atheists go to church

I found and article about a month ago called A Month of Sundays. It was printed in a Seattle newspaper called The Stranger, which - like most of Seattle - is quite liberal. I hestitate to comment on it because it's from June and my spider/blogger-taboo sense is going off about posting an article six months old.

I'm going to do it anyway, though, so if you can't take it I advise you to leave now. We're breaking all the blogger rules here, man.

This newspaper sent 30 atheist reporters to 30 different houses of worship - mostly Christian - and each reported briefly on their experiences. It's a really insightful read, although I'll warn you now it's rated PG-13 for language and some sexual imagery.

The second reporter made some interesting comments about the mega-church building he was sent to:

The [church] is raising cash to build the largest church in the Northwest, scheduled to open in less than three months. This Hummer of a church, with its coffee shop and valet parking and banners proclaiming 'desire,' 'worship,' and 'attitude' (?!), is already a testament to all things smug and ugly about America.

He ends his very short report with,

If you're thinking of attending a church, I beg you not to attend the [church] - find one that understands humility and grace and charity. I'm an atheist, but the [church] brings Bible imagery to my mind. Standing in all the gaudy sound and tacky fury, all I can think of is the perverted temple that Jesus Christ ripped to pieces with his bare ... hands.

Strong words. What's really interesting is that his first comment was about how "huge" it was, and everything after that fell in line with his first impression of the ministry.

Of course, big church buildings are not bad ideas by default, but ministry leadership needs to understand their audience. They need to come together within a city or region despite denomination and debates about speaking in tongues, to make sure there's a church for every demographic or lifestyle.

Some people are drawn to mega churches, but if there's one in town already, maybe someone needs to concentrate on putting a church in a warehouse. It's not glamorous, but if you're trying to get the gospel to people who are not, themselves, very glamorous then you need to speak their language. Your building is your first impression.