The Day After
The following is an article that ran in the Vancouver Sun:
Evangelical church gets its message out at trendy Yaletown nightspot
Chad Skelton, Vancouver Sun
Published: Monday, October 23, 2006
VANCOUVER -- On Friday night, Bar None -- the trendy Yaletown nightclub -- featured "world class house" music.
On Saturday, it played dance hits until 3 a.m.
And on Sunday night, it was the Baptists.
First at Night, a youth congregation associated with the First Baptist Church, held its first service at the nightclub Sunday night in an effort to attract more young people to the church.
Some might think it a little strange for a conservative evangelical church -- one that thinks sex before marriage is a sin -- to rent space in a place that, to be frank, has probably contributed to more than its share of premarital couplings.
Santosh Ninan, First at Night's 35-year-old pastor, acknowledged it was a bit of a tough sell when he presented the idea to the full congregation at Sunday morning service a week ago.
"There's a lot of older people, a lot more traditional people," said Ninan. "I just pointed out the example that Jesus himself was criticized by the religious establishment for hanging out with prostitutes and tax collectors -- the marginalized of society."
And Ninan said he reminded them that First Baptist Church held its first service at the back of a Gastown saloon more than a century ago.
Ninan said First at Night has been holding Sunday evening services for young people for about a year -- attracting anywhere from 40 to 50 parishioners.
But up until now, the services have been held at the church itself.
He said the church decided it could attract more people to the faith if it held the service in a "neutral setting" that wasn't as intimidating.
"There are a lot of people in Vancouver who are very spiritual but are turned off by the institutional church of today," he said. "We wanted to remove those barriers."
To that end, the First at Night services are a bit different than traditional church sermons.
"We play a lot of contemporary dance songs," said Ninan. "[And] we stop for a Starbucks coffee halfway through."
While the setting may be different, Ninan said he has no intention of toning down his church's teachings -- which include a belief that homosexuality is a sin.
"We wouldn't shy away from what the Bible teaches on that particular issue," he said. "[But] homosexuality isn't a worse sin than adultery or pride or those other things."
First at Night will hold two more services at Bar None -- on Nov. 19 and Dec. 17, from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
More information on the service is available online at www.firstatnight.com.
cskelton@png.canwest.com
© The Vancouver Sun 2006
Well, the evening went off and I think we could call it a success - there was a large number of FBC people there to show their support, a few of our folks and some people from Bar None as well - curious to see what this was all about.
We had a guest worship leader from Southside church who did an amazing job of leading us into worship. I felt my message on what gives meaning in life was well written, well presented and well recieved. Soli Deo Gloria for that.
As far as the above article goes - the reporter tried at least 4 times for me to say something negative about homosexuality - I guess that was the hook he was going for. But, I am pleased with the article - may pique some interest out there.
Thank you for all who prayed - the prayers were answered. Felicia was especially excited as her smile seemed bigger then her face.
If you've e-mailed me I will reply sometime tomorrow - I don't usually check my e-mail on Mondays.
It will be interesting to see where last night will take us.
Evangelical church gets its message out at trendy Yaletown nightspot
Chad Skelton, Vancouver Sun
Published: Monday, October 23, 2006
VANCOUVER -- On Friday night, Bar None -- the trendy Yaletown nightclub -- featured "world class house" music.
On Saturday, it played dance hits until 3 a.m.
And on Sunday night, it was the Baptists.
First at Night, a youth congregation associated with the First Baptist Church, held its first service at the nightclub Sunday night in an effort to attract more young people to the church.
Some might think it a little strange for a conservative evangelical church -- one that thinks sex before marriage is a sin -- to rent space in a place that, to be frank, has probably contributed to more than its share of premarital couplings.
Santosh Ninan, First at Night's 35-year-old pastor, acknowledged it was a bit of a tough sell when he presented the idea to the full congregation at Sunday morning service a week ago.
"There's a lot of older people, a lot more traditional people," said Ninan. "I just pointed out the example that Jesus himself was criticized by the religious establishment for hanging out with prostitutes and tax collectors -- the marginalized of society."
And Ninan said he reminded them that First Baptist Church held its first service at the back of a Gastown saloon more than a century ago.
Ninan said First at Night has been holding Sunday evening services for young people for about a year -- attracting anywhere from 40 to 50 parishioners.
But up until now, the services have been held at the church itself.
He said the church decided it could attract more people to the faith if it held the service in a "neutral setting" that wasn't as intimidating.
"There are a lot of people in Vancouver who are very spiritual but are turned off by the institutional church of today," he said. "We wanted to remove those barriers."
To that end, the First at Night services are a bit different than traditional church sermons.
"We play a lot of contemporary dance songs," said Ninan. "[And] we stop for a Starbucks coffee halfway through."
While the setting may be different, Ninan said he has no intention of toning down his church's teachings -- which include a belief that homosexuality is a sin.
"We wouldn't shy away from what the Bible teaches on that particular issue," he said. "[But] homosexuality isn't a worse sin than adultery or pride or those other things."
First at Night will hold two more services at Bar None -- on Nov. 19 and Dec. 17, from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
More information on the service is available online at www.firstatnight.com.
cskelton@png.canwest.com
© The Vancouver Sun 2006
Well, the evening went off and I think we could call it a success - there was a large number of FBC people there to show their support, a few of our folks and some people from Bar None as well - curious to see what this was all about.
We had a guest worship leader from Southside church who did an amazing job of leading us into worship. I felt my message on what gives meaning in life was well written, well presented and well recieved. Soli Deo Gloria for that.
As far as the above article goes - the reporter tried at least 4 times for me to say something negative about homosexuality - I guess that was the hook he was going for. But, I am pleased with the article - may pique some interest out there.
Thank you for all who prayed - the prayers were answered. Felicia was especially excited as her smile seemed bigger then her face.
If you've e-mailed me I will reply sometime tomorrow - I don't usually check my e-mail on Mondays.
It will be interesting to see where last night will take us.
Comments
Saw the article in the paper yesterday. Showed it to my hubby. Impressive. Blessings to you in your work.
really loved the setting and leading worship in that setting was really fun. That space is constructed for communion and community - and it felt so right to have a community centered on Christ gather and worship in that space.
your talk was great Santosh, thoughtful, challenging... and you left enough room for people to have to go and deal with the 'meaning of life' - while offering them a direction to look... Christ.
i look forward to walking with you and serving you and your community however I can in the future.