Spectacular Worship

http://www.celebrationchurch.net/


The posts about the St. Olaf Christmas Festival and the election of a new pope reminded me of another religious spectacle that has always intrigued me: the mega-church. I took a course last year called Worship and Theology and as part of an assignment for this class I visited a worship service at Celebration Church in Lakeville.

Central to the success of Celebration Church is their priority on “quality entertainment,” a key component to their evangelism. At one point, the pastor referred to their institution as a “soul saving station," making it clear that a goal of this religious institution was to reach as many people as possible, and in order to achieve this goal they create quite a spectacle! The huge auditorium with its LCD screens indicated an effort to draw people in and make worship as entertaining and spectacular as attending a rock concert.

While the building and stage itself was quite an exhibition, the worshipers made a spectacle of themselves. During the music worshipers literally reached their hands up to God. Uncensored participation was encouraged in the service; people were expected to stand, sing along, and repeat mantras like “We are warriors of Christ” and “I am part of the victory!” after the preachers. There were often shouts of “Amen!” and “That’s right!” during the message. Very public prayer was an important component of the service. “Prayer counselors” stood at the front of the stage to offer support to those who felt too much emotion to deal with their human trials alone. Certainly, a genuine concern for giving and receiving support was there, but something about being seen at the front of the auditorium during prayer was valued by the congregation.

Celebration Church valued the testimonies given during the service from members who had converted to the faith, but amid all the display it was hard to pick out a message or any really substantial argument for why these people chose to be "saved" in the first place. To be fair, I think many denominations of faith, if not all, have become trapped in tradition and spectacle at the expense of a genuine spiritual experience.