Soul City Church is opening up on the North Side of Chicago. I thought the site looked really snazzy for a start-up church. I mean, I thought our site was nice for a plant. And I still do, because it is. But there is definitely a generational difference between the graphics and methods used. (i.e. text vs. video as primary communicators.)
After checking it out, I realized why it was so well put together. The pastor, Jarrett Stevens, has worked at both Willow Creek as a pastor of Axis, and North Point Church (best known recently for their "Sunday Morning" video). Those are serious connections. I'm fairly certain I heard the pastor speak at Judson and Status in Orlando.
My impression is that this church knows their target market, and it's me. It's the hipster* twenty-something that's disenchanted with everything normal church does and hopes there is something out there acting on dormant hopes and dreams for active Christian faith. Communicate those dreams in fancy graphics set to indie music and you've got yourself a deal!
What are your thoughts after checking out the site?
*I'm not a hipster.
4 comments:
Stevens spoke about a month ago at the church I attend. He was an amazing speaker. His jeans were too tight, but he managed to combine mutliple preaching styles, which impressed me.
Soul City knows what it's about. It's authentic but it's also a bit artificial in some ways. Yes, I think it can be both. Maybe "intentional" is a better term than "artificial."
Adam - Agreed, Stevens is a gifted speaker. He did an entire week at Judson, using the words "of, in, to"... and some other really short words. It was really powerful. I thin this was before skinny jeans were en vogue.
I see a tension as well between intentional and artificial. It's something the church has to deal with that the business world doesn't. In a church, if you create a niche, that's intentional, but can be seen as artificial. In business, it's smart. Go fig.
I wonder, though, if organic necessarily means authentic. I guess we could talk about it all day, but stepping into an intentional community, and an organic community, we could probably know by experiencing. And each type of each would probably be a different story.
Thanks for your thoughts!
Hmm, I don't know. In a sense, I guess I believe all churches should be "intentional" - that's the point of a church. To intentionally share the love of Christ, both with each other and with the surrounding community. However, I did feel that Soul City's site felt a little like they were trying too hard to target a certain group of people - which is essentially counterproductive to their message of accepting everyone, no matter where they are at...Also, their "what we do" section was just plain confusing, rather than trendy, I think. But if it works for some people, and they believe in Jesus as the Son of God and teach his Word and actively share His love with the community, then good for them.
*sigh* I'm a little bitter against mainstream Christian culture these days, but not in the way they're apparently catering to. I just want a church that hardcore loves Jesus and teaches and believes in the Bible, but isn't sexist or homophobic--in other words, a church that acts like Jesus did while on this earth. I don't need the bells and whistles, old or new.
Kristen - thanks for your thoughts. There is that aspect of intentionality, for sure - to intentionally show the love of Jesus. And everyone will do it differently.
Also, by targeting a certain audience, it says to another audience, "We're not targeting you." But this is the reality of communication, of language, like the old adage, "You can't not communicate." Even by not communicating, you communicate something.
As a leader in the church, I think my challenge to those of us who are tired of standard "church" will be this: Re-imagine church. Instead of actively disliking it, try to envision something new. It's much easier to complain than create.
That's your assignment, should you choose to accept it.
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