Gene Edward Veith has an interesting post at World about the emptiness of mega-churches (at least some of them. It's beyond my competence to make so sweeping an indictment of a phenomenon I only read about). This comment from a young man got him thinking:
In his opinion piece for the paper—"The younger crowd has had its fill of big, flashy churches" (July 25, 2005)—Mr. Rainey recalls how the church he grew up in transformed from a small congregation of a few hundred members into a megachurch of nearly 10,000. He says that the contemporary touches are designed to appeal to baby boomers, not to today's young people. "These churches attract middle-age adults like iron filings," he says. "But my generation isn't in such awe."
Boy, isn't that the truth no matter what stripe of Christian you are?
Veith goes on to say that young people crave doctrine --something solid to trust in-- rather than hip music. Veith quotes the kid as saying Europe's churches may be empty of people, but we have loads of people in empty churches. Meanwhile, over in Germany, the press are experiencing their usual WYD mind-blowing over half a million young people ecstatic to spend time with a celibate geezer who doesn't want to let them have any fun.
