The Easter Elephant

People who pull on to the Church by the Glades campus in Coral Springs, FL this Easter weekend will be greeted by friendly volunteers, fresh Krispy Kreme donuts, freshly-brewed Starbucks coffee and Judy…a 9,000 pound Indian elephant.  It is all part of their new relationship series entitled “Rehab.”

The purpose?

“Week one of the series is about denial,” said Pastor David Hughes.  “Many relationships suffer due to a denial of ‘the elephant in the room’—an obvious misplaced priority or passion that the people involved refuse to acknowledge and deal with.”

“Here at Church by the Glades, we value creative communication,” Hughes added.  He believes that having a real, live elephant there as people enter the property will grab their attention from the moment they arrive. 

“We are always trying to find fun ways to engage people and start the teaching time from the moment people drive onto our property,” said Hughes.
History shows that Church by the Glades is in the habit of doing creative things to
draw people to their church.  They have used iPhones, iTunes gift cards, Hannah Montana tickets and Nintendo Wiis to promote teaching series in the past.   

No not the Onion, but an actual press release forwarded to me from Dawn Eden concerning this church.  They certainly have a slick web site.  Most web sites for Catholcs churches are not exactly Web 2.0, more likely Web .6 beta.  You can always tell you are on a web site for a Catholic church because when you click on the bulletin link it either doesn't work or gives you a bulletin from last year.

I guess though for this Florida church that they can do a whole series with animals.

• Grab one Camel and one needle or you're all set to do another example.  One hump or two.
• Then there is the Lion and the Lamb one to demonstrate that we are not there yet.  This one would not be for the faint of heart.
• Roll in a giant whale tank to do a sermon on Jonah.  Camping out for three days inside the whale first might be rather iffy though.
• Obviously there is the whole Ark thing and you can rent out the contents of the local zoo for a demonstration.
• Snakes are pretty versatile for exegesis.  One day you got Genesis, and Moses gives you lots of snake flexibility.  Then of course there are the Gospel example with Paul getting bit and the picking up snake stuff that some Churches already cover.

I wonder if they advertise for a sacristine with good shovel skills?

I am not surprised they have increased church attendance by 40 percent in one year with giving out prizes in teaching series. If you are going church shopping well why not pick one with Starbucks coffee,  Krispy Creme donuts, and iPhone contests?

And of course rock worship music and everything you need to make you feel at home (if you live in a Mall)  means:

A RELEVENT CHURCH 
Though possessing the ultimate truth, the Church is often guilty of dumbing down and dulling down the life-altering message of Jesus Christ.  Lost in confusing jargon, bogged down in doctrinal minutia - simply said - the church has not stayed current.

Nothing like an Elephant and Hannah Montana tickets to keep the church current.