There are about 28 Roman and Byzantine Catholic churches within a half hour’s drive of my Pennsylvania home, and I’ve attended nearly all of them at one time or another. I’ve also accepted invitations from friends who were pastors at Episcopal and Lutheran churches. Indeed, my whole life of Christian worship has been around altars, vestments, stained glass windows, icons, statues, candles, and sacred music. So my recent attendance at a Saturday evening service at the non-denominational Cornerstone Ministries in Murrysville, Pennsylvania, was a completely new experience.
I had never been in a church with a lobby, welcome desk, café, people at tables having snacks and soft drinks, and a staff of friendly team members smiling and opening doors. It felt like opening night at the movies. The dim sanctuary doesn’t even have an altar, but rather a stage with two large projection screens flanking the band. The rows of pews were the only thing that came close to suggesting “church.”
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