I continue to marvel at the way the theater church movement is taking off. Got an email from a friend in Buffalo, Brek Cockrell. They launched four weeks ago and God is blessing their socks off. And the media is picking up on the story because the whole "church in a theater" thing is new to Buffalo.
I was talking to the Cinemedia folks and I'm pretty sure the day will come when the DC market is saturated--a church in every theater. Who would have thunk :) I still remember when it was a total novelty. Absolutely thrilled at the way church plants and multi-site churches are redeeming theaters!
I really believe the day will come when there is a church in every viable movie theater in America!
I was talking to the Cinemedia folks and I'm pretty sure the day will come when the DC market is saturated--a church in every theater. Who would have thunk :) I still remember when it was a total novelty. Absolutely thrilled at the way church plants and multi-site churches are redeeming theaters!
I really believe the day will come when there is a church in every viable movie theater in America!
8 Comments:
Found your blog through Margaret Feinberg's. I've enjoyed reading your posts. I just called my husband, a pastor, and told him about your blog and your book about the lions. I look forward to visiting your site again. God bless--
I am wondering what you see down the road for churches meeting in theaters. I am wondering about multiple churches in a community wanting to be in the same theater, will there be a Baptist church in theater 1, non-denom in theater 2, and a free methodist in theater 3? How would this effect the community of a church, positively or negatively?
Ok, I love the idea of meeting in a theater, but here's what my wife always counters with: what about child care? I know NCC has a ton of singles, but I'm sure you've addressed this issue. What's your solution?
I was watching Back to the Future and noticed that Marty wrecks into the Hill Valley movie theater in 1985. The movie theater was abandoned, but a church was gathering in the theater.
Who knows... maybe it was the beginning of the "theater church movement"
We hope to take over the theaters (the real theaters and the movie theaters) in France for Christ!!
Gina Witcher
Could I comment on Clayton's post? We are a 1 1/2 year old church plant in West Des Moines, Iowa, Jordan Creek Family Church, and I am the children's pastor. It is challenging to do children's ministry in a theater but with God's help and His creativity, we get 'er done. We are in a constant state of tweek and need to be very flexable but the end result is so worth it when you see unchurched and de-churched families coming together to a place they are less intimidated by and then begin their relationship with Jesus. Perhaps they come out of curiousity but they all agree that the theater is a wonderful marketplace to do ministry in. I have an incredible team that has caught our vision and a lead pastor that helps me in so many ways that the challenges seem minimal. So Clayton, it can be done and done well.
Hey Clayton -
I'll weigh in some more about the child care issue. At our theater locations, we have children's ministry (for kids 2 & up) in theaters and hallway spaces. We have to set up equipment(gates, curtains, kid tables & chairs, AV stuff) each week, but the theaters let us store equipment there.
For the nursery, we take over open space in the theater complex (at one location, there's a big round carpeted rotunda at the end of a hallway, and at another, there's a cafe-like space in the lower level lobby right off of the theaters). So, we just gate off those areas and put down floor coverings. We use a lot of travel gear that stores compactly (porta-cribs, bouncy seats, swings, even a camping rocking chair!), and we use big bins to store toys and books. Again, the theater let us store all this stuff on site, so we just set up and tear down each week. We also use a pager system to stay in contact with parents.
I'm glad Cinemark or Cinemedia or whoever is working well for you guys... but in our area, the expense of it just doesn't make sense. For us to move from our current spot in a nice banquet hall into the new theater going up in our town, we'd be spending more money in weekly rent for less time and less space (with less flexibility in that space).
Perhaps in some markets their prices are unbelievably cheap by comparison, but around here, they're way too expensive. Until they get that figured out, we probably won't see every theater having a church meeting in it...
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