I'm starting a new feature on my blog. It's called, "25 Reasons Why My Community is 75% Unchurched."
This is the first post. I will stop after reaching 25. Or maybe not... :)
Time Magazine writes about David Kinnaman's & Gabe Lyon's new book, unChristian.
From the article:
83% of Americans identified themselves as Christians, and that fewer than 20% of non-Christians held an unfavorable view of Christianity...
Kinnaman says non-Christians' biggest complaints about the faith are not immediately theological: Jesus and the Bible get relatively good marks. Rather, he sees resentment as focused on perceived Christian attitudes. Nine out of ten outsiders found Christians too "anti-homosexual," and nearly as many perceived it as "hypocritical" and "judgmental." Seventy-five percent found it "too involved in politics."
His study found that 23% of Americans over 61 were non-Christians; 27% among people ages 42-60; and 40% among 16-29 year olds. Younger Christians, he concludes, are therefore likely to live in an environment where two out of every five of their peers is not a Christian.
This article brings me back to the "Jesus VS. Christians" video we did a few months ago. Check it out if you haven't already.
Courtesy of Todd.
While in Bangkok I had the privilege of attending a Saturday evening UNDERground gathering at NewSong Bangkok. The location I visited was one of four locations throughout Bangkok - this one meeting in a very hip area of town called Siam Square.
NS BKK (NewSong Bangkok) is a part of NewSong Church in LA, pastored by Dave Gibbons. A couple of years ago, Dave moved his family from LA to Thailand for about a year to begin their first “international” location of NewSong in Bangkok. They now have campuses located in Irvine, North OC, Los Angeles, and Bangkok.
As far as I can recall, there was no mention at this gathering of NewSong LA or Dave Gibbons. With the environment they are trying to create it makes sense that they are probably trying to keep it feeling small and organic. And it works!
NS BKK focuses on creating two distinct gatherings - ABOVEground and UNDERground. ABOVEground is a monthly gathering where all of their smaller sized gatherings connect for a time of worship. UNDERground gatherings are smaller and meet in homes, coffeehouses, etc… all over Bangkok.
It’s obvious that NS BKK's main focus is on their smaller weekly UNDERground gatherings.
The feel of the gathering was great. This location met in a small coffeehouse located above a bookstore. The vibe of this part of BKK was great! Tons of energy and very fast-paced.
The first thing I noticed after walking in was FOOD, FOOD, FOOD! Food everywhere! And it was free! And no, it wasn’t a potluck. (grrrrrr…..)
There was a hip looking Asian dude sitting down playing and singing with an acoustic guitar providing a little ambient music in the background. The average age in the room was probably between 18-25. There were somewhere in the neighborhood of 30-40 people gathered. The crowd was extremely diverse in terms of nationality. Within five minutes I had met people from Thailand, Japan, Korea, America, Australia, India and a bunch of other places.
After a few minutes of singing and a couple of ice-breakers, one of the leaders, Abe Park, got up and shared for about 30 or 35 minutes. His approach was very conversational and he seemed to connect well with the crowd. Abe is a young Korean-American from LA. His talk was in English but was translated into Thai via a translator who stood next to him.
After spending a few minutes talking with a couple of the leaders, I came to find out that their main focus is in connecting with what they refer to as “misfits” – or the "third culture” – which, according to their website, “describes a person who can move in and out of different cultures, and build relationships with people who are different from them.”
Visiting NSS Bangkok was a great experience! More than anything, it was impacting sitting in a room full of people from all over the world united together through worship and great conversation.
My vision was stretched. My heart filled. Thanks NewSong BKK!
Wow, this brought back some memories... One Punk Under God - it's a new six week series on the life and ministry of Jay Bakker produced by the Sundance Channel.
And yes, THAT Bakker. Son of Jim and Tammy Bakker.
Believe it or not, my family used to visit Heritage USA (the place his dad built...) regularly when I was a kid. On one visit in particular, Jay and I became friends. We ran around the park playing Miami Vice and one time even went to see the famous watermelon smashing comedian, Gallagher. Some fun memories...
Watching this last night made me sad. For a lot of reasons... Sad for his relationship with his dad. Sad for all that he has been through. Sad for how the church treated him and his family. Sad for all of the people hurt by the "scandal", etc... In one part of this episode, Jay went back to Heritage USA and went into a bunch of the old, rotted buildings. Buildings that I remember being in numerous times. That was sad too...
