Mega-Community November 26, 2007
Posted by Zack in Ohio , trackback
Yesterday, we were in Columbus, Ohio, and went to one of American’s most dynamic and interesting mega-churches, Vineyard Columbus.
Vineyard Columbus is an example of the mega-church phenomenon at its best. Some say large churches allow people to avoid community because they are so easy to attend anonymously. You can go, and have a powerful experience of worship with the great musicians and preachers that large churches attract, and run home without getting wrapped up in anyone else’s life.
Vineyard Columbus, however, is a pressure cooker of community. As we walked into the sanctuary, where a band and choir were already booming, volunteers handed us a magazine called The Mix that lists literally hundreds of small groups, classes, service opportunities and social activities for adults and children. Before the sermon, two speakers urged people to get involved by tapping into a small group or other activity. All around the church, there were directories of small groups on dozens of topics—so that any individual can make direct contact with a group in their area. The pre-sermon speakers reminded small group members that there were cards in the pews for inviting anyone they met at church to their group. And new comers were asked to raise their hands to receive a special welcome packet that included more information on groups and activities, as well as information about the church and a CD of worship music produced by the church.
That may sound like a lot of hype and marketing, but it wasn’t. It was totally low key. The feeling we had was of a large church that was bursting at the seams with community, and that if we lived in Columbus it would be the easiest thing in the world to become an integral part of it.
(Vineyard Columbus has also become a major social service provider in Columbus. I met senior pastor Rich Nathan at Sojourners Call to Renewal earlier this year and heard about the various programs that the church is running. To do the church’s community work justice, I’d have interview church and city leaders, and unfortunately I’m not able to now.)
As you can see from the pictures, the church is enormous. We entered through the far entrance and walked through two different sections where younger and older children have their worship services. Each was packed. There were plenty of adults around, but kids seemed to be doing a lot of the work of greeting people, distributing info and getting ready for the services. It looked like a great place to be a kid. I wonder what the culture is like among kids at these big churches that are trying so hard to live as radical followers of Jesus. Do the kids still have cliques? Is there a popular group that ignores everyone else? Or do they actually live differently?
The sermon, by Steve Robbins, was exciting and fascinating. I think Vineyard is firmly in the “Kingdom Theology” camp—but I’m not sure if this is true for all Vineyard churches, or just the one’s I’ve visited or listened to online. Robbins’ sermon was all about building the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth now.
The Vineyard is not a denomination, but a family of more than 1,500 churches, that have come together or have been planted as part of the Vineyard movement with a shared culture and set of values. (Many outsiders consider them a denomination.)
Robbins’ sermon focused on the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven. He said that every time someone is healed of addiction, every time that broken relationship is put back together, every time that love overcomes violence…that the Kingdom of Heaven comes closer.
And he added to that: “Every time a structural, political evil that oppresses” people is undone, the Kingdom of Heaven comes closer.
He talked about how he grew up in a “suburban, affluent, white…and racist” community, and that the first thing God called him to change when he became a Christian was his racism. The message he got from God was, (paraphrasing) “If you don’t start valuing people as I do…and stop looking down on people who look different from you…then you’re not going to be able to know me.” (When he says “God told me…” he didn’t mean that he heard a voice from God, but that he had a set of experiences, probably involving a lot of Bible study and worship, that led him to that conclusion.)
Going to church at Vineyard Columbus yesterday led me to more thinking and research on several topics: the growing influence of Charismatic Christianity on mainline and traditional Evangelical Christianity, the importance of the (hippy) Jesus Movement on the Evangelical explosion of the 80’s, 90’s and present day and “Transformationalism“. And Steve Robbin’s sermon brought up some really tough issues for me regarding international evangelism. I was on a roll here, about to pack all those topics into one post, but for your sake I’m stopping myself and will hopefully pick up those topics in posts through this week.
(Pict from Vineyard Columbus website)
Comments»
Zack-
At a Vineyard church, “God told me…” may very well mean “God told me…”.
Hearing from God is very much a part of the charismatic tradition.
I loved the last Vineyard church I visited. They played a Christian lyric version of a classic Jimi Hendrix tune during praise and worship.
That’s true! But it didn’t seem like he was saying that in this case. In other part of the sermon he talked about someone actually hearing God’s voice and specified it.
Anyways, I didn’t mean to say that some of these folks don’t actually hear God’s voice sometimes. I was just trying to point out that the typical use of “God told me…” is usually a lot more like a mental process that non-religious folks are actually pretty comfortable with.
If you’re still in Columbus, you should check out the Xenos (http://xenos.org) community of churches. Xenos is a large network of home churches that focuses on propositional evangelism, communal worship and cultural relevance. This church breaks out of every theological and ecclesiological box I’ve ever tried to put it in and is filled with a great group of people besides.
I really enjoy your charitable and creative coverage of progressive evangelicalism. Here’s to hoping that my evangelical brothers and sisters can learn to extend such charity to the secular left.
Peace.
[…] heard a message (seemed really short but was about 30 minutes) from Steve Robbins of Columbus, OH. This blog gives a good idea of what his church is […]