A Waunakee church that pushed the concept of “casual worship” to new levels didn’t draw enough interest and has closed.
St. Andrew Lutheran Church, 5757 Emerald Grove Lane, sought to attract people put off by the rituals and trappings of traditional worship services. Parishioners ripped out the church’s pews, pulpit and communion rail four years ago and installed coffeehouse tables, easy chairs and a cappuccino machine.
Sunday attendance peaked at around 50 a couple of years ago and had been dropping. Services have ceased and the church building is for sale.
The Middleton location continued to hold traditional worship services, while the Waunakee site experimented with a more laid-back structure. Hunter served both sites. His early morning sermon in Middleton was videotaped, then shown on large screens later in the morning at Waunakee.
“I still think it’s a great idea, but this apparently was not the time or the place,” said the Rev. Randy Hunter, pastor of St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Middleton.
3 comments:
Wait! Contemporary worship isn't working? I thought that was the panacea for all the Lutheran Church's problems. One down, too many to go.
It was a WELS church, I understand.
When people can become members without ever opening the Small Catechism, what did the Pastor and the elders expect?
Maybe the "casual worship" Lutheran pewsitters realized that the coffee, the stage lights, and the praise bands were far superior at the non-denominational church down the street.
Hmmmm......the congregation experiences declining attendance in spite of employing church growth methods.
Where does the Lutheran church go from here?
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