The Disneyland of Churches

Yesterday I had the chance to visit the famous Saddleback Church (the church Rick Warren, author of Purpose Driven Life started) in Lake Forest (about an hour south of here). We have talked a lot for a couple years about wanting the chance to experience this mega-church, since we don't live that far away, so we picked a Sunday, and 5 of us headed down yesterday morning. I was...well...overwhelmed to say the least. For starters, the church actually sits at the intersection of Purpose Drive and Saddleback Way. Seriously. We were joking on the way down about how funny it would be if the street was actually named "Purpose Drive" and then we were shocked to see that it was actually true. We drove into the 'campus' and saw parking lot trams just like at disneyland, shuttling people to the main sanctuary. There are two services on a Sunday, but in order to accomodate all the people that show up, there are several different venues around the campus. So, you select the type of music you happen to prefer, go to that building, are led in music by a live band and then the sermon is piped in on big screen tvs from the main worship center where the speaker is. So you don't like hymns, no problem, just head on over to Tent #2 where you can find a hard rock sound. Hard rock doesn't cut it for ya? Head over to the main worship center where a band leads you in contemporary praise music. For folks who prefer more 'traditional' hymns or classic songs, there's a tent for you too, just follow one of the hundreds of volunteers they have directing traffic.

I actually was surprised, we had a lot more positive things to say about our experience than we expected to. Seminarians are self-proclaimed critics of how people "do" church, and I know I have tendencies to call into question the motives behind how different churches do worship, or conduct their services, so I was expecting to be disgusted by the extravagance, wealth, and consumeristic tendencies that Saddleback can be known for around Fuller (and I'll admit, I'm not a huge fan of the 'consumeristic' mentality of getting to select a different building in order to not worship with people who like hymns...) Yes, there is a ridiculous amount of wealth at Saddleback, the facilities (as can be seen by the photos below) are a bit ostentatious, but I have to admit, the church really is doing some great things. They have a strong commitment to social justice, working with AIDS patients in Africa, and building eco-friendly buildings. Being a huge advocate of children experiencing worship with the whole corporate body, I would definitely have to call into question the actual statement printed in the bulletin asking parents to not bring their children under 5 into the worship center--oh and if you do have to bring a baby with you, you need to sit outside in the overflow room. That comment made me more mad that anything else I think I saw yesterday, so that is my little soap box about children's involvement in worship. Otherwise, they really are doing some wonderful things. Here are some photos though, of the rather over-the-top facilities--which can definitely raise the question of what are really essential uses of church resources--but as over the top as the campus is, it really is beautiful...

The entrance to The Ark Playground

The children's ministry building is 3 floors--each floor (for different ages) has a different theme. The k-2 graders on the first floor have an under the sea theme, complete with huge aquariums.The 2nd floor has a desert theme, and what would that be without live turtles??looking over the balcony from the 2nd floor down to the 1st floor's under the sea mural.the 'worship center' on the 5-6th grade room--off to the side, just out of the picture are several dance dance revolution games, video games, a snack bar and many other things to entertain kids.the baptismal pool, they were having children's baptisms that dayyou can also sit in the Terrace Cafe and listen to the service from there if you decide worshiping in a coffee shop is more your style. Oh and if you have an infant with you, the Terrace Cafe is one of the place they prefer you sit to worship. Wouldn't want our service disrupted by a baby now...never mind the several cell phones that went off...a look at the Refinery, the youth building, yes that is real sand off to the side--they have a beach volleyball court outsideoh and a waterfall to climb onand a skate park outsidethe inside of the Refinery--the huge open spaces have areas set up as lounges, game tables, pool tables, air hockey, and a cafe for them too.their walls are done in amazing murals though, all of them point to social justice, which i thought was awesome to be exposing teens to