Pastor delivers messages dressed as movie characters
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| 'There was complete silence,' Pastor Rob Seagears said of his stint as the Joker at Christ Chapel Mountaintop Church in Manassas, Va. 'People were stunned because I was acting as if I was evil.' Photo: Courtesy of Christ Chapel Mountaintop Church |
Fistfights, crashing helicopters and gun-wielding guerrillas flashed across the screen. The auditorium filled with the sounds of the jungle as Senior Pastor Rob Seagears clomped onto the stage in camouflage and combat boots, toting a rifle, canteen and machete.
"Good morning, Mountaintop!" he growled to the congregation before launching into his Sunday sermon based on the R-rated, curse-filled Hollywood hit Tropic Thunder.
The audience chuckled at his grizzly soldier act, and gave him some loud "Amens!"
If there were an Oscar for sermons, Seagears would be a contender. There's his Dark Knight performance, when he roared up to the pulpit astride a Suzuki motorcycle, dressed like Batman. And his whip-cracking Indiana Jones, and his green-suited Hulk.
Perhaps most memorable was when he bumbled out wearing a ratty wig and a blood-red smile across his face, ranting like a maniac.
"When I went into the church as the Joker, there was complete silence," Seagears recalled.
Since June, Seagears, senior pastor at Christ Chapel Mountaintop in Manassas, Va., has based his sermons on the summer's blockbusters, drawing life lessons from the most unlikely subject matter. The Summer Cinema Series, which ended last month, sought to attract those who don't ordinarily attend church while making the experience more fun for those who do. The four-year-old church averages about 20 visitors a week, in addition to members.
Seagears bases each week's message on the highest-grossing movie the previous weekend. He sees the movie, then prays about how to extract a biblical message.
He has had to see movies with violence and language he would otherwise avoid. Last month he saw Hellboy II: the Golden Army, in which an evil prince seeks to resurrect an indestructible army to take over the Earth by assembling pieces of a magical crown.
Researchers say more and more churches are trying nontraditional ways of attracting congregants, with some holding services in bars, on hiking trails or online. Creative services can provide an edge in a tight "religious marketplace," said David Roozen, director of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research in Connecticut.
"There's a lot of experimentation going on in worship these days," Roozen said.
It's about seeming relevant and standing out in the crowd.
"How are we different from the church down the street? Well, you have to bring your 3-D glasses when you come to our church," Roozen said.
