1,000 Theater Churches
I got an interesting email from Tom Doyle with Regal Cinemas today.
It's an article about the multi-site strategy of Second Baptist Church in Houston. What's cool is that I talked with one the pastors (Greg Ligon) who is spearheading their multi-site effort a few months ago. He asked me lots of questions about meeting in movie theaters. Looks like they are moving full-steam ahead. Love their vision!
There are currently about 125 churches meeting in movie theaters across the country. One of my personal dreams is seeing 1,000 theater churches across the country. I honestly think there should be a church meeting in every theater in the country :)
There seems to be a growing fascination with churches meeting in theaters. Leadership Journal is doing a feature on theater churches in their Fall issue that will spotlight Theaterchurch.com. I'll post it once it's online.
FYI--we'll do a half-day forum for theater churches as an add-on for the Buzz Conference, May 4-6, 2006.
Here's the article Tom Doyle sent to me. It's off the AP wire:
Church plans to lease theater for expansion
(10/19/05 - HOUSTON) - Second Baptist Church plans an $86.7 million expansion that includes leasing theaters for church services and buying a shopping center.
Church members plan to vote this month on a plan that includes $5 million to develop four theater spaces to establish congregations in Cypress, Willowbrook, Pearland and the Richmond/Rosenberg area early next year.
The church is considering leasing seven more theater spaces in Fort Worth, San Francisco, Louisville, Ky., and Raleigh, N.C.
The theater plan is part of the church's national outreach program, Senior Associate Pastor Gary Moore said Tuesday.
Moore said theaters are courting groups to lease space. "They are looking for multi-use opportunities," he said. The plan also includes $25 million to buy a 6.1 acre shopping center for Bible study classes and $9 million to develop an HDTV broadcasting system.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
It's an article about the multi-site strategy of Second Baptist Church in Houston. What's cool is that I talked with one the pastors (Greg Ligon) who is spearheading their multi-site effort a few months ago. He asked me lots of questions about meeting in movie theaters. Looks like they are moving full-steam ahead. Love their vision!
There are currently about 125 churches meeting in movie theaters across the country. One of my personal dreams is seeing 1,000 theater churches across the country. I honestly think there should be a church meeting in every theater in the country :)
There seems to be a growing fascination with churches meeting in theaters. Leadership Journal is doing a feature on theater churches in their Fall issue that will spotlight Theaterchurch.com. I'll post it once it's online.
FYI--we'll do a half-day forum for theater churches as an add-on for the Buzz Conference, May 4-6, 2006.
Here's the article Tom Doyle sent to me. It's off the AP wire:
Church plans to lease theater for expansion
(10/19/05 - HOUSTON) - Second Baptist Church plans an $86.7 million expansion that includes leasing theaters for church services and buying a shopping center.
Church members plan to vote this month on a plan that includes $5 million to develop four theater spaces to establish congregations in Cypress, Willowbrook, Pearland and the Richmond/Rosenberg area early next year.
The church is considering leasing seven more theater spaces in Fort Worth, San Francisco, Louisville, Ky., and Raleigh, N.C.
The theater plan is part of the church's national outreach program, Senior Associate Pastor Gary Moore said Tuesday.
Moore said theaters are courting groups to lease space. "They are looking for multi-use opportunities," he said. The plan also includes $25 million to buy a 6.1 acre shopping center for Bible study classes and $9 million to develop an HDTV broadcasting system.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
6 Comments:
Meeting in a theatre is the way to go without a doubt. We love it.
ok- i really tried hard to resist- but $9 mill on an HDTV broadcasting system... for real?
i understand about redeeming technology- but too much of me wonders about the priority of that $9 million...?
*hasler
ps. hdtv is projected to increase our tv energy consumption in the US from 46.9 billion kilowatt hours in 2004 to over 70 billion by 2009.
source: http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0616/p13s02-stct.html
Being apart of a church plant that will be looking for a new (larger) building in a few months... we've considered looking into the local theater. The biggest deterrent we've had is... where are we supposed to have a childrens program?
we're seriously looking at meeting in a theater...i would love to hear what people do for childrens and nursery setup as well as how they overcome the other obstacles. i'm craving information on this subject.
michael
oakleafchurch.com
youcanknowgod.com
I think children's ministry is a challenge, but it's a challenge that can be overcome. We rent a "children's theater" that we use exclusively for Kidz Quest.
One cool thing is the ability to play videos like Veggie Tales when the kids come it. It engages them.
Obviously, space defines what you can and cannot do. There is a trade off :)
I'd love to discuss this at our theater church forum next May. Who is really doing a good job with kid's ministry in theaters?
Mark
bummer... I was hoping someone would have a nice easy "oh, this is what you do for kids ministry, it works great!"
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