The DREW MARSHALL Show - The Five Churches Experiment

Drew Marshall on Listen Up TV
"The Five Churches Experiment"

If the video above doesn't appear or won't play, or if your browser doesn't have the right plug-in, you might have more luck watching on YouTube.

We paid two participants, who had little church experience, to visit five church services with Drew in the month of June 2007. They provided fairly objective opinions of their experiences at each church. Please see the ad we placed in the Toronto Star, posted below, for more information on this experiment.

It was such a hard process, but after much deliberation, we made the decision to choose a male AND female University/College student. We figured that having a male and female point of view would provide more balance, and the decision to chose students was based on the fact that they tend to be more used to the give and take of new ideas! These two are absolutely perfect for the job! (Especially since they agreed to split the $100 per church!)

To follow the ongoing adventure of The Five Churches Experiment, we launched a blog.
On July 7 we were joined by our participants - LIVE during our show, and they reported on their findings! Their overviews of each church, and of the experiment in general, are posted on our blog for all to see and comment on. (The blog, Hoof Hearted. is no longer available.

Drew Marshall

We'll pay you to go to church!
$500 to visit 5 Churches!

The Drew Marshall Show is looking for a pagan/new age/agnostic/ atheist/whatever... someone with no church background, to partici- pate in a research project for our radio show. We need you to visit five churches in the Toronto area during the month of June with our host Drew Marshall. In return for your time and opinions based on your non-churched experience, The Drew Marshall Show will pay you $100 per church and invite you to be our guest during our July 7th show to share your experience. No catch, no proselytising, no pressure! We just need you to help the Church see itself as you see it! Interested in participating in the experiment?
Apply below.

Thank-you for your interest in The Five Churches Experiment!
We're as curious as you are as to how it will all play out.

WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?

We want to model for the Christian community, healthy dialogue NOT debate.
Over the years, especially here in North America, "Evangelical Christians" have been known more for what they're against than what they're for. Subsequently, the Evangelical community has garnished the reputation of shoving their agenda down the throats of others. Evangelicals are certainly not known for being open-minded listeners who genuinely care about others despite whatever contrary worldview that person might have. It's our feeling that Jesus people should love others enough to listen! Only at this point can healthy "dialogue" begin. Only then can we begin to move from a "conversion" focus to a "conversation" focus.
We want to provide accurate observations from a real live objective "outsider" to anyone from the Church who might actually be interested.
Evangelical Christians think they know how church should be done in such a way as to be "seeker friendly" but do we really understand just how much of a culture shock "Church" is for many today? If someone who had never experienced "church culture" in any form whatsoever stepped inside your church, what reaction do you think they'd have? How do you think a Pagan or a New Ager or an Atheist or an Agnostic or a critical thinking skeptic would react to the North American church culture? Would it seem that even the ordinary housewife or blue collar worker or University student would have a pretty tough time understanding our language, our rituals & tribal nuances? More importantly, how would they be treated? Well, let's find out!
We want to provoke discussion in a numb and desensitized culture, begging for authenticity!
Discussion amongst the church as well as discussion in the real world! What is church? Why does it exist? Should Sunday services be for the believers, for the outsiders, for both? Sure all "clubs" have their insular flavourings but shouldn't the church be different somehow?

"A strange thing happens in church. We stumble into a party we weren't invited to, and then we find the uninvited standing at the door making sure no other uninvited guests get in. Once we are included in the party, because of Jesus' irresponsible love, we decide to make Grace more responsible, becoming self appointed Kingdom Monitors, guarding the Kingdom of God, keeping the riff raff out, which, as I understand it, is who the kingdom of God is actually supposed to include."

Mike Yaconelli, Messy Spirituality

Special thanks to Jim Henderson & www.churchrater.com for the inspiration!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tIJZGkf1vI

Drew Marshall on Listen Up TV"The Five Churches Experiment"

WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?

Drew Marshall on Listen Up TV
"The Five Churches Experiment"