Posted on 05/12/2005 11:50:24 AM PDT by atomic_dog
LOS ANGELES - When the Rev. Alan Meenan took over as senior pastor at the nationally prominent Hollywood First Presbyterian Church, it had been losing members for 20 years.
Now, hundreds of new worshippers are flocking to an alternative service staged by the church at a nearby nightclub that offers live rock music and a casual atmosphere that doesn't frown on flip-flops and nose piercings.
The service, called Contemporary Urban Experience, has bolstered membership at one of the most storied Presbyterian congregations in the country. But it has also created a deep rift between old and new members that threatens to tear the conservative church apart.
Responding to numerous complaints about Meenan, regional church officials, in a rare step, took control of operations at Hollywood First last week and put Meenan and his executive pastor on paid administrative leave to restore the peace.
The turmoil within the 2,700-member congregation reflects what experts call the "worship war," an identity crisis that has beset many mainline Protestant denominations as they struggle to survive in a culture that puts less importance on the traditions of organized religion.
Membership among Presbyterian churches has declined by as many as 40,000 people a year since the mid-1960s, said Jerry Van Marter, news director at Presbyterian Church USA.
Similar declines have been seen in nearly all mainline Protestant denominations, as clashes have developed not only over worship style but issues such as the ordination of women and the role of gays and lesbians in the church.
The decline has been especially painful at Hollywood First, where the congregation helped launch evangelists Billy Graham and Lloyd Ogilvie, who's now U.S. Senate chaplain. It was home to Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, and Henrietta Mears, author of the popular Sunday school curriculum Gospel Light.
"Hollywood Presbyterian is the elite," said congregant Teena Smith, who until recently attended a nondenominational megachurch in Atlanta. "People against Meenan say ... 'That's great, move to alternative. But not in our backyard.'"
The rift over worship is something that William McKinney, president of the Pacific School of Religion at University of California, Berkeley, has seen before.
"You try to identify the kernel of the gospel - and that, you don't mess with. But your presentation needs to be sensitive to cultural change," he said. "This is a question that mainline folk wrestle with: Has the sacredness of the organ been elevated to a point where Jesus gets lost?"
At Hollywood First, the trouble began when Meenan launched the Contemporary Urban Experience, or CUE, services more than two years ago. The weekly Sunday service has attracted some 350 twenty- and thirty-somethings, some with tattoos and piercings. Many work in the entertainment industry.
"I could go into any coffee shop in Los Angeles and go up to any artsy, crazy guy and feel totally comfortable inviting him to this service," said J.C. Cornwell, 34, a church member who volunteers to produce CUE each week. "It's just a really cool service - but it's still the truth."
Some traditionalists have embraced the new service as a way to save their beloved church. For others, however, it represents a threat to the faith and a fall from grace.
"I would be very sad if it became demographically oriented or age-oriented, where there would come a day when the sanctuary was abandoned and all worship moved down to the warehouse," said Sparky Jamison, a 20-year member of Hollywood First and a church elder. "I come from a tradition of loving to sing and perform classical music."
The building tension over worship style exploded this spring when members discovered an $856,000 budget shortfall that Meenan had not disclosed. The pastor hasn't been accused of fraud - simply poor management.
The Presbytery of the Pacific, a regional governing body for the denomination's churches in Southern California and Hawaii, received more than 100 letters and calls from disgruntled members. They complained about Meenan's dictatorial management style, his disregard for Presbyterian tradition and his decision to put money into overseas missionary trips and youth outreach while criticizing the cost of the traditional services.
On May 3, some 500 parishioners attended a five-hour meeting during which dozens of parishioners both for and against Meenan addressed the presbytery.
Meenan acknowledged he hadn't been a perfect pastor but blamed dissension on traditional members who were unwilling to embrace his new direction. He said the church gained 728 new members under his eight-year leadership, including 350 at the alternative service and between 300 and 500 who attend the weekly Bible study.
"There are those who sense a loss of involvement in their church and target me as a result," said Meenan, who has been a pastor for 32 years. "Change is essential to our future and change is working for good in Hollywood."
The presbytery voted to seize control of Hollywood First and appointed an administrative commission, which immediately placed Meenan and his executive pastor, David Manock, on an indefinite paid leave.
Many members worry that the congregation won't be able to bridge the generational gap even with outside intervention.
"I would like to see our church learn how to embrace these separate styles of worship. How can we do that and merge together and remain merged together as a congregation?" said Jamison, the church elder
Heh heh, When I started reading this I knew that line was going to show up somewhere in the article. Maybe it should be called "Playing the Neanderthal Card."
That's my 2-cents.... from someone whose church is in the middle of that right now.
The $856,000 in the hole probably didn't help matters. Those uptight traditional folks usually like to keep the bills paid.
I probably should have read the whole article, but I could not help thinking that the services sounded like a rock concert, and if it's free to the public, of course the church will fill up.
Religion is more than filling up the pews on Sunday. Since Presbyterians claim to be Christian, it also has to fill up the soul with the love of Jesus and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Might have to do as well with the Presbyterian take on homosexuality, abortion, other 'tradition-defying' tenets of the faith.
One needs to be suspicious about this story from the Associated Press. There is too much emphasis on "worship style" had caused a few people to be concerned.
That spin does not comport with the fact the majority of the church is supporting their two pastors.
I smell spin.
I'm a member of a large, fairly conservative, PCUSA church in Texas.
There is more to this than mentioned in the article. Hollywood Pres ran up a $875,000 (or so ) budget deficit. This is probably enough (depending upon their assets, and how quickly this happened) to justify the Presberty stepping in as it implies gross mismanagement by the Sr. Pastor, Executive Pastor (who in our congregation at least runs the church "bidness"), and the session. As far as I know, it is only mismanagement - no criminal activity has been alleged.
As I understand the PCUSA, the COM has the authority to place any pastor on administrative leave. They might have chosen to do so to investigate the church finances. The fact that the COM did this after the Presberty vote is somewhat unusual, and could mean a lack of communication between the two (which in the PCUSA would hardly be surprising).
This caught my interest as my congregation has a similar but much smaller problem which is dividing our congregation. In both churches, the senior pastor started a "seeker friendly" service which has attracted many 20-somethings but at the expense of the traditional services. In order to fit the "seeker" service, the sermons have been dumbed down almost to the "pop Christianity" standards of a Saddleback, Willow Creek, or Lakewood, which has alienated older members who prefer more theological meat. Many long term members, who contribute more, are leaving both churches.
Both churches have a different set of problems with some overlap, and I'm praying for both.
Ooops.... I guess this story DID report the deficit, most haven't.
Interesting, the Apostle Paul described the "milk only" babes in the Corinthian church as carnal. My experience (SBC background) in both reformed and charismatic churches is that everyone wants a dumbed down theology thats fits human notions of justice and fairness. I will pray that those who predict that a great deception will come into the world are wrong.
We had a pastor come in a start a contemporary service.
Dropped the attendance from 5-6,000 to about 1,500 or so.
Great move.
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