New Church

The Play's the Thing At Pittsburgh Church Targeting New Crowd [Excerpts]

Even Pastors Have Tattoos

PITTSBURGH -- At a rehearsal of his play about Jesus' death, Jim Walker, the co-pastor of Hot Metal Bridge Faith Community, sidled up to the actor playing Satan and urged him to be bolder. The pastor tried to inspire the shy student playing Judas. "He's Satan!" Mr. Walker cried, arms wide. "You hate this guy!"

"Judas' Kiss," is Mr. Walker's biblical "Groundhog Day," in which Judas is condemned to relive his betrayal of Christ over and over. It will be performed Sunday for the congregation -- an eclectic group of drunks and college kids, suburbanites and street people, Catholics and scrawny punk artists with New Testament citations tattooed on their chests.

No one preaches at Hot Metal Bridge. Plays are its liturgy. Mr. Walker, a soon-to-be ordained United Methodist minister, leads the church with his friend Jeff Eddings, a Presbyterian seminarian. "Instead of coming to our church and listening to a sermon, you can be part of the sermon," Mr. Walker says. On Sunday when many ministers all over the country will be complaining about church attendance the rest of the year, Hot Metal will be grappling with where to put the 300 people who pack the Goodwill Industries cafeteria every Sunday, not just Easter and Christmas.

Hot Metal Bridge is part of the emergent church movement that rejects rigid orthodoxy and strives to use hip language and culture to draw in young Americans who stopped, or never started, attending church.

Some ministries have sprung up around a central interest, such as yoga. One Minneapolis group attracts drummers. A Los Angeles group favors dance. In New York, the Communion of the Arts hopes artists will flock to its first Sunday service on Easter in Times Square. Leadership Network, a Dallas-based church consulting firm, says about 1,000 congregations define themselves as part of the movement.

Thomas Bickerton, the United Methodist bishop of western Pennsylvania, says churches like Hot Metal are the future of religion. He admits the rough crowd the pastors aimed to reach, coupled with the focus on drama, made some Methodist church leaders nervous. But, he says, "We've reached a point where the younger generation needs to teach the church a thing or two."

Most of Mr. Walker's plays explore Bible themes flavored with pop culture and modern-day skepticism. "Sticking With Fishing" ponders what would have happened had Peter not dropped his net to follow Jesus. Elijah joins a man on the ledge thinking about a last leap. The archangel Gabriel kills time as he awaits news of Christ's birth.

"If the drama goes haywire, it's unimportant," Mr. Eddings says. "What's important is, who do I connect with on Sunday morning?" (Sataline, "Wall Street Journal, 4/13/06, A1).

TBC: When Paul spoke about conditions in the last days, he specifically admonished Christians to "preach the word..." and warned us that there will come a time when "they shall turn away their ears from the truth" 2 Timothy 42-4).