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[NYtimes] A Church That Packs Them In, 16,000 at a Time

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout' started by thegary, Jul 18, 2005.

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  1. thegary

    thegary Member

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    just read this on front page of NYTimes:

    By JOHN LELAND
    Published: July 18, 2005

    HOUSTON, July 17 - Where the Beers of the World kiosk once dispensed suds to rowdy N.B.A. fans, volunteers were handing out church literature on Sunday. And where Patricia Davis, 38, once saw ZZ Top in concert, she now plans to worship.

    Members of the Lakewood Church, the nation's largest, Saturday night at the first service in their new home.
    "I was saved from that," Ms. Davis said last week, sitting near the old three-point line at the 16,000-seat arena here that is now her church's new home. "With the waterfalls," she said, "this really feels like a sanctuary."

    The nondenominational Lakewood Church, the nation's largest congregation, moved into the Compaq Center, once the home of the Houston Rockets, over the weekend. After $95 million in renovations, including two waterfalls and enough carpeting to cover nine football fields, the arena now belongs to a charismatic church with a congregation of 30,000, revenues of $55 million last year and a television audience in the millions.

    link to rest of article:
    http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/18/national/18lakewood.html?
     
    #1 thegary, Jul 18, 2005
  2. basso

    basso Member
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    perhaps they'll pray for a power forward...
     
    #2 basso, Jul 18, 2005
  3. thegary

    thegary Member

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    i think that we can agree that i couldn't hurt
     
    #3 thegary, Jul 18, 2005
  4. Oski2005

    Oski2005 Member

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    No more storefronts? How about going to a real church then?
     
    #4 Oski2005, Jul 18, 2005
  5. PhiSlammaJamma

    PhiSlammaJamma Member

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    No drinking wine after halftime.
     
    #5 PhiSlammaJamma, Jul 18, 2005
  6. RocketMan Tex

    RocketMan Tex Member

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    Lakewood=overkill
     
    #6 RocketMan Tex, Jul 18, 2005
  7. mateo

    mateo Member

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    I saw God in that church way before those 16,000 did.

    Grateful Dead...1988..Fall Tour.
     
    #7 mateo, Jul 18, 2005
  8. MR. MEOWGI

    MR. MEOWGI Contributing Member

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    It's now a mall, complete with a Starbuck's.
     
    #8 MR. MEOWGI, Jul 18, 2005
  9. Oski2005

    Oski2005 Member

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    Oh, and what exactly was that lady talking about "I was saved from that." Saved from ZZ Top? Are you serious?
     
    #9 Oski2005, Jul 18, 2005
  10. pgabriel

    pgabriel Educated Negro

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    I grew up close to where the old Church is. Any of you guys ever been there. Its in the "hood". I hate that term but I know a lot of you understand it. The people who live in the immediate vicinity of the old Church are happy all those people are gone, and I'm sure the members are happy to be somewhere else.
     
    #10 pgabriel, Jul 18, 2005
  11. RocketMan Tex

    RocketMan Tex Member

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    :D

    I saw the same G-d there, but 10 years earlier....Grateful Dead in 1978
     
    #11 RocketMan Tex, Jul 18, 2005
  12. thegary

    thegary Member

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    no love for the dream?
    :)
     
    #12 thegary, Jul 18, 2005
  13. Hippieloser

    Hippieloser Member

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    If people truly enjoy attending church in the Summit, more power to them. But to me it appears that the worship has been converted into a passively-enjoyed "show."

    "World's Largest Church" is going to be a strange addition to Houston's tourist spots...
     
    #13 Hippieloser, Jul 18, 2005
  14. SwoLy-D

    SwoLy-D Member

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    I saw GOD in there many a times there when I went to church there from like '88 all the way to about 2001. I went to church at different times there... it was either 7:35 mass, 8:05 service, 12 midday seminars on Sundays, or maybe 1:30 starting prayer.

    The main preacher, wearing #34, used to get us all up clapping and cheering, after he ascended and descended refusing an orange pigskin sphere from going into a red circle. On the other end of the floor, he would then receive this pigskin sphere with lines on it and some scriptures, and send it deep into the devil's red circle. We all rejoiced with the Lord those days.
     
    #14 SwoLy-D, Jul 18, 2005
  15. oomp

    oomp Member

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    True.

    It's weird for me because I graduated High School there.
     
    #15 oomp, Jul 18, 2005
  16. Kim

    Kim Member

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    What's wrong with having a huge church in the neighborhood? Traffic? I've seen that pastor on tv a few times and I like his messages. I'm not Christian, and while I think that church is too big, this is Texas, and as long as they have Jesus in their hearts first, it can't be a terrible thing. The people there seem nice, diverse, and it's not like the Sunday morning church crowd causes traffic for most of us, cause we're usually still in bed.
     
    #16 Kim, Jul 18, 2005
  17. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Member

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    I drove past the Summit on my way to church, and it was opening day for Lakewood. The traffic it produced was just like when they had basketball games there. Fortunately, it being Sunday, there was no other traffic. What's crazy is that even being able to seat 16,000, they'll still need to run 2 services to get everyone in.
     
    #17 JuanValdez, Jul 18, 2005
  18. vj23k

    vj23k Member

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    Has Lakewood always been non-denominational? Could have sworn it used to be a baptist church...
     
    #18 vj23k, Jul 18, 2005
  19. francis 4 prez

    francis 4 prez Member

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    i was gonna say isn't $95M in renovations way too damn much, but then i saw that they take in $55M per year so i guess not. i didn't realize they had that many people and were the largest in the nation.
     
    #19 francis 4 prez, Jul 18, 2005
  20. Rockets34Legend

    Rockets34Legend Member

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    Actually, the world's largest church is in Korea...they have over a million members.
     
    #20 Rockets34Legend, Jul 18, 2005
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