenings at the just-ended URJ biennial convention. If this is a new trend in Jewish worship, I can't say I'm impressed.

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.

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.

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.

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?

Comments

[amergina.livejournal.com]

glah.

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.

[zare-k.livejournal.com]

What, people don't sit through enough powerpoint at work?

[cafemusique.livejournal.com]

We used PowerPoint on occasion in my last congregation, which would probably have an average attendance of <100.

The argument in that circumstance was that it allowed people to participate without burying their heads in the order of service. That said, it was used sparingly: for song lyrics and prayers that would change from Sunday to Sunday. (Especially since most weeks we used overhead transparencies for song lyrics not in their hymnal. And we provided paper copies for those whose vision required them, though there were some stumbles until we recognized the barriers there.)

[dvarin.livejournal.com]

While things usually work best in a smaller community, occaisional reminders that you're part of a really large extended group (a nation, even) don't seem inherently bad. Though light shows are probably overdoing it.

[chaos-wrangler.livejournal.com]

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.

This also doesn't work for anyone who literally isn't on the same page as everyone else: people who arrive late (for whatever reason) and want to make sure they say some of the more important things that they skipped, people who pray at a slower speed (whether from personal preference so they can concentrate on the words or because they read Hebrew more slowly or...), etc. It's also lousy for teaching someone new: how can you flip through the prayerbook and say "this is what's happening now, and then this, and then we'll that..." if there's no book to flip through? You also can't help by pointing at the current line or word if the words are across the room - my mom helped teach me the service when I was young by keeping one finger pointed at the current line so I could always look at her book if I got lost.

Granted, I'm coming from an odd background of entire-life observant orthodox (me) mixed with later-in-life observant orthodox (my dad) mixed with entire-life observant non-orthodox (my mom) mixed with inclusiveness (if a non-observant/orthodox/Jewish friend visits and wants to go to shul with me, I want them to feel welcome rather than completely lost), but I can't help thinking about the needs of these types of people, and I don't think most of them are well served by the system you're describing.

I also find the idea of 6,000 people as one minyan rather overwhelming, and I don't think I would feel the same sense of participating there as I would in the much smaller places I'm used to. I go to pray, not just to watch whoever is leading the service or reading from the torah - to me this sounds too much like a sing-along concert.

[ginamariewade.livejournal.com]

In addition to the issues that you've brought up, a lot of the mega-churches are, to some extent, a cult of personality. They revolve around one particular preacher, like Joel Osteen, Creflo Dollar, etc.
That would be the last thing that Judaism needs.

That style of worship has never worked for me.

The only benefit to extremely large congregations (and the church I was raised in was large like that - an average attendance of 800 in Sunday School) is that there is a larger talent pool for leadership and socialization. I don't think that it helps much in terms of prayerfulness.

[murmur311.livejournal.com]

As someone who was in attendance at the "mega-church" services at the URJ Biennial this year, I feel the need to weigh in.

I usually hate large services. They lack the intimacy and the personal connection that I value most when worshipping. However I am going to defend the Shabbat services in San Diego on a couple of grounds.

1. The room we were in had one level, meaning people in the back and sides would be out of luck if they wanted to see the worship leaders at all. While I know this shouldn't be a big deal, I think it is for people and it helps them feel connected with what is going on.

2. Yes, it was somewhat choreographed, but when you are leading 6000 people in song and prayer, I would think that it would need to be to keep confusion to a minimum. However, the music was decent and it didn't feel like a performance to me, and I am pretty sensitive to worship turning into performance.

3. We did have prayerbooks for both services. I know there was one evening service during the week that did the powerpoint/projection thing with the words, but we all had Mishkan T'filah for both Shabbat services (and everyone was given a copy to take home at the end of Saturday morning).

That said, it wasn't the most overwhelming service I have ever been to. Everyone told me that it would blow me away, that hearing 5000 Jews all singing the Shema at once is incredibly powerful. And yes, it is cool to have such a large room full of committed, Reform Jews saying the Shema and praying together. But, I honestly was more energized by the Shacharit service I went to Thursday morning that was entirely in song. For one, it was a much smaller crowd, maybe 200. Plus it was guitar music and totally uplifting; everyone sang and sang with such enthusiasm for what they were praying. I left there completely energized and full of spirit. I wish I could have left Shabbat services with the same feeling, but they were good nonetheless.

I will say that the large Shabbat services were interesting for another reason. There were 5 of us from my congregation, including my rabbi. None of us bow during the Barechu or kiss the Torah or bow during the Amidah. We were definitely in the minority there. I thought it would bother me, but I know why I do and don't do certain things, so instead it just made me feel happy and proud that each way of worship was valid there.

[sethg]

IIRC the mega-churches, aside from the big auditorium services, also have smaller prayer groups and support groups, so members can have groups that they identify with on a variety of scales.

I think this is a clever idea, but I'm not sure how it could be implemented effectively in a Jewish context, especially in a no-driving-on-Shabbat context.