577: How Church Became Theater & the Evangelical Imagination with Karen Swallow Prior
The Holy Post
Phil Vischer
4.5 • 4.4K Ratings
🗓️ 9 August 2023
⏱️ 97 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A new survey of worship leaders finds that four megachurches have cornered the worship music market. Should we care who is writing the songs we sing in church, and what gets lost when market forces influence local ministries? A sermon clip has gone viral showing a megachurch pastor scolding people who arrive late or leave early because they are treating the "church like it's a religious show instead of a welcoming family." But are people acting like church is a show because that's the model church leaders have created? We explore the history of how churches came to copy theaters and its impact on the church's mission and power. Then, Phil talks to Karen Swallow Prior about her new book, "The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images, and Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis." She explains how the current crisis in evangelicalism finds its roots in trying to preserve Victorian values rather than biblical ones. Also this week: a celebrity bear is above the law.
Patreon Bonus:
Holy Post Office - How do you justify the O.T God who commanded Israel to annihilate other nations, with the New Testament themes of loving our enemies?
https://youtu.be/IMEMzA8rJZQ
0:00 - Intro
1:49 - Show Starts
4:10 - Theme Song
4:27 - Sponsor - Hiya Health
5:36 - Animal News
14:05 - How we choose worship music in church
34:55 - JD Greear's recent viral clip
56:03 - Sponsor - AG1
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57:32 - Sponsor - Blueland
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58:38 - Interview Intro
Karen Swallow Prior
1:03:36 - How Victorian literature influenced Evangelicalism
1:12:20 - Evangelicialism and Empire
1:24:43 - Broadening our imagination
1:36:43 - End Credits
Links mentioned in news segment:
Hank the Tank: Fugitive burglar bear captured in California
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66429736
Few worship leaders avoid Hillsong, Bethel songs — despite controversies and scandal
JD Greear's sermon clip - https://twitter.com/laurchas22/status/1687426921586622464
Other resources:
The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images, and Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis by Karen Swallow Prior
Holy Post website: https://www.holypost.com/
Holy Post Plus: www.holypost.com/plus
Holy Post Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/holypost
Holy Post Merch Store: https://www.holypost.com/shop
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to The Holy Post. A new survey of worship leaders finds that just four mega churches have cornered the worship music market. |
| 0:08.0 | Should we care who's writing the songs we sing in church? And what gets lost when market forces influence local ministries? |
| 0:15.0 | Then, a sermon clip has gone viral showing a mega church pastor scolding people who arrive late or leave early |
| 0:22.0 | because they're treating the church quote, like it's a religious show instead of a welcoming family. |
| 0:27.0 | But are the people acting like churches a show because that's exactly the model the church has created? |
| 0:32.0 | We explore the history of how churches came to copy theaters and its impact on its mission and power. |
| 0:38.0 | Then, Phil talks to Karen Swallow prior about her new book, The Evangelical Imagination. |
| 0:44.0 | How stories, images, and metaphors created a culture and crisis. All of that? Plus, a celebrity bear that is above the law. |
| 0:53.0 | As always, we have some amazing new bonus material this week exclusively for Holy Post Plus subscribers. |
| 0:59.0 | First, my conversation with Mike Erie about the worship music industry in church went a bit long and we had to cut a good chunk of it from this episode. |
| 1:07.0 | But Holy Post Plus subscribers will get to hear the whole thing in a bonus segment. |
| 1:11.0 | And, we have a new edition of The Holy Post Office where Mike and I spend about 30 minutes answering a question that you all voted on. |
| 1:19.0 | And this time, the question is, what is our view of the times in the Old Testament when God commands Israel to annihilate other nations? |
| 1:27.0 | And I'll be honest with you, even I was shocked with where Mike Erie went with his answer and you will be too. |
| 1:32.0 | Holy Post Plus subscribers will get access to all of that. Plus, add free episodes, exclusive shows, merchandise, live streams, and the Holy Post Book Club. |
| 1:41.0 | And a lot more. So go to HolyPost.com to learn more about how you can subscribe. |
| 1:46.0 | Here is episode 577. |
| 1:49.0 | Hey, everyone. It's Sky. Welcome to The Holy Post. I have some good news, bad news for everybody. |
| 1:55.0 | I am joined today. Good news. |
| 1:57.0 | I was going to say, which is it? |
| 1:59.0 | Good. Yeah. Once again, Mike Erie is back. Hi, Mike. |
| 2:03.0 | Hi. |
... |
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