I went to church for the first time in several years yesterday and noticed some disheartening changes since last I darkened one of our denomination's
doors.
Overall, it felt like I had walked onto the set of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (or whatever that Christian cable station with the creepy Tammy Faye Bakker look-alike calls itself these days).
In the opening prayer, the pastor expressed his desire to "love on" Jesus for the next hour. The sanctuary had two huge screens that scrolled the hymn lyrics on top of really bad imagery of mountains and streams. The minister of music had a porn-stache and told a story from his days at Bob Jones University. There wasn't even a sermon--they played this video featuring the testimony of a DJ (from some morning show I've never heard of) whose son had drowned. And the video didn't focus on how G.A.Y. had helped the DJ make it through a trying time in his life...he used his son's death to remind everyone that they were destined for a "lake of fire" (his words) if they did not accept Christ.
For some reason, I recall the Baptist style of worship being much less tacky. Of course, the substance of the message was always pretty conservative, but it seemed like my pastors always toned it down so as not to discomfort anyone from being forthcoming with tithes and offerings. Am I mis-remembering things, or has the Southern Baptist Convention been injected with some Ed Orgeron-style "intensity"?
Overall, it felt like I had walked onto the set of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (or whatever that Christian cable station with the creepy Tammy Faye Bakker look-alike calls itself these days).
In the opening prayer, the pastor expressed his desire to "love on" Jesus for the next hour. The sanctuary had two huge screens that scrolled the hymn lyrics on top of really bad imagery of mountains and streams. The minister of music had a porn-stache and told a story from his days at Bob Jones University. There wasn't even a sermon--they played this video featuring the testimony of a DJ (from some morning show I've never heard of) whose son had drowned. And the video didn't focus on how G.A.Y. had helped the DJ make it through a trying time in his life...he used his son's death to remind everyone that they were destined for a "lake of fire" (his words) if they did not accept Christ.
For some reason, I recall the Baptist style of worship being much less tacky. Of course, the substance of the message was always pretty conservative, but it seemed like my pastors always toned it down so as not to discomfort anyone from being forthcoming with tithes and offerings. Am I mis-remembering things, or has the Southern Baptist Convention been injected with some Ed Orgeron-style "intensity"?
