Megachurch paradigm Willow Creek goes back to the drawing board

Interestingly enough, one of the most successful megachurches in the United States, Willow Creek in Chicago, recently realized that its propensity simply to grow its numbers as opposed to focusing on preaching the gospel was "a mistake," according to pastor Greg Hawkins.

From the article:

"The size of the crowd rather than the depth of the heart determined success. If the crowd was large then surely God was blessing the ministry. Churches were built by demographic studies, professional strategists, marketing research, meeting 'felt needs' and sermons consistent with these techniques. We were told that preaching was out, relevance was in. Doctrine didn’t matter nearly as much as innovation. If it wasn’t 'cutting edge' and consumer friendly it was doomed. The mention of sin, salvation and sanctification were taboo and replaced by Starbucks, strategy and sensitivity."

This is a particular topic of interest for me at the current juncture in my academic career, but the article is pretty self-explanatory, so I won't go too much more in depth. Basically, this is a perfect representation of many of the problems with what is commonly called the "evangelical" movement (see here for a similar discussion from a few weeks ago). Seeing some of it firsthand, the megachurch focus often loses sight of its individual parishioner in light of the overall amount of "God's work" that it is doing.

In the true Calvinist sense, then, more people means more blessings from God. While this may or may not be true, in his statements, Hawkins seems to have realized that the true purpose of religious worship is lost when people don't understand the foundations of their practice. If a Christian life is supposed to be different from a life connected with American business and popular culture, then clearly, Willow Creek's model needed reevaluation. In my personal experience, I have trouble distinguishing between a Wednesday night worship service at the local megachurch and a concert at the 40 Watt later that evening. Of course, there's not as much booze at the former, but the reaction to the music appears strikingly similar.

Anyhow, the point is that I don't think there is a problem with this practice if people are spiritually connecting with it. However, as Hawkins suggests, that is precisely the problem: there has been a blurred distinction between the secular and sacred worlds for them to the point where he believes it is spiritually threatening for his members. In his words:

"What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become ‘self feeders.’ We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between services, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own."

I understand where he's coming from, and respect his honesty in the matter. But, what does this become for the movement that has risen from Willow Creek's example? What does he do with all the money he's made? What do his parishioners do when they hear that their pastor has "been mistaken" in leading their worship?