Edmonton Sun - Sunday, April 28 2008
The Church of (Christian) Rock
Lively, Pentecostal-style services draw flocks of youngsters
| By KERRY DIOTTE |
Some of my earliest memories of my Catholic upbringing involve the scowling, habit-wearing, no-nonsense nuns who taught me in grade school and the super-strict, slap-happy priests who took over the task in Catholic private boys high school.
Going to church as a kid meant a gruelling hour of mass that involved lots of bum-numbing time sitting on hard pews or kneeling on equally uncomfortable pieces of wood.
Mass meant little to me. It was a collection of chants and prayers - some in Latin - that I'd recited so often I could mumble them in my sleep. The Catholic church seemed to concentrate on The Big Five concepts: Guilt, suffering, penance, heaven and hell. I suppose we got a tiny taste of that suffering in church itself - from those rock-hard wooden kneelers.
The Catholic teachings I learned as a kid could be quite twisted. Protestants were looked down upon. When my non-Catholic grandfather died when I was about 10 years old, I asked a nun at school if he had gone to heaven. She looked at me and shook her head sadly, "No, he couldn't have gone to heaven if he didn't become a Catholic."
That soured me forever on the faith that seemed more interested in preserving long-held, outdated convictions and traditions than in making their services relevant to people. (Besides, sadly, women weren't treated as equals in the church and still aren't)
That's why I had a real eye-opener when a female friend of mine took me to Edmonton's Church on 99 (Street) - a congregation that worships in a livey Pentecostal style.
It's motto on signs proclaims: "Think church is boring? Think again!"
The moment I walked in last Sunday, I knew this wasn't my mom and dad's church. Hundreds of people milled around in the foyer before the service, scanning tables of spiritual books, CDs and DVDs, while an eight-piece Christian rock band inside, cranked out tunes on a giant stage.
In the foyer, TV monitors pumped out music too, complete with countdown clocks to tell folks when it was time to take a seat for the service.
My friend and I grabbed cushy, padded seats near the front, but we weren't sitting long. The band blasted out a few tuneds to start off the service as people stood, sang along, bopped on the spot and held their hands in the air.
The pastor wore jeans and a sports coat over an untucked shirt. His sermon was done through a wireless headset and was accompanied by highlighted Biblical passages displayed on a pair of giant TV screens.
In the midst of the service, there were full-body water baptisms and, later, announcements displayed on screens for a host of church events - some of which were made by a Christian rapper.
There was a retro disco roller skating night advertised, a couples conference, a men's group. Hell, er, heck, there was even a plug for an upcoming Father's Day show and shine in the church parking lot.
Given the energy of the place, it was no wonder much of the crowd was younger than any church I'd experienced. After the service, scores of people flooded into an adjoining room to sip cappuccinos and chat among themselves or with pastors Dennis and Leslie Varty.
I'm still not sold on the message of most churches and this one wasn't much different. There was lots of emphasis on worshipping God and dictates about what comprises proper moral character (no sex before marriage, for one).
Myself, I'd rather work to find the spirit of God within me - and I've yet to find a church to help at that.
Still, these church officials are smart enough to know how to update their services and sell themselves to a generation turned off by mind-numbing rituals and rock-hard benches.
It's little wonder, then, that their flock is growing, while other churches' congregations dwindle.
Photo taken by: Ian Jackson/Edmonton Journal
Edmonton Journal - Friday, June 29 2007
Don Retson, edmontonjournal.com
Published: Friday, June 29 2007EDMONTON - As befitting Canada's national birthday, Church on 99 will be awash on Sunday in Maple Leafs, red-and-white food dishes and Canadiana souvenirs.
Folks who visit the church first get to sample a high-energy worship service, then kick up their heels outdoors at a Canada Day celebration.
"It will definitely be patriotic in nature," special events planner Diana Kyle promised of the two worship services, which will include the church's worship band playing a medley of songs and even our national anthem.
A highlight of this year's event is a kids carnival, although there will also be balloons, flags, pins and hopefully enough strawberry shortcake to feed all comers.
"With the cake and things like that, it's just grown to a bigger level each year," said Kyle.
Located in a converted warehouse at 9908 67 Ave., Church on 99 was founded in 1991 by Rev. Dennis Varty and his pastor wife Leslie. The paid staff includes another husband-wife pastor team - Darwin and Lisa Dewar.
On a given Sunday, the church attracts about 650 people to its two Sunday morning services. It also has a Friday evening service totally geared to youth and put on by the church's youth ministry called Riz'n.
The Canada Day event is one of many summertime activities at Church on 99. While some places of worship seem to go into snooze control during the lazy, hazy days of summer, Varty sees the summer period as an ideal time to roll out the welcome mat.
"There's plenty of people moving into the city wanting to connect with a church," he explained. "We like to put on some events that give them an opportunity not just to attend church, but to hang around and meet people."
The first thing that strikes a visitor at the church is the large number of young people. The average age of church-goers' services on this day is about 30.
That might come as a shock to people from a mainline church, but it's no longer any big deal to Varty. The church's mission statement, after all, is: Building for generations to come. The church is youth focused, from the contemporary music, the video clips interspersed in Varty's sermons to help illustrate a point he's trying to make and other multi-media resources that are used to grab and maintain the attention of young worshippers.
"We've always had a focus towards the next generation," said Varty, who's the father of four sons ranging in age from 15 to 21.
"We see our church as always gearing up to engage the next generation. That's almost like a bit of a measuring stick for us to be able to say: 'If we're not attracting the next generation, then we're on the road to closure.' "
