Wednesday, May 16, 2007

a church grew in hollywood

it's pretty un-hip to be a christian. i should know, because i am one.

no matter how hard jay bakker, creed, or mosaic try to convince you otherwise, they always come off as looking like they're just trying too damn hard.

update: i'm not getting down on christians in general... it's just that telling most people you know Jesus makes a completely different impression than saying you know Steven Spielberg or the one-armed drummer from Def Leppard.

over the years, i've come to terms with my christianity, and at times i'll even admit it publicly. it wasn't acutally that hard, because i've pretty much been a square for most of my life anyways. i figure if you want to look at it from a logical perspective, the pros for being a christian far outweigh the cons (eternal paradise? come on, it's a no-brainer!). but for some people - particularly for people living in los angeles - being percieved as "uncool" is just about the worst thing that could happen.

i'm just glad I don't live in china, where people braver than me are hung from iron gates and tortured for their beliefs.

now that's totally uncool.

but i digress...

if you're looking for a place in hollywood where you can go and hang out with all the other un-cool people who have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, ecclesia hollywood has just moved into its new digs at the beautiful old pacific theatre on hollywood between cahuenga and wilcox (click here for map).

incidentally, ecclesia is celebrating its second year in hollywood this weekend (may 20th). there's going to be a roundtable discussion with all of the church officers, so anyone who's been curious about the church will probably find this sunday's service to be a good jumping-on point (kind of like those midseason "recap" episodes of lost).

there's really nothing i feel like i could say about ecclesia without making it sound like every other "hey we're young, urban christians and our praise band is gonna rock you out with some newsboys covers this sunday" kind of church (incidentally, our pastor has actually directed a few newsboys music videos - be sure to ask him about the dance from "love, liberty, disco" if you ever meet him).

in the end, i know that being a christian isn't about what i want (in this life) or about how comfortable i feel (around other people), and a church should be judged by what it teaches, not by its tattoo or celebrity count. what what i will say is that ecclesia is the first congregation i've ever been able to worship with where even though i don't feel any cooler or hipper, i'm able to take comfort in the fact that we're being un-cool and un-hip together.

and that's pretty cool, if you ask me.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I really enjoyed reading your post today! You are truly a gifted soul.
Dad

Cutter said...

awww... thanks pop!

James said...

Good to hear things are alive and well. I've been away from the congregation for nearly a year (living and working overseas) but am going to be back in just a few short days, God willing. Don't actually know your proper name and face, though *holds back tears* so hopefully you'll magically light up when I see you and I can say hi in person. And, if that doesn't happen, just ask who James Rice is. I think there are still a few folks around since last year who remember me (I hope ;-)

Anonymous said...

James, we look forward to seeing you back at Ecclesia! And I loved this post, and I love my church!