www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Parish Life & Evangelization Selling Jesus...short?

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0%2C5744%2C16654819%25255E28737%2C00.html

Here is an interesting approach to increasing attendance at church: develop a new marketing strategy that keeps the church, the Bible and religion out of the picture. Focus on Jesus and portray the Gospel in a sort of non-descript general "philosophy of life" kind of way.

It's a strategy that only an atheist marketing guy could dream up. And guess what - he did!

I'm all for accomodation, but not dilution. I think it is important to take a step back and see the message of Jesus from the perspective of someone hearing it for the first time. But IMHO, this goes a bit too far.

What are your thoughts?

Gordo

My thought: "Woe to me if I am ashamed of the gospel!"

Nietzsche says somewhere that there are English "flatheads" who think they can have Christian morality without Christ. Nietzsche is "fundamentally unsound," as Jeeves told Bertie Wooster, but he's dead on right about that. Without the person of Christ, the whole edifice collapses into a friendly nihilism.

I can appreciate their attempts to get "beyond" many of the popular associations with Christian churches. But at the same time, the Church is not just essential to our relationship with Christ, it IS our relationship with Christ! The two are inseperable, ontologically and existentially. This marketing campaign is definitely an attempt to make the church into a "loose association of Jesus friends" (not unlike the TV show, but with a spiritual bent). No commitment to anyone else, just free association with a movement. Certainly this has some appeal, but it really is a sort of Gnostic form of Christianity. It is an attempt to tap into the "radical, socially conscious spiritual movement" created by Christianity without acknowledging the fully ecclesial and sacramental nature of of the "Christ-life" and the fulness of the Gospel message that helped create the movement to begin with.

My two cents...

Gordo

one thing i appreciate about our small byzantine parish is that it has very few "programs" which draw people to the church on days other than sunday. in this way, i believe our church does not fall into the trap, as many churches do, of thinking that programs and all things having to do with the church body are what being a good christian is all about.
the way our parish does things, on a small scale, says to me that the sunday eucharist is our time to be together. if we're together more, for different occaissions, great, if not, it will suffice. what we are called to do is to live out our faith in the liturgy after the Liturgy, in the faith that our Liturgy sustains us and is a true experience of divine presence and salvation.
I think somehow drawing people, on individual and group levels, into the Byzantine spirituality is how we'll "get" new folks. that's how i was "gotten"!
mari

Didn't Dostoevsky say "Programs will save the earth."?

"Programs" are really a structured series of events/activities which help to facilitate formation in relationships (to God, the Church, etc). Problems arise when people treat them as ends unto themselves, as opposed to a means to facilitate the communion of persons.

And I agree with your assessment of our parish and the fact that we do not overuse the program model for parish life.

Gordo

The Church should be the formost center of our lives. Our homes should be built about Church, we are the domestic Church and are called to live so even though we are not present to the pysical Church as a building. However, if we look at our immigrant grandparents, the community was totally focused on the life to Christ. I don't know about programs, but when our Church doors are opened we are called to be present to Christ. The bells ring our loudly annousing his being present at the consecration of the Eucharist. All ears should hear.

It does take organization within the Church in all areas for the Church to function properly - a lot of times that means programs - although it is not a word we use. Most of these are not an end all in themselves, but a stepping stone to greater service for the body of Christ.

Pani Rose

Gordo,

Me too having been involved in congregations where the model got over done and the purpose dimmed in the midst of all of the activities namely a Roman Catholic parish in rural Alaska in the 80's.

It should all flow from our Christian vision and Liturgical worship. Perhaps some better words depending on which thing we are talking about would be: service, activity, workshop, seminar, meeting, or class for those "programs." Sometimes, if a temporary thing, we can say "project." which, of course, we do, e.g. building project, clean up project, lawn project, potluck project (whoops...I went a bit far there)I actually meant 'potluck dinner' even though for those of us who have helped organized a hundred or so it can definitely be considered a "project."

The Church is also family and we don't use the word "program" in conjunction with our activities in the family. (I don't think). So that is something we might reflect a bit on and see how that model fits.

Whatever we call these various functions-- all should be part of the process of building one another up in the Body of Christ to facilitate spiritual and moral growth, to support, to love God and others, to share, to give, to obey, to learn, to serve, to welcome, to invite, etc. ...all to make things and people work together better and create an ordered (and not chaotic) Christian atmosphere.

All in all I think it is really organic and defies defining. It is the meaning of what we do that matters.

Ah, sematics! Where are you Wichtenstein? :p

Cheers to all,

Porter

And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they partook of food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. Acts 2:46-47

i liked what porter said, and I think he built on what Pani said about being christ centered in our life in the Church. Perhaps being Christ centered in our Church activities means a variety of ways people can get involved.

my question remains, with Gordon, how to get the people to come to the variety offered?! is that not th epoint?

mari