An inspired choice even with his uninspiring theology
Tom Ehrich/Religion News Service
Issue date: 1/11/09 Section: Divine Intervention
Whenever I lead a communications workshop, I show church Web sites that miss the mark: out-of-date designs and content, a "provider-driven" and not "customer-driven" focus, too many photos of buildings and clergy and not much apparent thought to what a visitor might be seeking.
Then I show the Web site for Saddleback Church, a four-campus megachurch in Southern California whose pastor, Rick Warren, will give the invocation at Barack Obama's inauguration on Jan. 20. His selection has ruffled some feathers because of his conservative theology.
"This Web site is the 'gold standard,'" I say, not because it espouses a certain theology, but because its methodology is superb. The site shows people, not buildings, and a broader diversity than most churches show. It changes constantly to stay fresh.
The site anticipates a visitor's needs for belonging, meaning and purpose, and it wastes little time trumpeting the congregation's history or traditions.
The clear path for navigating the site suggests a clear path for navigating the congregation and embracing its faith. In stating the congregation's transformational agenda, the site is honest and appealing. The message is open doors, open groups, open classes, hundreds of ways in and yet a clarity of purpose, not a grab-bag of easy, half-hearted solutions.
"I don't agree with what Rick Warren preaches," I tell church leaders. "I think his book, 'The Purpose-Driven Life,; is pablum. But we can all learn from his methodology."
And that, in my opinion, is why Warren makes an excellent choice for a presidential inauguration in troubled 2009. He seems pragmatic and open-handed, a welcome change from the doctrinaire and closed-minded clergy who have plundered national politics in recent years.
Even though I disagree with Warren's negativity toward homosexuality, I sense that, unlike many Christian leaders, he hasn't hung his entire ministry on this one crowd-pleasing issue.
I hope Warren's selection signals an era of pragmatism in American politics, marketplace and religion. Ideologues managing our economy and foreign policy led us to the brink of collapse. Stubborn executives clinging to failed ideas and ignoring marketplace realities led major corporations into bankruptcy. Politicians seeking donations entrusted the nation's personal and community wealth to financiers whose rapacious folly is a staple of American history.
Then I show the Web site for Saddleback Church, a four-campus megachurch in Southern California whose pastor, Rick Warren, will give the invocation at Barack Obama's inauguration on Jan. 20. His selection has ruffled some feathers because of his conservative theology.
"This Web site is the 'gold standard,'" I say, not because it espouses a certain theology, but because its methodology is superb. The site shows people, not buildings, and a broader diversity than most churches show. It changes constantly to stay fresh.
The site anticipates a visitor's needs for belonging, meaning and purpose, and it wastes little time trumpeting the congregation's history or traditions.
The clear path for navigating the site suggests a clear path for navigating the congregation and embracing its faith. In stating the congregation's transformational agenda, the site is honest and appealing. The message is open doors, open groups, open classes, hundreds of ways in and yet a clarity of purpose, not a grab-bag of easy, half-hearted solutions.
"I don't agree with what Rick Warren preaches," I tell church leaders. "I think his book, 'The Purpose-Driven Life,; is pablum. But we can all learn from his methodology."
And that, in my opinion, is why Warren makes an excellent choice for a presidential inauguration in troubled 2009. He seems pragmatic and open-handed, a welcome change from the doctrinaire and closed-minded clergy who have plundered national politics in recent years.
Even though I disagree with Warren's negativity toward homosexuality, I sense that, unlike many Christian leaders, he hasn't hung his entire ministry on this one crowd-pleasing issue.
I hope Warren's selection signals an era of pragmatism in American politics, marketplace and religion. Ideologues managing our economy and foreign policy led us to the brink of collapse. Stubborn executives clinging to failed ideas and ignoring marketplace realities led major corporations into bankruptcy. Politicians seeking donations entrusted the nation's personal and community wealth to financiers whose rapacious folly is a staple of American history.
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Fred Harvey
posted 1/12/09 @ 4:04 AM EST
The article is very interesting and really drives its point home but regardless of the slick website, Warren's hateful theology overshadows any good the web site portrays. (Continued…)
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