Lindenwood Christian Church With its Wide Open Worship, a Midtown church attempts to "wow" the uninvolved. by MARY ALLISON BEASLEY CATES or those of us unfamiliar with it, the temptation to judge contemporary worship experience is as real as the declining membership rolls in mainline churches. Worship as dazzling as Dick Williams' Magicland and as technological as cyber sex leaves skeptics wondering why the Christian message must be reduced to the electric sound of a rock band and images on a video screen. "If our technology is outdated, young people think our message is too," explains Dr. Roy Stauffer, senior pastor at Lindenwood Christian Church (2400 Union Avenue). Stauffer had opposed contemporary worship for most of his 27 years at the 1,600-member Disciples of Christ church in Midtown, but over the last five years he has changed his mind. PHOTO BY JOHN LANDRIGAN Dr. Roy Stauffer "I have come to realize that times are changing," he says. "The Church is changing more now than it has since the reformation." Linden-wood's Wide Open Worship (W.O.W.), which begins this Sunday at 9:30 a.m. was Stauffer's idea. After traveling to contemporary worship services all over the country, Stauffer and a team of church members have developed a model for the W.O.W. service that they hope will draw 500 worshippers each Sunday. The service is designed to appeal to members of the Midtown community and beyond who are between the ages of 25 and 45 and who presently do not attend church. The W.O.W. service will be void of all the traditional church turn-offs. There will be no altar calls, no soliciting for money, and no use of gimmicky Christian phrases. Worshippers will sit around tables in their blue jeans, enjoy a free breakfast, and interact with those around them. Since only 12 percent of all CDs sold today are classical, there will be little such music at the W.O.W. service. Who needs it when you have Beale Street favorite Kevin Paige leading music every Sunday? His weekly gig at Alfred's combined with his recently developed Christian repertoire make Paige an ideal component of the service. Recent movie clips, as well as David Letterman-style interviews with random Memphians, will appear on large video screens during the service as a springboard for dialogue. Topics will include why people don't go to church, the nature of God, and the meaning of life. Sermons will address life's greatest questions. Why are we here? Who is God? Why do bad things happen to good people? The fifth Sunday of every five-week month is reserved for questions of faith. Worshippers will be invited to write down and submit issues with which they struggle, and the sermon and other worship elements will address these issues. According to Stauffer, Lindenwood has been planning for W.O.W. for about a year. The congregation's energy and involvement have kept things running smoothly. Church members who have never gotten involved before have offered to help. A team of 25 meets three times each week to plan, but the total number of members involved is much greater. The W.O.W. service will take place in the time between Lindenwood's two traditional services. It's during the Sunday school hour, but those Stauffer hopes will come are not those who regularly attend Sunday school. The dialogue in some shrinking churches goes something like this. "God doesn't need movie screens and sound systems, free breakfast, and marketing techniques." Isn't the power and mercy of God alone affective enough to penetrate the hearts and souls of humans?" "Do we have to sing and dance and program and bend over backwards to sell the Christian message?" It's the reason Jesus told parables, changed water into wine, fed the 5,000, revived Lazarus, and died on the cross. God is impossible for us to fully understand. What we know we have learned through metaphors and symbols from someone who understood better than we do. Stauffer says, "It's the difference in starting where the church is and what the church wants and selling it to the people, or starting where the people are and trying to meet their needs. What's wrong with presenting the gospel in a way that appeals to people?" (Mary Allison Beasley Cates is coordinator of church-related ministries at Rhodes College. Her e-mail is mcates@Rhodes.edu.)