April 14, 2006, 3:40PM
Together for Easter
Celebrity singers. A 600-strong choir. More than 100 dancers. Two very different megachurches join to celebrate the resurrection.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"If this were about Second Baptist and Windsor Village only, I wouldn't do it. This is about bringing men and women, boys and girls under one roof to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then encouraging those persons who decide to develop a personal relationship with Jesus to go to the church of their choice." (Kirbyjon Caldwell, pastor of Windor Village United Methodist Church on joining forces with Houston's Second Baptist Church for Easter services this year)
By RICHARD VARA
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
It's not about the bunny.
That's what the Rev. Ed Young of Second Baptist Church tells a distraught Easter Rabbit during a 30-second TV commercial for the largest Easter service planned this weekend in Houston.
The large bunny — upset because Easter is taking on religious overtones — is seen defacing Young's picture on a billboard advertising Resurrection Day at Minute Maid Park.
Young and the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell of Windsor Village United Methodist Church hope to fill the baseball stadium's 42,000 seats Sunday morning for an interracial, interdenominational worship service featuring Grammy-winning gospel singer CeCe Winans, country star Clay Walker and inspirational singer/preacher Wintley Phipps.
Young and Caldwell, the nationally known pastors of two of the city's biggest churches, will be joined by 600-plus voices from their combined choirs, a 50-piece orchestra and more than 100 energetic praise dancers.
''It will be something people will always remember, an experience like Woodstock," Darrell W. Johnson, director of instrumental music for Windsor Village, said of the day's musical impact. ''They will feel what we are doing."
Young, whose church has a membership roll of 42,000, describes the service as ''the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ as well as an outreach to the people of Houston to come to know Christ."
Such mega-assemblies are "the cultural direction for churches," said Lynn Mitchell, resident scholar of religion at the University of Houston. "It's a national trend."
Megachurches are producing meetings that attract seekers and young people who like both the anonymity and the spectacular productions, he said.
Although there are people who still prefer small churches with small communal worship, "people are more and more attracted to these big movements," Mitchell said.
"They don't want to go to anything that looks like a church, feels like a church," said Mitchell, who is pastor at Houston Heights Church of Christ. "They want it to be exciting, emotionally involving and they want the productions to be professional, which these megachurches can do."
Young, whose church has a membership roll of 42,000, most of them white, describes the service as "the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ as well as an outreach to the people of Houston to come to know Christ."
'History-making moment'Members of both churches have been encouraged to invite not only family and friends but also those who don't attend either church or any church.
"If this were about Second Baptist and Windsor Village only, I wouldn't do it," said Caldwell, who pastors the largest United Methodist Church in the nation with more than 15,000 members, most of them black.
"This is about bringing men and women, boys and girls under one roof to celebrate the resurrection of our lord and savior Jesus Christ and then encouraging those persons who decide to develop a personal relationship with Jesus to go to the church of their choice," Caldwell said.
It will also be "a history-making moment," Caldwell said of the stadium gathering of the predominantly white and black megachurches. But the event transcends racial and denominational lines.
"We are excited because we have a venue for persons of all backgrounds to participate and celebrate and do so in a comfortable environment," Caldwell said.
In addition to an hourlong concert preceding the 10 a.m. service, both pastors will preach and then issue an altar call, an invitation to non-Christians to accept Christ.
"It is very evangelistic," said the Rev. Gary Moore, spokesman for Second Baptist. Staff members will follow up with any new Christians by contacting them and inviting them to attend church.
But can such an event work effectively as outreach?
Lakewood did it twiceLakewood Church held two Easter services at Minute Maid before moving into the former Compaq Center. Spokesman Don Iloff said that it was difficult to determine if Lakewood's membership grew as a result. Both services attracted about 40,000 people, he said.
"It is hard to know what variables contributed to growth aside from (Pastor Joel Osteen)," Iloff said, noting that attendance boomed after Lakewood moved to the Compaq Center. "We added 10,000 people a week just from the move from our northeast Houston location to where we are now."
Weekly Lakewood attendance now averages between 35,000 and 40,000 over several services and the crowds are expected to dramatically increase on Easter, as they do at almost all churches nationwide. That's why Lakewood did not opt for a third Easter at the baseball park.
"Minute Maid won't hold all the people," Iloff said. "We can seat more people where we are."
Young said he was invited by Drayton McLane, owner of the Houston Astros and a Southern Baptist layman, to stage Easter at Minute Maid. Young then proposed a joint service to his longtime friend Caldwell.
They will share the preaching duties. Young will present the "forensic evidence" for the resurrection of Christ. "(The Apostle) Paul said if the resurrection is not true, then we are all fools," Young said.
Caldwell will follow with "the practical power of Jesus Christ, his willingness and ability to transform our lives."
One of the benefits of the joint service is the cross-racial, cross-town connection between the megachurches.
Second Baptist Music Minister Eddie Struble said planning the service with Windsor Village counterpart Kathy Taylor-Brown turned out to be a great deal of fun. They came up with several hymns and songs melding the exuberant gospel style of Windsor Village with the traditional and contemporary beats of Second Baptist.
"We tried to make sure there was something familiar to everyone on both sides of the congregation," Struble said.
Windsor choir and dance members rehearsed at Second's home west of Memorial Park, and Second Baptist's choir visited Windsor in southwest Houston. It was the first time most had visited each other's church.
"Normally when you meet someone for the first time, you are a little apprehensive," said Tonya Foreman, director of Windsor's praise dancers. "Everyone was loving and wonderful because we know we are going to do a mighty thing on Resurrection Sunday.
"There were no barriers, no cultural barrier, no racial barriers. We were all one church, all loving God."
richard.vara@chron.com
HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Life
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