Food for Thought
Here is an interesting article regarding the strong growth (dare I say explosion) of Eastern Orthodox churches in the States. No fancy gimmicks, no praise bands, and certainly no post modern liturgy. Isn't it interesting with the bent of more liberal churches to make liturgy "contemporary" that our population consistently continues to plummet. But those churches that give a strong foundation seem to be growing. Maybe by blowing in the wind of culture worship fads, we become more irrelevant than we were to begin with. Maybe people cannot in fact relate to crap like God's womb bursting creation, this is my walrus broken for you, goo goo g'joob...The joker laughs at you.
Comments
There is a place for the traditional, make no mistake. But technology (did I detect a disdain for PowerPoint in there somewhere?) can only enhance the experience of the traditional. It has certainly made the Roman Catholic services I've attended more accessible for me, a lowly Southern Baptist (and Deaf on top of that).
Also, evangelical churches make the same emphasis on renewal (usually described as "walking with Jesus day by day" or some such phrase) that brotherbeal calls for. You will find no disagreement with brotherbeal that "diploma mill" churches are not the proper institutions--indeed such churches are not and should not be the norm for evangelicals.
I strongly disagree with brotherbeal that these types of churches make up the majority of the "Religious Right." The majority of these churches actually emphasize the traditional--theology, organization, worship, and so on. But these churches have recognized that in many cases remaining traditional is not enough--indeed remaining traditional is a death sentence for many evangelical churches.
No, I think becoming all things to all men is a much more biblical way to reach the world. To the traditional I become traditional, to the seeker I become a seeker.