People who pull on to the Church by the
Glades campus in Coral Springs, FL this Easter weekend will be greeted by friendly volunteers, fresh Krispy Kreme donuts, freshly-brewed Starbucks coffee and Judya 9,000 pound Indian
elephant. It is all part of their new relationship series entitled Rehab.
The purpose?
Week one of the series is about denial, said Pastor David
Hughes. Many relationships suffer due to a denial of the elephant in the rooman obvious misplaced priority or passion that the people involved refuse to acknowledge and deal with.
Here at Church by the Glades, we value creative communication, Hughes
added. He believes that having a real, live elephant there as
people enter the property will grab their attention from the moment they arrive.
We are always trying to find fun ways to engage people and start the
teaching time from the moment people drive onto our property, said Hughes.
History shows that Church by the Glades is in the habit of doing
creative things to
draw people to their church. They have used iPhones, iTunes
gift cards, Hannah Montana tickets and Nintendo Wiis to promote teaching series in the
past.
No not the Onion, but an actual press
release forwarded to me from
target=”_blank”>Dawn Eden concerning
href=”http://cbglades.com/” target=”_blank”>this
church. They certainly have a slick web site.
Most web sites for Catholcs churches are not exactly Web 2.0,
more likely Web .6 beta. You can always tell you are on a web
site for a Catholic church because when you click on the bulletin link
it either doesn’t work or gives you a bulletin from last year.
I guess though for this Florida church
that they can do a whole
series with animals.
- Grab one Camel and one needle or you’re all set to do
another example. One hump or two. - Then there is the Lion and the Lamb one to demonstrate that
we are not there yet. This one would not be for the faint of
heart. - Roll in a giant whale tank to do a sermon on Jonah.
Camping out for three days inside the whale first might be
rather iffy though. - Obviously there is the whole Ark thing and you can rent out
the contents of the local zoo for a demonstration. - Snakes are pretty versatile for exegesis. One day
you got Genesis, and Moses gives you lots of snake flexibility.
Then of course there are the Gospel example with Paul getting
bit and the picking up snake stuff that some Churches already cover.
I wonder if they advertise for a sacristine
with good shovel skills?
I am not surprised they have increased
church attendance by 40 percent in one year with giving out prizes in
teaching series. If you are going church shopping well why not pick one
with Starbucks coffee, Krispy Creme donuts, and
iPhone contests?
And of course rock worship music and
everything you need to make you feel at home (if you live in a
Mall)
means:
A RELEVENT CHURCH
Though possessing the ultimate truth, the Church is often guilty of
dumbing down and dulling down the life-altering message of Jesus
Christ. Lost in confusing jargon, bogged down in doctrinal
minutia – simply said – the church has not stayed current.
Nothing like an Elephant and Hannah
Montana tickets to keep the
church current.
St.
