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Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Rock 'n' Roll Church ...
Every rock 'n' roll preacher needs a rock 'n' roll church. This year, I had the privilege of meeting Sara Chappel, a Toronto journalist, over the phone. (Check out Sara's work on FaithWriters.com.) When Sara and I talked, she was trying to get a handle on the church in Canada. I told her the Central Baptist story. Here's what she took from our conversation.
Greg Glatz has written much of his doctoral dissertation and most of his sermons at a Winnipeg Starbucks, where the staff know him and, unbidden, keep him caffeinated as he taps away at his laptop and chats on his cell phone. Today, he’s hunkered down in the coffee shop against a brutal cold-snap that’s left Winnipeg ice-bound in -40 degree weather. His latte and his cell phone are both within arm’s reach, and he trades back and forth between them with an ease that’s almost hypnotic.
Glatz is the pastor – or “guru,” as he’s described on the church’s website – at Central Baptist Church, a “micro church with a mega mission” in Winnipeg. He sees nothing unusual in the image of a minister writing in a Starbucks, rather than in a dusty study surrounded by equally dusty academic tomes. In fact, it’s a perfect illustration of the kind of church he hopes to create, and the kind of church he thinks will survive an age of increasingly individualized religion. “We need to get out of our doors and into the world, which is where Jesus sent us,” he says. “I’m tired of people defining church by one hour on a Sunday morning.” So the church closes its doors on some Sunday mornings, to enable its members to go into the world and participate in community activities like charity walk-a-thons. Many of the activities of the church focus on meeting in coffee shops, or at blues concerts – anywhere other than the traditional pews n’ pulpit.
Glatz says his style of ministry is designed for “post modern pilgrims” – people disenchanted with the finger wagging and “thou shalt nots” of traditional organized religion. Church-goers – especially those with no previous religious background – “don’t want to be told what to believe and what they can’t believe. They don’t want to be dogmatized. They’re looking for guides and gurus.” To that end, he focuses on helping people experience the divine, rather than prescribing rules and beliefs. For Glatz, this “experiential” approach involves one of his twelve guitars and the church’s in-house band. It also means he uses contemporary phrases and imagery to bring Christianity closer to his congregants; one of his sermons about communion – written at Starbucks – was called “Bite Me.” Not surprisingly, many of Glatz’s parishioners are “refugees,” as Glatz calls them, from more traditional congregations, and many have no church background at all.
Glatz’s church is small, even by modern standards, although, since he’s been pastor, it’s doubled in size and is holding strong. He has a regular crowd on Sundays of about 60 people, and, although he’d like his congregation to be a little bigger – say, 85 or so – he’s perfectly happy with his small-but-strong congregation. In fact, he sees the mega church movement – congregations in the thousands, stadium seating, and massive television presence – as a dead end. “Mega is dead,” he says flatly. “Gen-Y’s – 20-somethings – aren’t finding what they want in those churches. They want house churches, coffee shops. As a rule, those churches are losing a whole generation. We’re going to have a whole lot of white elephant buildings sitting around in 10-20 years.” Although he’d welcome the extra revenue that more parishioners would bring in, Glatz’s overarching desire to build real connections between real humans means that the mega church model is completely inappropriate to his mission. For Glatz, the future of the church lies in being able to take the church into the world to make connections with people, many of whom only have the dimmest idea of what church actually means, and many of whom want to make their own decisions about what to believe.
My thanks to Sara for feeling our vibe.
posted by The Rock 'n' Roll Preacher at 8/15/2007 03:09:00 PM
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Rev. Greg Glatz
Age: 44
Gender: Male
Astrological Sign: Cancer
Zodiac Year: Dragon
Industry: Non-Profit
Occupation: Rock 'n' Roll Preacher
Location: Muddy Waters : Manitoba : Canada
Audio Clip
About Me
Rev. Greg Glatz is a postmodern pilgrim who brings the passion for guitar and God together as the Rock ‘n’ Roll Preacher. Greg is the lead pastor at Winnipeg’s Central Baptist Church and the lead guitar player for the Royal Unruh Band. He also plays guitar in the church house band and for several local projects.
Greg is a doctoral student at George Fox University in Portland, OR. He previously completed a B.A. in ancient/medieval history and languages at the University of Manitoba and a M.Div. at North American Baptist Seminary. Greg was a contributing author to Leonard Sweet’s 2008 book, Church of the Perfect Storm and has been an ongoing contributor to ChristianWeek.
Greg has one amazing wife, two incredible kids, and twelve guitars. You can find him Sunday mornings down at the church house, or tune into the GodTalk Radio Show on Sunday nights from 9-11 on CJOB 680 AM or streamed live on the world wide web.
What reason do you have to believe the earth is flat?
Are you kidding? I've lived on the prairies my whole life: how could the earth be anything except flat?!?
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