{"id":4453,"date":"2007-06-21T16:29:59","date_gmt":"2007-06-21T21:29:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=4453"},"modified":"2010-12-20T12:41:34","modified_gmt":"2010-12-20T17:41:34","slug":"5651","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2007\/06\/21\/5651\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Ridicule\u2019 Doesn\u2019t Rile This Pastor"},"content":{"rendered":"

SEATTLE, WA (June 21, 2007) \u2013 Many pastors would be upset to have their church ridiculed, but Evangelical Covenant Church pastor Eugene Cho is laughing over a recent article in the city\u2019s weekly \u201calternative\u201d newspaper, The Stranger<\/em>.
\n
\nThe weekly newspaper sent 31 writers to 31 houses of worship for its article, \u201cA Month of Sundays,\u201d and reviewed each of them, including Quest church, where Cho is pastor.<\/p>\n

The writer visiting Quest reports not being impressed with any part of the church, calling the music \u201cinsipid\u201d and the sanctuary akin to \u201cthe Brady Bunch’s living room pressed into service as a church.\u201d<\/p>\n

Communion fared no better. \u201cWhen I was dragged off to church by my parents, we folded our hands together to pray and assumed a posture of humility,\u201d the newspaper reporter writes. \u201cIn today’s emerging churches, you lift both hands up toward heaven, arms out, in what looks like a sort of double-armed fascist salute. It’s a posture that screams, \u2018Look at me, God! I’m praying! To you!\u2019 The more enthusiastic worshippers looked like toddlers reaching up for daddy, anxious to be picked up and hugged past their comfort levels.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each of the writers appears to have been trying to outdo the others in trying to be clever and harshly critical. \u201cWhile there were some mean-spirited things written, I have to admit, some it was downright hilarious,\u201d Cho says. \u201cAnd it’s not a bad thing to laugh at ourselves every now and then.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quest has received a plethora of good publicity, including a recent feature in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer about the congregation\u2019s merger with Interbay Covenant Church. See “Quest-Interbay” for a recent Covenant News Service article about the first joint worship service.<\/p>\n

The weekly newspaper article may prove again that even bad publicity can still be good publicity. \u201cReading the article again confirmed to me that people are watching the church,\u201d Cho says. \u201cEven if the content of the \u2018review\u2019 wasn\u2019t positive, I was encouraged in knowing that people still noticed our church. Both our church website and blog experienced significant increase in traffic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cho adds that the article serves as a reminder to the church of the social milieu in which the church exists. In response to the weekly article, the pastor writes on his blog<\/a>, \u201cSeattle is infamously known as the most \u2018unchurched city in America.\u2019 The Northwest is the most unchurched region in America. But it isn\u2019t godless or spiritual. It\u2019s a beautiful place, full of life, questions, conversations, and such. What I love the most about living in this city and this region is that you have to earn the right to have your voice in the larger marketplace of thoughts, ideas, and philosophies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SEATTLE, WA (June 21, 2007) \u2013 Many pastors would be upset to have their church ridiculed, but Evangelical Covenant Church pastor Eugene Cho is laughing over a recent article in the city\u2019s weekly \u201calternative\u201d newspaper, The Stranger.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Ridicule\u2019 Doesn\u2019t Rile This Pastor - Covenant Newswire Archives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2007\/06\/21\/5651\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Ridicule\u2019 Doesn\u2019t Rile This Pastor - 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