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Movie Theater Worship Solutions



A reader turned me on to a new phenomenon happening in the world of churches today. They are calling it “Worship Solutions” and it seems to be yet another “exciting” meeting of business and Christianity. The program is run by a conglomerate called National CineMedia, who describe themselves as:

National CineMedia (NCM) is the sales and marketing arm of the three largest theatre circuits in the U.S. representing approximately 1,105 theatres and 13,567 screens in 45 states, plus D.C., that focuses exclusively on building upon successful businesses which leverage our theatre owner’s existing assets and customer bases through Advertising, CineMeetings & Events and Digital In-Theatre Programming.

Apparently, they are leveraging their invigorating brand of corporate synergy into the religious arena with Worship Solutions. This program allows congregations to lease movie theaters on Sunday mornings for discounted rates to use as places of worship. You can find out more about it on their site, or contact them directly for more. Another bit from their site:

Getting a new church off the ground is, to say the least, a daunting task. There are about a thousand little things you have to organize for a single church service – and finding a place to hold that service is an even bigger headache.

But CineMeetings’ Worship Solution can help. Our theatres are an ideal meeting place for start-up churches… they require little setup, so they’re low maintenance. Plus, churches receive low, non-profit rates, so theatres are cost-effective.

You can also check out how their rates stack up against other venues which compete for church business. Cause hey, it’s time we recognize that church business is big business!

Whether or not you think this sort of thing is creepy to begin with, at least check out their weirdo stock photography from that page:

Don’t those people look sort of - I don’t know how to say this politely - zombie-esque? Maybe this is just what happens when the Corpsorations get their clammy hands on religion. Instead of spiritual experiences, we get “Worship Solutions.” Instead of genuine contact with the divine, we get lifeless facsimiles of people smiling and clapping rigidly in time to the music pumped over the loudspeaker.

All I can say, is: Amentm







2 Reader Responses

  1. slomo Says:
    April 28th, 2006 at 4:30 pm

    The picture pretty much says it all. No real need to comment….

    But I can’t resist the temptation. The remaking of Xtian religion in the image of the 21st Century American imperial profit-center is the final indignity heaped upon a long corrupt history that begin with Nicea (if not before).

    JHVH help us all…..

  2. chiggles Says:
    April 30th, 2006 at 3:14 pm

    It’s not hard to believe that in a society where everything “between” the earth and humankind is commodified, that religion and spirituality are too. In fact, it seems that religion for the most part — as opposed to personal spirituality — is mass produced, surely one of its (primarily Xtianity’s) aims is to present itself to all as the correct way of life (or after-life [post-life, even]), and therefore, which lends to an easier way for corporations to co-opt the image or meaning, and commodify it even more.

    Those people look like zombies, for sure. I worked in a theatre three to six years ago, and people would rent out one of the screens and watch their own movies on sundays. They were always friendly, but I was not aware of it being part of a large structured thing that orchestrates that.



SURROUND YOURSELF WITH STRENGTH.