Electric lights. Video walls. High ceilings, many windows. Images of clouds, or of a cross, or of weather, or of roads, or of the sun shining. Ever changing images, on the big movie screen, and contemporary music thumping from the PA system to go along with the images, or else the images go with the song. Power point presentations or short, professionally shot videos to update you on announcements for church. Sound familiar? Does your church do any of the above?
That sounds a bit expensive too.
I am currently in RCIA, which is the class you take to join the Catholic church. My last protestant church was big, They were doing a lot of good things and coming up with innovative ways to pay for it. I was pleased with it.
They also paid for a TV spot on the local station and put their services and sermons out on webcasts and post the recordings online. This led to people with all sorts of problems contacting them for advice and answers, and they started a support group for people recovering from various addictions.
Another large church in town ran a school and two daycare centers. All of these things were expensive, but productive. I have no issues with that (A.G.) church, I did not leave out of any big disagreement or bitterness whatever.
Some people who have serious issues with Catholicism - or who at least think that they do, some people have only ever heard of it through people who seek to discred it - make snide comments about how much it cost to build or maintain cathedrals. Some protestants point fingers and pass judgments, acting like or saying, "WE are not like that, we are better." I grew up exposed to such things.
When catholic churches started building cathedrals and doing stained glass, mosaics, and statuary, there were no printing presses mass producing Bibles and almost nobody could read. Nowadays we have "picture bibles" for non-literate tribes. In the middle ages, the picture bibles WERE the stained glass and the statues. The Vatican and surrounding buildings are designed to be a Bible for people who could not read. Obviously, this artwork was expensive too, so having it on the church building, which was shared with the whole community, helped get the stories and messages to everyone around it. Having little pieces of such work at home, and using the original rosary, helped people get their spirits fed at home. The original use of the rosary was recitation of the Psalms. You can look it up, if you like.
Its funny how we hear those criticisms from people who's churches have purchased expensive PA systems and musical instruments but have no one to play them, or who have video walls behind their pulpits, and every bit as high of ceilings as the cathedral down the block. None of that stuff is cheap, and it actually serves the same basic purpose. People in modern protestant churches usually do not need picture stories of the Bible, but images that "minister," or bring about prayerful or hopeful attitudes, or that evoke emotions matching the sermon or theme are very common. There is nothing wrong with this, ever. Nevertheless it costs money. In modern Catholic churches, the architecture serves the same purpose as the powerpoints and videos in so many protestant churches that I have been fortunate to visit the last several years. I also find it helps me feel connected to earlier Christians and brings the depth and size and timelessness of the family of God to the forefront. Catholic churches in ornate buildings continue to help the poor in many regions, and in many ways, to protest abortion and offer alternatives to it, to shelter the homeless and minister to the sick and the dying in local communities and across the world, just like protestant churches usually do.
Disagreeing with doctrine is one thing, slandering people is another. Please check yourself if you have been judging others.
Godspeed.
~Mother Star
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