Let’s All Go To THIS Church!

I haven’t read the article yet… but isn’t there enough churches in Atlanta?

The best response to this was on Twitter. Someone posted something like “So I heard that Giglio and Tomlin are planting a megachurch in Atlanta - cult of personality, enter stage right.”

I thought it was a great assessment of what is happening. It just kind of makes me scratch my head and think about the impact that these guys could have if they distributed themselves around the world as committed, dedicated pastors of urban churches rather than coming together to launch a new megachurch movement in a region that is already seemingly megachurched to the max.

Would I go? Sure - to see the spectacle. Would I stay? If I was being called to discipleship, sacrifice, evangelism, worship while being given opportunities to do those things, I guess I would. Is this the best, healthiest, most strategic situation for the good of the Kingdom? I’m not sure.

At least my church has Jesus. I’m cool with that

I’d check it out, but because I know my calling, I wouldn’t want to join…

BTW, it ticks me off to read the people who are criticizing this. All I know of Giglio and Tomlin, etc. are that they are men after God’s heart, and even if this seems a little odd to me (which it does), I’m not going to question their motives or try to guess what could go wrong. I’m expecting the best from these guys because that’s all they’ve ever shown me.

Nate

I want to be really careful about how I say this because I have enormous respect for the ministries of Giglio and Tomlin. The problem is, this seems to be EXACTLY the type of behavior that Ed Young described in his now infamous “Church Pirates” message.

Giglio’s ministry rose to prominence at Andy Stanley’s church, Northpoint, where he started the college/singles ministry (722).

And now he gets the call of God to start a church, in the same city as Northpoint, knowing full well that a TON of people are going to follow him over to his new church? Isn’t that kinda like a knife in the back to Andy Stanley?

I have enormous respect for Andy and how he’s handled this - he hasn’t said a word about it publicly. Just last week, it was announced that 722 is shutting down. I think Andy is making a conscious choice to not compete with Giglio’s new church and is saying “If people want to leave here to follow him over there, then let them go. But we are NOT going to compete with them.” That seems consistent with Andy’s excellent track record of leadership.

I’m just disappointed with Giglio and Tomlin. The truth is, Atlanta doesn’t need another church. It’s packed with relevant, cutting edge churches. Why not Boston? Why not New York? Giglio’s always talking about how much THOSE places need to be reached. Atlanta, smack int eh middle of the Bible belt and where Andy served at Northpoint, just seems too easy…

So no, I wouldn’t attend a service there because I’m heartbroken over Giglio’s apparent blindness to what he’s doing and how he’s going about doing it. Any thoughts?

I’m with Nate. I’m more heartbroken over the assumptions and negative talk about this church planting than anything. Why can’t we just say, Praise the Lord…another God-glorifying church on the planet? There is no way we can assume Louie and Andy’s relationship and what the Lord has specifically called those men to do.

If I lived in the Atlanta-area and God called me, I would go.

Uh… yeah. I pretty much completely embarrassed myself with my attitude on this and was reminded of a lesson I (allegedly) learned long ago - don’t speculate (because it’s just that - speculation)! Especially when it comes to people in ministry and churches. I’m glad to hear everything is good and the church is going to be nothing but a blessing to the ATL. I realized I’m so used to unhealthy behavior in the from churches in these types of situations that a positive scenario wasn’t even a possibility in my mind. I am WAY too jaded and negative…

Hi, thanks for sharing this. I just think that… If the church has as much impact as 268/ Passion has had, then praise God! (and even if it doesn’t, praise God!). As milepost13 points out, these are people who seem to be after God’s heart, and if He has directed them then wonderful.. If not, it will not prosper anyway, so..

Would I go? Yes, because I am young and I’m pretty sure it would be a vibrant church… But, hey, it’s a church.. It’s not God Himself… So maybe I would be fed elsewhere, if not there; no big deal.

Was talking to a friend about this two days ago: what is it about Christians, that makes us tear each other down? That thing again: the only problem with Christianity is the Christians… as someone said. The church will not ever be God, so let it do its work, and God’s grace will look after the rest I’m pretty sure He can take yet another megachurch…

ps… interestingly… the verse on your blog right now (as I post) is 1 Sam 16:7- reminding us what God looks at