... staffers from Next Level Church of Matthews will go to bars in the Ballantyne area ...
Off by one lousy vowel or consonant.
Posted on 01/14/2008 9:55:05 PM PST by Between the Lines
Friday January 18, staffers from Next Level Church of Matthews will go to bars in the Ballantyne area of Charlotte to hand out shot glasses which will have a message that says "give us a shot" and "real church for real people."
Robbie McLaughlin, pastor of the church, wants to send his message out to where the people are.
He believes his method is controversial and he did it not to impress people who go to church but those who don't.
Next Level Church is a nontraditional church that encourages members to dress casually, and snack on coffee and doughnuts during services.
His nontraditional ideas are catching on because in two years, they report, the church has grown from a handful of members to more than 700.
Next Level Chruch wikipedia
Pass me the shot glass.
... staffers from Next Level Church of Matthews will go to bars in the Ballantyne area ...
Off by one lousy vowel or consonant.
Good one! I swear to the Almighty that I when checking out churches in our area a pastor once said, “Communion is self serve, its located in the back corner, next to the espresso bar.” Anyway, I wish em the best, may the Holy Spirit move them.
They are pronounced the same.
Their next item is to hand out condoms in whorehouses with the same wording.
After that, they are handing out hypodermic needles to junkies with the slogan, “Shoot for the Son.”
“real church for real people.”
Clearly, other church-goers are not “real people”.
A church I’m familiar with does something similar, though perhaps a little less self-consciously (and much more low-key). They send teams into bars around town to shoot pool, sip cokes, and chit-chat with whoever wants to chit-chat, shoot pool, or whatever. No hard sell, but open to talk faith to anyone who wants to talk, or pray with anyone who has a need.
They worried the idea might be a bad one, but it seems to have borne some interesting fruit, certainly they are talking to people that they might ordinarily not be talking to. And far from being mocked or given a hard time, some of the bartenders seem to enjoy their company. What a concept, go where people are.
In North Carolina there’s a good chance a lot of bar patrons just haven’t been to church in a long time and welcome the casual reintroduction. Try this other places, might not work as well.
Next Level is a booming church. My Weight Watchers meeting used to be held there, when NL first bought the children from Tri-County Community Church, who bought it from Lutheran Church of the Savior ...
Anyway, WW had to move because NL has expanding the buildings and parking lot. I heard their “worship band” perform at Matthews Alive! last fall. The teens thought they were excellent, and my son engaged in sinful covetousness about their drum setup :-).
Oh, dear, too early to post, obviously.
I mean that Next Level bought the *buildings*, not the children. (Argh, it’s only Tuesday!)
I once heard an anchorperson lead in to a story with "Would you like to help burn children ?"
"Non Angli, sed angeli!" -- "Not Angles, but angels!"
I fear it was a Freudian slip.
My car mechanic has a sign up over his counter:
UNATTENDED CHILDREN
WILL BE SOLD AS SLAVES
Well, it’s not the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick.
I saw a sign once at a coffee shop that said Unattended children will be given free sugar and caffeine.
Since I haven’t been able to sell the children, I’d better go buy them some groceries :-).
We sent invitations to a party and added “Children left behind will be given caffeine and a free puppy”.
The problem with the bar idea is that the deacons from other churches will be ducking for the back door.
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