Outside of Buffalo, New York, where I used to live, is a big box church that resembles a very large cinema megaplex from the outside. I'd never gone inside, but I knew some about the church and what happened there. One summer day I was walking through an outdoor art festival, and I saw some artists I knew. We started talking, and one of them knew I was a pastor and asked about the big church. "What goes on there?" she asked. I tried to explain as best I could, without judgement, what the experience there was like. After giving my explanation one guy in the group said, "It sounds like church for people who like to go to the mall."

I don't know if I could have said it any better. I grew up where a big Saturday was a trip to the mall, and I still enjoy a mall visit, so I'm not on the outside of that group, and I can't judge here. Some have noticed that the megachurch phenomenon paralleled the growth of shopping malls in our country, and as malls are now being shuttered many wonder if megachurches will follow. I'm no predictor of the future, but I think so. Driving into Saddleback Church's big campus two weeks ago, I thought of mainline churches that were booming in the 50's and early 60's, and they built very large buildings to accommodate the crowds. Culture changed in the 70's and 80's, and the crowds that were at these churches disappeared (many to the malls), and many of these churches were left with big buildings they couldn't maintain and a confusion over why what worked for them in 1955 no longer worked in 1995. I wondered, will the same thing happen to these megachurches: in 2035 will they be trying to hold together their decaying church megaplex and wondering why what worked in 1995 no longer works in 2035? We won't know until then, but I wouldn't be surprised.

I've visited four of these places that could be called megachurches this summer, and the experience is almost exactly the same in each of them. There's a big parking lot because they're built on the edge of town (no one walks to these places). When you get inside there is a big lobby area with a bookstore and coffee/snack bar. Inside the worship area, there's a stage with musical instruments. You won't find a communion table or liturgical furnishings. It looks like a theater set up for a rock band. The worship in all these places is almost identical, too. A few years ago a parody video was created called Contemporvant (you can watch it here), and the parody is really true to life. The worship in all these places follows a basic structure of welcome/songs/offering/longer sermon/song . It's like it's the new traditional worship, this basic ordering of worship. These churches, too, are all scrubbed of any obvious connection to Christian history or connection to other believers. If there is any denominational affiliation, any sign of it is hidden and has to be searched out to find. It's as if they're removed from the baggage of connections to other believers with the church itself springing out of nowhere without any history to weigh it down.

This summer I've visited monasteries and megachurches. I'm almost to the end of this sabbatical time, and I've been thinking about this juxtaposition: I've made several retreats to monasteries, but I've also joined in worship at a few megachurches. On a Sunday I was worshiping at Saddleback Church, the sixth largest church in the country, and the next day I'm chanting Psalms with monks at St. Andrew's Abbey. As I write this I'm at St. Meinrad Archabby, and a couple of years ago I was here and one of the monks said about the Rule of St. Benedict, "We've been living by this for 1500 years; something must be working." He's right. Monasticism may be a movement that exists on the edges of Christian life, but it's endured. Whenever I visit monasteries I know that things have changed through the centuries, but they still try to live by Benedict's rule in their own time. I'm sure in another 1000 years you'll still find monks chanting the Psalms, just as Benedict instructed his monks 1,500 years ago. Can the same thing be said for the megachurch? Will, in 1000 years, you find Christians gathered in really big theater-styled buildings clapping along to Christian rock bands? I really doubt it.

You could chalk up my thoughts to jealousy. Small church pastors feel a bit like the owners of mom-and-pop hardware stores, confused why everyone goes to Home Depot and their store now sits empty. Folks on the inside of these place may say I have it all wrong, too. They could be right. I'd really need to hang around one of these places for a year or so to really understand them. As I've visited these places there's a feeling that they may have been successful for a particular cultural moment, but I'm wondering if that moment is passing. I think for a church or church movement to endure beyond a particular moment there needs to be theological integrity in worship, an emphasis on spiritual disciplines in the life of those participating, a strong community life, a commitment for the long journey of faith (not just what works at the moment), actions that try to love the neighbor near and far, and the constant desire to seek God in all areas of life.

At one of these big churches I visited they said the Nicene Creed in the middle of worship. It was said as a call-and-response,with the song leader saying one part and the congregation responding with other parts. I was really surprised that this was a part of the worship that day. I come from a church movement that proclaims "no creed but Christ," but saying the creed that day was a welcome gift when everything else done there was very of-the-moment. Hearing those words reminded me of a faith that has lived through the centuries and continues to live in the hearts of believers and endures beyond the moment. Here's hoping we continue to seek God beyond what is popular and find a faith that endures.