Bull-Riding Lessons in Worship?

This Dayton Daily News photo shows Whitney Fischer of Lima riding
the artificial bull during a church service in the Pub Lounge.
Sydney First United Methodist in Sidney, Ohio started a new church service at the Pub Lounge, a bar located near Interstate 75. The Dayton Daily News has words and pictures of their first service, held this past Sunday online here Church holds service in a bar. Perhaps it was a case of going back to their roots as the church's website reports,

The ministry of Sidney First Church began way back in 1825 when Levi White, a traveling minister, stopped in a local tavern and organized the first home Bible Study or cell group. Back then, our start was the product of what was called The Great Awakening, a period when many in this region were coming to faith in God and seeking to live all out for Christ in service to Him.

About 100 people turned out for the first service for Country Rock Church. Pastor Chris Heckaman says, "Jesus never formed a church. He never built a building. We're not trying to win people over to church culture. We want to minister to them where they are." The Dayton Daily News reports it this way,

He called his first Country Rock sermon a "bull-riding lesson."

"There are just a lot of parallels in learning how to ride a bull and how to get along with life," Heckaman said. "Jesus said he came that we might have life and have it to the full. Sometimes our church culture conveys otherwise, and we want to teach people what real life is all about."

Church member Julie Broadus said the main idea is to reach out to those who maybe weren't comfortable in a church setting.

"Church isn't just some place where you sit with your hands in your lap and your back straight," she said. "We can have fun being Christians, too."

Old School Designs
I genuinely hope the new church helps some folks get connected to God. There is, however, some research that says when people want to get connected to the Christian faith, they want their church to look, well, churchy:

Lifeway Research for Cornerstone Knowledge Network surveyed 1,684 unchurched adults, and the respondents, when given photos of churches with varying styles, elected the Gothic-style cathedral by a 2-to-1 ratio over contemporary design churches. Out of 100 possible “preference points,” the cathedral earned an average of 47.7 points.

That full story is online here: Traditional Buildings, Not Modern Design, Appeal To Unchurched. I hope so, or we got the gothic arch windows at King of Peace all wrong. And we forgot the mechanical bull. In fact, I'd like to think we don't have any bull. After all, Psalm 50:9a says, "I will take no bull from your house." Though the one at The Country Rock Church sure looks like a fun sermon illustration.

peace,
Frank+
The Rev. Frank Logue, Pastor