CHURCH LITE

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more songs of dido
less songs of praise

― terry lennox. (gareth), Monday, 21 November 2005 20:30 (twenty years ago)

its clear, customers are looking for a lighter experience. lighter foods, lighter beers, and the church is not a light brand

― terry lennox. (gareth), Monday, 21 November 2005 20:32 (twenty years ago)

Communion now available in Cool Ranch™ flavour!

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Monday, 21 November 2005 20:32 (twenty years ago)

i have not been to church in many years although I was baptized catholic. I went through my atheist phase and through my agnostic phase and have settled into a kind of "er, whatever" phase of being somewhat content with my childhood indoctrination. but the though of going to an actual church now terrifies me because I have no idea what they're like. I do think they're probably as gareth describes, or they are rightwing freakhouses filled with political nonsense. Six Feet Under made me want to be a quaker.

― kyle (akmonday), Monday, 21 November 2005 20:33 (twenty years ago)

well, this is in england, where most are probably still quite dusty and 'english'

but this is from a programme i am watching, called...'priest idol'! where people are trying to get people back into church.

the guys congregation is 15

― terry lennox. (gareth), Monday, 21 November 2005 20:39 (twenty years ago)

guess what I misread "dido" as.

― A Nairn (moretap), Monday, 21 November 2005 20:41 (twenty years ago)

presbytarianism?

― terry lennox. (gareth), Monday, 21 November 2005 21:04 (twenty years ago)

I am a presbytarian.

In America we have super mega-churches with lavish shows. At some of the big Texas churches, you have to PAY $25 to see the Xmas passion play. You PAY to go to church.

― andy --, Monday, 21 November 2005 23:18 (twenty years ago)

i went to a church for my brother in law's kid's baptism and it was alike a MALL with a CD store in the lobby and TVs everywhere and when they baptized the kids they just took 50 of them up on stage and took a picture then started telling people to go out and bring more money into the church. I guess that's not CHURCH LITE, it's like XTREME CHURCHIN'

― kyle (akmonday), Monday, 21 November 2005 23:26 (twenty years ago)

I find it hard to relate to so many people's perceptions of church, and to so many of the public faces of Christianity, because my church was really... nice. The building is big and bright and open, lots of music, and pretty accepting of people who are at different places in regards to the faith. At Christmas we'd invite anyone needy from town who wanted a hot meal to church and then everybody ate together, and anyone who needed a winter coat could have one. When someone was sick people would bring their family food every night until they got better, and everyone took care of each other. It was like a real community, and it was about serving people, not condemning them.

― Laura H. (laurah), Monday, 21 November 2005 23:56 (twenty years ago)

The Churches with best marketing ideas often have the worst theological ideas.

― A Nairn (moretap), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 04:55 (twenty years ago)

http://www.aerostar.com/coldair/images/fiftynine-b.jpg

― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 04:57 (twenty years ago)

actually I take that back, good fried chicken is definately theologically sound!

― A Nairn (moretap), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 05:48 (twenty years ago)

lesbyterianism!

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 17:49 (twenty years ago)

Gaypostolic!

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 17:51 (twenty years ago)

Sexumenical!

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 17:52 (twenty years ago)

BAPtist

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 17:52 (twenty years ago)

EpiscopALIENS

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 17:58 (twenty years ago)

Jews.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 18:02 (twenty years ago)

I go to a congregational church and I've definitely heard it called "christianity lite" and "church lite" before. (Actually I've said it myself, but obviously I also think it is "christianity GOOD" as well.)

― Maria (Maria), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 04:23 (twenty years ago)

why dont y'all go to the drive-thru catholic church

they have a great deal going on with seven deadly sins with sacrament all for the low price of three hail marys

― ESTEBAN BUTTEZ~!!, Wednesday, 23 November 2005 04:33 (twenty years ago)

"Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. "
- C. S. Lewis

― A Nairn (moretap), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 05:17 (twenty years ago)

i've enjoyed church becoming a little more casual dresswise. when i was a kid it was starch city... now it's jeans and stuff.

there's a church not far from here with a book store and gym... the bookstore has a starbucks, which is a tad on a shameless side if you ask me.

our church is pretty small... like a core of maybe 30 or so.... we had a thanksgiving dinner at somebody's house on saturday. somebody put liquor in the sweet potatoes... our preacher joked that we must be the drinkingest church in town. of course, who's a tad on the shameless side now? ha!

― msp (mspa), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 05:26 (twenty years ago)

I was raised presbyterian as well.

― kingfish hobo juckie (kingfish 2.0), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 05:30 (twenty years ago)

Altho i will say that folks I know who are REALLY into going to church(and still in their 20s) have a lot of issues(to put it mildly).

― kingfish hobo juckie (kingfish 2.0), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 05:32 (twenty years ago)

?
m.

― msp (mspa), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 05:34 (twenty years ago)

m. Being REALLY into going to church often could mean putting the church above God. (like worshipping the earthly parts of the church) But I'm not sure what age has to do with it, that is not good for anyone of any age.

― A Nairn (moretap), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 05:44 (twenty years ago)

or maybe Kingfish is talking about how the people with the most issues are the people who need church the most. It's like how in Luke 5:31Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

― A Nairn (moretap), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 05:48 (twenty years ago)

ah, i think i was amplifying part of kingfish's statement a bit too much...

yeah, blessed are the poor in spirit....
m.

― msp (mspa), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 05:55 (twenty years ago)

or in one friend's case, having massive catholic repression issues well into his 20s, and for my ex-gf, having a nervous breakdown and her life shattered when her 5-year-relationship to her almost-fiancee(right previous to me) dissolved over a year-long bitter ending. she had a hole to fill, so she went born-again. whilst we were dating, she would lament that she "wished I was a Christian", since apparently attending church regularly for 18 years wasn't good enough.

― kingfish hobo juckie (kingfish 2.0), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 07:50 (twenty years ago)

eh... that sucks.

i know a bunch of regular 20-something folks that go to church that have no more issues than anybody.

or wait, are there people without issues? perhaps i'm the kind of dude that only knows total nutjobs but thinks that's normal.

http://www.tvcrazy.net/tvclassics/wallpaper/oldshows/munsters/munsters.jpg

is this normal or weird?
m.

― msp (mspa), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 16:18 (twenty years ago)

Kingfish, the fact that some people consider attending church to be "good enough" is specifically condemned by most evangelicals, because one of the pillars of evangelicalism (I guess that's the word for it since "evangelism" is already taken) is the belief in the importance of a dramatic conversion experience, the whole rebirth, being-dead-to-the-self-and-reborn-in-Christ thing. Without it, you're not the real deal.

― Laurel (Laurel), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 16:34 (twenty years ago)

hmmm interesting. it strikes me that the church of england, at any rate, has reached its "lite" peak, and will get "heavier" and "heavier" as seeming "lite" versions that are being enthusiastically received by a younger age bracket, appear to tend towards a more fixed dogmatic viewpoint. the church at its most crisis ridden in terms of schism and internal debate must be its lite-est, most tolerant version, so maybe the peak of this period has been the big anglican split. but this is a totally ingnorant opinion im afraid, i have no idea.

― ambrose (ambrose), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 16:43 (twenty years ago)

Laurel, I don't think conversion necessarily has to be all that dramatic. It could be, but it's just that it is personal. Some branches of Evangelicalism emphasize that it must be dramatic. Some Evangelicals also claim that they were always Christian (or at least as long as they can remember) and had no real conversion. It's just that it's a personal relationship.

― A Nairn (moretap), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 17:06 (twenty years ago)

Nairn, it may be that not all denominations/church bodies emphasize the conversion exp; mine certainly did, as did the larger gatherings and conferences I attended which crossed denominational lines. But from a scholarly point of view it's considered one of the hallmarks of the movement, certainly in the North American tradition. UK trad may well be different.

― Laurel (Laurel), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 17:19 (twenty years ago)

one year passes...

is church-lite successful? or by its very nature should church-lite be politely in the background?

― Friendly Tree (688), Monday, 5 February 2007 12:12 (nineteen years ago)

Nothing to do with Marty Willson-Piper and Steve Kilbey? Dang.

― Fire and Worms (kate), Monday, 5 February 2007 12:15 (nineteen years ago)

isnt the bhurch of england about as church lite as it gets at the moment? i always think of it as that, slightly apologetci, inclusive, tolerant, ineffectual, effete etc

― ambrose (ambrose), Monday, 5 February 2007 21:31 (nineteen years ago)

well yea, i think this is where the church-lite thing seemed to appear

― Friendly Tree (688), Monday, 5 February 2007 22:45 (nineteen years ago)

in the anglican churches i've been to (n.london, camden/kings cross, st albans, cambridege), nothing seems to have been dumbed down or 'litened'. They have been inclusive and tolerant tho. As for ineffectual/effete, they dont seem overly bothered about making trouble over being allowed to discriminate against gay people, no.

― Frogm@n Henry (Frogm@n Henry), Monday, 5 February 2007 23:16 (nineteen years ago)

a friend took me to a "church lite" in the midwest once, actually, i feel like a dick writing this as her dad was the minister running the place, though he made a pretty good living at it, so i don't feel that bad.

it was weird, tvs everywhere, a giant big screen center stage where they showed a clip from Pay it Forward or some dross like that. two dudes and two kids got up and sang "I Believe I Can Fly", it was totally devoid of anything steeped in tradition, sort of like mall church. i questioned her about it afterward tactfully as i didnt want to be a rude guest. she wasn't very religous, but justified her father's ministry in that his flock was not very committed, they were taking a step towards religion. to their credit they seemed to be an open-minded bunch.

― the kwisatz bacharach (sanskrit), Tuesday, 6 February 2007 02:06 (nineteen years ago)

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