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Religion

Hip for Him

A new church's slogan is "It's a sin for church to be boring." With its nontraditional approaches, it definitely isn't that.

By STEPHANIE HAYES
Published September 23, 2005

WESTCHASE - Call it a double-shot joy latte.

Flanked by stage lights and movie screens, Church at the Bay lead pastor Hal Mayer imparted a caffeine-fueled message to his congregation.

"Caffeine has a way of just perking you up," said Mayer, who sat onstage at a cafe table with a coffee cup and a Bible. "That's what we want to do."

Almost 600 people drank free Starbucks coffee and squeezed into Davidsen Middle School's "cafetorium" for a recent service of the fledgling church. The hour was packed with contemporary Christian music, movie clips and mainstream rock 'n' roll.

"I like to use secular music when it fits where I'm going," said Mayer, a fan of ZZ Top, Boston and Kansas. "It will ask the question or hit the issue that we're talking about."

The church band blared an instrumental version of Lynyrd Skynyrd's classic Sweet Home Alabama, led by worship pastor Blaine Albright.

"I think music is a great gift from God," said 23-year-old Albright, whose musical tastes range from grunge rock like Nirvana to pop fare like Maroon 5. "If we can put a positive message with great music, I don't think the (secular) world should get all the cool music."

The nondenominational Christian church appeals to people who have never gone to church or have fallen out of going, Mayer said.

One service included a clip of the famous carpe diem scene from the Robin Williams movie Dead Poets Society. At other services, Albright has played a Tim McGraw country song and the theme song to Friends.

"It serves to disarm people," he said of the approach. "Maybe they have a little bit of fear. "Can I smile here? Can I have a good time? Is this the same boring church I grew up in that told me all the things I'm not allowed to do?' "

The rock music cheered up Bonnie Stucker, who attended the church's launch on Sept. 11. Stucker is a New York native who said she knew firefighters killed in the World Trade Center attacks.

"It's good to have a new beginning and know life goes on," said Stucker, who lives in Carrollwood. "I'm really glad I came out."

Mayer, 51, moved to Tampa from a church in Ocala when, he said, "God just began to put in my heart to plan a church in the area."

Last September, he began to enlist the church's young staff, which has an average age of 24. He arranged use of Davidsen Middle School and launched a sophisticated marketing plan. In May, the church started to hold monthly preview services, each drawing more than 200 people.

"There has been a whole strategy in this that had started with phone calls, bulk mailings, radio advertising, signs, sponsoring teams - a whole plan to put this together," Mayer said.

That approach is necessary for the contemporary church to thrive, said Dell deChant, associate chair of religious studies at the University of South Florida.

"This is a relatively new kind of phenomenon," deChant said of contemporary churches. "What you see is something that most people would think is more akin to a business model."

There has been a wave of similarly hip churches nationwide, deChant said, and most find success in affluent, growing, suburban areas.

"The type of growth we're seeing in and around Tampa is conducive to this kind of ministry," he said. "These areas are exactly where you're going to see these types of churches pop up."

Mayer hopes Church at the Bay, which uses the slogan "It's a sin for church to be boring," will be a welcome escape for the busy families who live in northwest Hillsborough.

"I really feel that life kind of beats people up during the week," he said. "When they come to church, we don't need to beat them up."

David Miller of New Tampa said he felt at ease, not beat up at the church.

"Any church with a pastor drinking coffee on the stage, I can handle that," Miller said.

Mayer's 23-year-old daughter Ashley, clad in jeans and flip-flops, was also at ease at her dad's service. She swayed and sang as the band played Creed's hit Higher.

"It's not boring," she said of Church at the Bay. "You definitely won't fall asleep."

Stephanie Hayes can be reached at 813 269-5303 or shayes@sptimes.com

[Last modified September 22, 2005, 09:00:09]