LifeChurch.tv Tulsa Becomes Indiana Jones Adventures
This past weekend, LifeChurch.tv’s Tulsa campus sermon branded their church facilities to promote their annual summer sermon series “At the Movies.” They themed their facilities after the Indiana Jones adventures.
As guests approach the church, a military vehicle with ammo crates appears to have “broken” through a mural spray painted by a local graffiti artist.
The church entrance is converted into a cobweb covered cave.
Above the cave is a giant rolling boulder like the one featured in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
One corner of the lobby has a jungle waterfall.
Another corner has the Ark of the Covenant nestled among military crates as seen at the beginning of The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
And a third corner has converted a coffee bar into a foreign marketplace.
A mine cart with Short Round from The Temple of Doom sits over the other lobby entrance.
Between the auditorium doors rests a large “stone” skull that breathes fog.
The auditorium did not continue the Indiana Jones theme, but some extra lights were added for the sermon series.
LifeChurch.tv Tulsa staff and volunteers spent four days creating the Indiana Jones environment. And churchgoers are encouraged to invite their friends to come enjoy the fun. Each year “At the Movies” proves to be an effective outreach series for LifeChurch.tv.
Jesse Phillips Said,
July 7, 2008 @ 7:29 am
Wow! This looks really good! Does this make the church more relevant? Does it help people feel comfortable coming to church, or act as excellent marketing or branding for the church?
Would love to talk about this further!
Kent Shaffer Said,
July 7, 2008 @ 7:55 am
Jesse,
I wouldn’t say it is about relevance. It is about fun. From what I understand, it has proven itself for LifeChurch.tv to be a great series for first time guests.
People (staff, volunteers, church members, & guests) seem to just enjoy the sermon series and have fun. And I would say that being able to do that occasionally is good marketing/branding.
dan Said,
July 7, 2008 @ 9:03 am
I can’t help but have a “Schindler moment” when I see big ministry pouring money and time into stuff like this. I see it and think, “Wow - that’s like 8 weeks of groceries for a single mom and her daughters who live in the same zip code of that church.”
And I’m a former big ministry guy, so big programming isn’t unfamiliar or something I’ve not contributed many, many hours to. I guess I’m just in a place in my faith journey where “big” ministry no longer has the luster it once had.
Kent Shaffer Said,
July 7, 2008 @ 9:14 am
@Dan
The design is actually very financially efficient. They
>> borrowed a lot of items,
>> recycled trashed materials,
>> rented premade items from set designers,
>> and used a lot of resources they already had.
However, it did take a lot of time.
But considering it will be used for an entire month and is one of LifeChurch.tv’s most effective evangelistic sermon series, it seems like a reasonable investment.
Of course, it is not for everyone. Each church’s calling is unique.
dan Said,
July 7, 2008 @ 11:16 am
Good points Kent. Nice to know that they re-purposed a lot of resources to get that done. I’ve got to learn to resist the temptation to look down on this kind of work. I suppose it has a place, though I just can’t see Jesus amid all the lights and cameras, etc.
evan Said,
July 7, 2008 @ 1:42 pm
very nice.
id love to see the reaction of people that showed this sunday.
Noble Said,
July 7, 2008 @ 10:22 pm
Kent…
Thanks so much for helping us see the world outside of our boxes. I love what LifeChurch.tv does!
To Dan… understand how things can seem to get out of control… it helps me to think about some of the BIG things Jesus did… might have been hard to see Jesus from the back of the 15,000 who had just been given a full meal… then someone tells them that a little boy gave his lunch to Jesus… then the see some guys hauling 12 baskets full of food back to the little boys’ house. CRAZY!!! Some of those people likely didn’t see Jesus at all that day… but they experienced Him… THE BREAD OF LIFE!!
I am currently on the team at a 5 yr church plant that is knocking on 3000. Outsiders love it that church is doing something unique attract and welcome them. They are able to realize that the lights, fog and LOUD music is just about environment. And they get it that we facilitate many different environments in an all out effort to see life change.
May we all seek to represent Him in the very best… very best way we can!!!
Wes Shortridge Said,
July 9, 2008 @ 10:07 am
Most of us end up in “float” mode during the summer. We assume the attendance will be light and we put our ministries in “light” mode.
Lifechurch demonstrates a church that presses in during the slow season to make it a positive. If it took four days to do this, that meant a lot a staff that didn’t go on vacation. It also means some extra hours put in when most people are on a light schedule.
Great example to those of us tempted to do church light for the summer!
Steve Murphy Said,
July 17, 2008 @ 5:29 pm
AMAZING!
So much for down-time in the summer, eh? I can just imagine the face on a guy who hasn’t been to church in 10 years walking into something like that!
BRAVO!