Sally Morganthaler’s article is too thought-provoking to only read once. I ran across it again this week and am still blown away by her assessment of the situation that we are in.

As negative attitudes toward conservative Christianity among the unchurched increased in the late ’90s and early 2000s, most large-congregation growth efforts became more focused on the churched consumer, even as their written and spoken vision remained focused on the unchurched. And these star performers became masters at what the churched wanted. They raised the bar several times over for what could be expected out of a Sunday morning experience, and they worked tirelessly to develop the high quality, practical programs the churched now demanded. Having excelled at making theirs the best churched experience on the market, they were perfectly positioned to absorb the windfall of disgruntled attendees from dwindling mainline congregations and failed, contemporary start-ups.

Read more at Allelon.

Tags: Contextualization, General Christian Worship, Hype, Music // Add Comment »