Does one size fit all when it comes to worship? And should that size be XXL? Brian Tome, the lead pastor at Crossroads Community Church in Cincinnati, OH seems to think so as he proselytizes on the benefits of consolidation.
"There too many freakin' churches in every city. It's crazy that you've got a town of maybe ten thousand people and you have ten churches of the same exact denomination in that town," says Tome, in this Current TV interview (click HERE to view if player fails to load). Tome feels the megachurch phenomenon, which has grown tenfold in the last three decades, is the work of God. He also seems to want his parish to become a little over-dependent on his Goliath of a church, which is more than a little worrying.
"If it wasn't for this church we would be screwed," says Tome, "that should be the legacy of every single church." Hmnn? Would the big guy really approve of such megalomania? I hope not. "If the community that you're residing in doesn't come to the recognition where if you were extracted and left there, that they would be screwed, then you should screw yourself," Tome continues. "You should just leave right now. You're taking up valuable land that could be a Target."
Perhaps Wal-Mart may be a better analogy in Tome's last statement. As super-churches push the little guys out, surely the community suffers as they trade their individuality to join a larger flock. How can a pastor possibly get to know each and every one of his parishioners in a church as large as Crossroads? How can they understand and serve the needs of five thousand? Don't we suffer from too much consolidation in our lives, rather than not enough, as Tome seems to think?
Hey, I get the fact that some people may appreciate the relative anonymity of being a small fish in a big pond. Others might get off on the energy that large gatherings create, and the rock concert-worthy service production values that such organizations can support. People have different needs from their churches, and different ways of feeling closer to their god, which is why I disagree with Tome's bigger is better philosophy. Bigger is not necessarily better, just different, which is what some individuals may want.
On the upside, though Tome's church looks like a Discount Shoe Warehouse from the outside, he shuns the buy-your-way-to-faith markets found in many other blockbuster churches. At Crossroads they give away books and CDs, feeling their mission is to "bless people" rather than cash in on the congregation, which puts them way ahead of many more commercialized mega-churches in my book.
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