ADVENTURE #2: FRONTLINE (VIENNA, VA)
Frontline is a high energy, huge auditorium worship experience complete with smoke, lights, a live worship band and everything else expected in a contemporary large-scale worship event. In addition to meeting in the main sanctuary of McLean Bible Church, they offer multi-site experiences at Tysons Corner (Vienna, VA), Arlington (Rosslyn, VA) and a live simulcast through the Internet. The Gathering, the college ministry division of Frontline, does not have a separate service. Instead, they rely on Bible Study groups on or near the college campuses served by Frontline and meet in places attractive to students like Panera Bread and Starbucks.
Sermon Evaluation
Content and Delivery
John McGowan, who directs The Gathering, spoke the night we came to observe and interview. He began with a personal story told in such a way that it captivated the audience, connecting the personal story to the Biblical message in a fresh way. The presentation was smooth and obviously thoroughly prepared. His animated delivery made the message a joy to watch. He dealt directly with the Scripture and brought it to life. The illustrations were personal and effective, engaging the audience intellectually and emotionally. His words were well chosen and understandable. And the message flowed logically from beginning to end.
Application and Effectiveness
The examples John used made understanding how to apply this message clear and inescapable. He specifically used examples relevant to young adults. He cited examples such as cohabitation, connecting the sermon topic with a setting likely to be relevant to a younger audience. (Ironically, the young adults who evaluated the sermon felt the speaker seemed “anointed” even though the speaker would not label himself as a Pentecostal.)
Authenticity
His passion and enthusiasm for the message were evident. Because he dealt so directly with the application of the passage, the examples John used were not personal. But, he included himself as one who struggles and spoke in the first person plural, which prevented distance between the speaker and listeners. The message was direct but not condemning.
Multimedia and General Effectiveness
One would expect a great deal of multimedia from a ministry as large and successful as Frontline. The feel of the whole experience drew people in, however, multimedia was conspicuously absent. Even without a multimedia experience to help the message stick, the message was effective and convicting.
Interview Summary
Washington D.C. is a highly transient area. A steady supply of young adults moves there for either college or the start of a career in many areas, including the military and politics. Frontline reports that, on average, young adults are with them for eighteen to twenty four months. This brief time period creates a sense of urgency and creates a culture of empowerment serving to connect young adults to Jesus and get them into a ministry role at Frontline before life transition brings them elsewhere.
Frontline is one of two young adult ministries visited during this journey. The worship experience is in the evening, making it possible for persons to attend both Frontline and another church service in the morning. This makes it difficult for the leaders of Frontline to know whether those not connected in a small group or mobilized for ministry are serving elsewhere, such as their home church. The leadership remains hesitant to spend time assessing this during the worship gathering.
The face of young adult ministry has changed a lot since its fledgling days. John recalls the days in the 1990s when a cool pastor with jeans and hot music brought young adults to church or an age-specific service. Now that those things are a part of the mainstream church, the ministry needs to run deeper. John asserts that effective young adult ministries must address four things:
- First, ministries reaching young adults need to focus on community. While living in a depersonalized world, people crave real relationships. So, the church must be a place where people can experience real face time.
- Second, community service is a value that resonates with the current generation. In this world, the church must look beyond its own needs and empower people to serve outside of the church.
- Third, the church must empower young adults to lead. On the mission experiences at Frontline, twenty-three year olds lead trips and events—not forty-three year olds. The church cannot afford to wait until this generation is older. They must be given leadership roles now.
- Fourth, the church must go international. With this point, John acknowledges that “D.C. shapes the conversation lot,” meaning that the people who serve in and are served by Frontline tend to be the ones who really believe they can change the world. They come asking whether changing the world for Jesus will be a part of what they are planning—not wondering if they can change the world.
While Frontline originally directed non-young adults elsewhere, it developed into a service geared to young adults, but embracing all who come. Still, the focus of the preaching and teaching is directed to young adults, not older adults. The teaching team intentionally uses illustrations targeting young, single adults. This allows them to connect with the eighty-one percent single audience effectively. For instance, on the night we visited, while talking about sexual purity, John spoke about the temptation of moving in with your girlfriend instead of the typical example used in American pulpits–cheating on your wife–which he would use if preaching in the morning services at McLean Bible Church.
Speakers
When asking John, “Do you preach as a team or does one person handle most of the proclamation?”, John replied that it is “hard to put together a consistently good talk for fifty-two weeks of the year.” Frontline is blessed with a gifted team of communicators who work together as a team. Five years ago, they approached the process more individualistically. Typically, the communicator scheduled to speak worked on the message in isolation. Currently, the communicators present the illustrations to one another for feedback. The current, communal process yields better results and is preferred by the teaching team.
Sermon Topics
Sermon topics and series develop in three ways.
- First, pastoral direction shapes the messages at Frontline. As pastors, immersed in the ministry and people whom they serve, the Frontline team remains sensitive to whether they feel like it is time to re-cast the vision, talk about their values, etc. They ask themselves where the congregation needs to grow or remark that they “keep getting email about this”. This sensitivity to the congregation births many of the sermon series.
- Second, one of the unique features of Frontline, is their intentional walk through different books of the Bible. Alternating between the Old and New Testaments, they systematically teach the Scriptures.
- Third, they track all the messages they use and review the topics to see what might be missing. For example, the team might be thinking they just spoke on prayer recently. However, in reality, it may have been several years ago, making it time to revisit the subject, especially in light of the highly mobile, transient population.
When trying to reach young adults, John advises becoming a pastor-teacher, not just a good, entertaining speaker. The temptation to perform for personal approval must be eschewed in favor of tangible results. Good preaching results in spiritual change—not just entertainment. Trying too hard to be cool and changing the content of the message, the second temptation when speaking to young adults, must be avoided. Great speeches do not change lives; the Word changes lives. After messages, John often hears statements such as, “I disagree with everything you said tonight, but at least I understand what you believe.” People respect straight shooters and want real answers to real questions. Avoiding the tough things the Gospel addresses avoids speaking into and changing the culture that so desperately needs redemption. While difficult to balance making a talk entertaining and poignant, practice makes it easier.
Extension of Ministry through Technology
Frontline uses the Internet to extend its proclamation in various ways. Frontline maintains a virtual campus, which allows viewers to watch the service at Tyson’s Corner live from anywhere in the world. Although they originally opened a mySpace, content issues caused them to rethink and delete it. They use Facebook groups, podcasts and blogs to reach out to young adults and allow people to view and review the message.
Influences
When asked about his biggest influence as a preacher, John quickly names Lon Solomon, the Lead Pastor of McLean Bible Church. As Pastor Solomon’s children attended meetings of the Gathering, he would ask them what John’s “talk was about.” If they could not reply in one sentence, John got a call and some mentoring. Louie Giglio taught John just to go for it. Although John might not agree with everything everyone teaches, influences include John MacArthur, Erwin McManus, Andy Stanley, Mark Driscoll and Ed Young.
God Stories
As a result of the preaching ministry, people often come up to talk to John and the other speakers and want to follow Christ. One night, John mentioned the current events in a predominately Muslim country. A citizen of that country was there and ran up afterward saying that he needed Jesus Christ and needed to bring the Gospel back to his country. A girl currently nineteen or twenty attended Frontline one night. Having been an alcoholic since age thirteen, she came up and told John that she now has hope. While it is tempting for pastors to tell the dramatic stories only, John mentions that many times a person comes up and just says, “I want to give my life to missions.” Every church or ministry should have and celebrate these stories.
