Radical New Idea for a Church

A Radical New Idea for a Church


How about a new idea for a church? Are you asking why we need yet another church to put on top of the hundreds of denominations of Christianity and the other hundreds of non-Christian religions we already have? Well, how about a generic church? We could call it the Generic Worship Center.

Anyone and everyone from Hindus to Baptists to Wiccans to Atheists to Quakers and everyone else could attend. Every community could have one, and worship services would be whenever anyone was there. There would be no minister, but there would be a small staff consisting of a maintenance person or two to keep the place clean and in reasonable repair.

Inside would be sparse, with a few benches, a couple chairs and a few been-bag chairs for those still considering themselves “flower-children.” Outside there could be a garden with a few scattered benches and some open grass. A few flowers, a path, some trees and bushes and, perhaps a small pond would finish it off. The trees and bushes could be arranged to afford semi-privacy for those who wish to worship with nature in a secluded spot.

The Generic Worship Center would be open all the time. There would be only two rules. One rule would be for each worshiper to maintain complete silence. The other rule would be that no worshiper could disturb any other worshiper in any way. Each person using the center would worship in his or her personal manner, to himself or herself, not disturbing anyone else using the center.

This could lead to interesting services with Buddhists and Jews and Christian Fundamentalists sharing worship with each other, and perhaps with a Druid and a Jehovah’s Witness or two thrown in for good measure. It would be very likely that none of the worshipers would even know of what religion the others were.

Now that is what I call a good church.

Now, I lay a task on the rest of you: How would such a Generic Worship Center be funded? Costs would be the building, the grounds and whatever material would be needed to keep it clean and in good repair. And there would also be the salary of the maintenance person, or two.

We would certainly not want government to fund it, for several very obvious reasons, the main reason being that it would add enormous inefficiency to the center. We probably could not depend on offerings or donations, since people would not provide enough for all the expenses. Perhaps a private foundation or even “regular” churches would provide the funding.

The idea is far from perfect, granted, with many of the more practical details needing to be worked out. The prospect of such a Generic Worship Center does appeal to me, though. Think on it, fellow humanoids, and add some of your own ideas and thoughts. Who knows what may become of such a place as the Generic Worship Center?