Churches reinvent tradition to attract a new generation

Churches reinvent tradition to attract a new generation
While millions of Christians will observe Easter in traditional church settings, many are joining unconventional congregations.
BY ALEXANDRA ALTER
aalter@MiamiHerald.com

On a recent Sunday morning at the Cobb Theatres multiplex in Miami Lakes, about 300 people crowded into a darkened movie theater and prayed before taking in a preview. Black-and-white movie images of Jesus on the cross appeared on the 56-foot screen, interspersed with images of famous martyrs.
''Abraham Lincoln, a hero who lived for freedom. Gandhi, a hero who lived for peace. Martin Luther King, a hero who lived for justice. Jesus Christ, the Hero above all heroes,'' the flashing titles read, accompanied by a swell of drums. ``On Sunday, April 8. Celebrate Christ's resurrection.''
Every week, the movie theater is transformed into a sanctuary for members of Calvary Fellowship -- one of a growing number of ''emerging'' or alternative churches that often bring film, visual and performing arts and a more casual worship setting to their services to draw believers, many of them young, who find traditional services uninspiring or alienating.
This Easter, hundreds of emerging congregations across the country will mark Christianity's holiest day in creative ways, with interactive public-art installations that tell the story of the crucifixion and resurrection. They will gather in movie theaters, art galleries and coffee shops, and in homes and rented spaces, to reflect on Jesus' suffering.
DIFFERENT APPROACH
Pastors say they hope to translate Christianity's core message into language the YouTube generation can appreciate.
''There wasn't a real dynamic community reaching out to young people,'' said Calvary's pastor, Bob Franquiz, who is 34, sports a goatee and tends to interrupt his ruminations on the Bible with self-deprecating anecdotes. ''You tend to attract what you are,'' he says.
Five years ago, Franquiz began to rent space at Cobb Theatres on Sunday mornings because the church, which had begun as an informal gathering in the pastor's living room, couldn't afford a building. Now, the setting has become part of the church's persona.
The multiplex's halls are lined with ''Now Playing'' posters that promote the church's sermon series. Franquiz punctuates his talks with brief TV and movie clips, including scenes from the TV show The Office and snippets of the movie Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Services kick off with a trailer promoting a spiritual message and end with a teaser for next week's services.
''A movie theater is neutral ground,'' Franquiz said. ``Some people are put off by a church building.''
Since the emergent-church movement started in the mid-1990s in response to the conspicuous absence of 18- to 35-year-olds in most churches, the trend has grown both more prominent and more diverse, pastors and scholars say. Emergent congregations now include megachurches with thousands of members and tiny home churches with just a handful of adherents.
Women, Hispanics and blacks have launched their own alternative congregations. College students have created art collectives and coffee-house worship meetings. Baby boomers have set up congregations in living rooms.
GROWING SEGMENT
An estimated 50 million people worship outside of conventional churches, according to a 2005 report by the Barna Group, a marketing-research firm that follows faith trends in America. Barna estimates that the percentage of Americans who worship in alternative communities will grow to 35 percent by 2025.
Liz Rios, pastor of Grace Fellowship, a small Pentecostal congregation that meets in a rented church space in Hallandale Beach, said she started her own church because she wanted a less rigid and more spiritual worship experience.
''I was tired of the church status quo, and I was interested in the emergent movement and different ways of doing church,'' said Rios, who launched the congregation in her living room in 2005. She now has 25 members who are mostly black and Latino and include artists, students and young singles.
''People need to reevaluate why they go to church,'' she said. ``If it's for transformation, it can happen in communities that are not traditional. Success is being redefined.''
While Rios says her church is firmly rooted in the Pentecostal tradition, other new Christian communities in South Florida attract people who consider themselves to be Christian but don't agree with most denominations.
Two years ago on Easter, Emily Cardenas, 43, a senior communications manager at Miami-Dade's Children's Trust, helped launch All Souls Miami because she didn't feel comfortable in other congregations.
She contacted Kenneth Claus, a professor of religious studies at Miami Dade College and a former United Church of Christ minister, who agreed to host an Easter service. Dozens of people showed up.
The church, which meets in a rented conference hall, now has about 50 members. About 60 percent are college students, and many are former Roman Catholics. Some, like Tahira Kassam, 20, a psychology major at the University of Miami, are not even Christian.
''I kind of liked the fact that it was very open and welcoming, there's no judging,'' said Kassam, who was brought up Muslim and does not currently affiliate with any faith. ``That's not how I usually thought of Christian churches.''
UNEASY REACTION
Open-ended worship services where people freely question the foundations of their faith make some conservative Christians uncomfortable, however.
John Hammett, a professor of systematic theology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, said that while many leaders of the emerging-church movement affirm traditional Christian beliefs, a branch of the movement has taken postmodern beliefs too far by questioning the Bible's claims.
''When they talk about changing the message itself, people get very upset and cautious,'' Hammett said. ``They do seem to be too quick to adopt postmodern ways of thinking.''
The growth of emerging churches has sparked vigorous debate in the Christian community about whether the church should tailor its message to appear more culturally relevant, said Dan Kimball, author of They Like Jesus but Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations.
But traditional churches risk losing a younger generation if they fail to adapt to changes in the culture, said Kimball, who heads a 500-member Santa Cruz, Calif., church where 70 percent of the congregants are younger than 30.
ON EASTER SUNDAY
During today's Easter celebration, church members will be given nails that symbolize Jesus' suffering. Toward the end of the service, worshipers will enter a giant tomblike sculpture, where they can leave the nail and pick up a flower, Kimball said.
''Preaching is one form of communicating, but it is not the best way,'' he said. ``We want to be teaching people more holistically, engaging culture, engaging art, engaging the different senses.''