More Than a Talk Show
The Rebirth of Worship-Centered Evangelism
Sally Morgenthaler
April 1, 2001
As a young ministry leader in the eighties, I avidly joined the ranks of the entrepreneurial church, embracing its nearly singular fixation: crafting user-friendly services for returning baby boomers. On a non-existent budget, I shuttled between megachurch conferences, relishing the dual emphases on excellence and relevance. Most of all, I admired the raw courage it took to acknowledge that, yes, the good old U. S. of A. was indeed a mission field. What a concept. However, after half a dozen of these conference forays, I started feeling uneasy. On the van rides home, I celebrated less and ruminated more. No longer did I strategize about what our congregation could apply. My behind-the-wheel musings signaled a strange, subterranean discontent that took several years to excavate. I hid my doubts. How ludicrous to entertain qualms in the face of what appeared to be unparalleled success. Why couldn't I be like my comrades? Each year, they proudly bore home their conference spoils: tales of church attendance as eye-widening as any Sasquatch legend; marketing techniques that rivaled Domino's Pizza's; and, ah, the sweet surety of formula. My community in south suburban Denver was no exception. Here, dense housing developments gobbled the stretches of prairie I had known as a child. Schools and shopping centers dotted the bulldozed landscape in record time. It was to this much-altered and cloned frontier that young ministry leaders returned from their pilgrimages, megachurch dreams in their Dockers pockets. Soon, the newly poured sidewalks were littered with sandwich signs bearing quintessential North American Generic names: Mountainview Community Church, SouthHills, Ridgecrest, Deercreek, Frontrange, Stonybrook. In rented gymnasiums ...
Like the preview? To read this complete article
and 18,013 more in the archive—JOIN NOW!
Easily find high-quality, well-researched materials that provide a Christian perspective on topics ranging from headlines to history.
Start using this invaluable tool TODAY for preparing your Bible studies, presentations, class lectures, sermons, meetings, and more.
|
It's easy and quick to join:
Brought to You by Christianity Today Int'l |  |
|
| 
Find similar articles
E-mail this page
