96 :: Summit Church

 

This Good Friday, we worshiped at Summit Church in Fort Myers, Florida. I, Beth and MC were in the area while visiting my mother over Easter weekend. My mom went to Summit Church with us. Of note is the fact that this was the first time she had attended a contemporary church service. She was pretty wow'ed by all of it.

When we drove into the parking lot, Summit Church looked a great deal like most of the new churches that we have seen while on this journey. Summit Church inhabits a large, mostly-white and relatively non-descript building that slightly evokes a warehouse. 

The top picture below shows the outside of the church as seen from an online search. The picture from the cloudy evening is the one that I took. Both pictures show that Summit Church is a nice-looking, if typical, modern church. 

In the Southeast of the US, there are massive demographic influxes happening right now, especially in Florida. This population growth has necessitated a great deal of new development, which explains the newness of so many churches across the region. 

Summit Church is one of those new churches.

Summit has three campuses in south Florida, one in Gateway, one in Fort Myers, and one in Naples. Based on what we saw, we think the number of campuses will grow. This is a very healthy place.

Summit Church

Summit Church

Mom in the lobby

Summit Church lobby

Mom at church with us

Once we had MC in childcare, we walked into a large auditorium that was filled with people. As we found our seats, there were words from the stage about the importance of remembering the Death of God's Son on Golgotha, a murder in which we had complicity and through which we can get saved. Then the band started playing some ambient music to get the congregation in a pensive state of mind. 

It was very calming. 

The musical chords were sufficiently dark to evoke the dour feelings of Good Friday. The music reminded us that this is arguably the saddest day of the Christian calendar.

The service started. 

This being Good Friday, the service was both glum and slightly celebratory. This church had the perfect balance of these two impulses. We were all reflecting on our complicity in God's unjust death, as well as releasing some anticipatory joy from the plot-twist-of-all-plot-twists that was coming on Sunday.

Then the band played a modern rock version of That Old Rugged Cross and most people stood up with their arms at their sides. It was at that point that I stopped singing and leaned over to Beth. "I think this is a Southern Baptist church," I whispered. She lifted her eyebrow, then scanned the congregation again. She looked back at me and nodded.

Here are a couple videos of that:

Then we got into the part of the service that explored the themes of Good Friday. Three themes were elaborated - Propitiation, Redemption and Justification. The presentations were a combination of highly stylized still pictures, all of which were in red and black, as well as bible verses. 

We believe the ubiquitous red and black were chosen for to depict the bloodiness and darkness of Good Friday.

All three were incredibly well-produced segments. Each part was punctuated by more music. Since I had more than an inkling of suspicion that this was a Southern Baptist church, I listened closely to the way that they addressed the themes of Good Friday. They spoke of Jesus's sacrifice on the Cross as being "a substitutionary atonement" that fulfilled God's need for "justice," "wrath," "judgment" and even "fury." These words indicated very good theology, even if they were uncomfortable to hear.

We became even more convinced that this was a Southern Baptist congregation.

As we got deeper into the worship, more people started raising their hands in worship. There was an occasional "Amen!" and even a few enthusiastic shouts of "Allelulia!"

Evolving Baptists.

Here are some of the pictures and videos from the Propitiation, Redemption and Justification segments. Really zoom in on some of the pictures, they show how beautiful (and horrifying) the visual displays were:

After these three sections completed, we held communion. It seems that these self-contained wafer-and-juice units have definitively won the day, it's all we see now.

Then we were dismissed. 

As people milled around the lobby and the front of the church, I took note of the fact that there were many young people, especially young families. There were babies everywhere, as a matter of fact. 

In the greater Fort Myers area, there are many people in the latter stages of their lives. Being at Summit Church reminded us that there are also many people in the early phases of their lives. Some of the young people in attendance seemed to be college students, likely from the nearby Florida Gulf Coast University. Seeing a church so packed with young people reinforced that this is a healthy congregation that will grow for many years to come. 

There was new life on top of new life at Summit Church. So good!

Young people after church, including a guy with blond dreadlocks

As I headed to the parking lot to get the car and pick everyone up back at the church, I asked two women who were walking in the same direction if Summit Church was affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. The younger of the two said she had no idea. The other woman said that it was, with some reticence in her voice and facial expression. I thanked both of them and walked on.

I have encountered this kind of thing before. 

Many Southern Baptist churches are reinventing themselves. Part of that reinvention involves dropping any use of the word "Baptist." In such churches, when asked about their affiliation with the denomination, there is a certain slowness in the way that they say "yes."

Watch this video from Christian comedian John Crist. It speaks in a humorous way about how we look at church these days, including a general tendency to shy away from churches that call out their denominational affiliation. Listen at 1:40 about the name "Baptist."

Whatever motivates the tendency to shy away from Baptist affiliation likely maps back to the state of cultural division in our society. Jerry Falwell, Sr. moved the denomination hard to the political right in the 1980s, including the establishment of The Moral Majority. In addition to this history, the denomination maintains conservative positions on same-sex marriage, abortion, ordination of women and LGBT issues, among other things. As such, the SBC can definitely be a flash point for some people. I believe this explains why some people hold back when they answer "yes" to the question of Baptist affiliation. They think it might produce a flare up between themselves and the other person. 

The beauty of modern church is that it is the ultimate free market. Cultural pressure to attend church to keep up appearances is at an all time low. One might even argue that going to church is a countercultural act at this point. Because of this, people gravitate to churches that challenge them and help them grow in Christ. Alternatively, people are quick to walk away when a church fails to meet its imperative to preach the truth. The general health of Summit Church verifies that the Southern Baptists Convention can create environments that are theologically sound, personally convicting, individually transformative, as well as culturally relevant. 

I say good for them. 

When we drove away, I asked my mom what she thought of this church service. After eight decades of unbroken High Church attendance, she said, "Wow. That is all I can say - wow."

That captures it well. This was an exceptional church visit and it left us with a great deal to think about on our glum and sad day.

All the best to Summit Church - may you keep going and keep growing!