The second video I have watched is the most recent service posted on The Epic Church's website. It is called We're in a War and it is one of the many videos in the month-long series "This I Know". This video is a service hosted in the Roxborough campus. The service's main idea is that we are in a spiritual war and one of the worst things to be in a war is unprepared. The service's main concern is that in order to be prepared for this spiritual war we must give ourselves to God and renounce the temptations that Satan brings upon us. The service's main goal is to have a church full of people who are 'good soil', which in the words of the preacher are, people who are deeply rooted in God. One of the things that stood out to me the most was in the last few minutes of the service, during this same conversation about people who are 'good soil', when the preacher addresses the world outside of the church:
"I want our church to be full of people who are good soil. [...] and that's what it's gonna take to reach our city which is full of people who are victims of the devil's schemes." [37:00]
And the theme of 'our city' is clearly stated by the preacher, something that is part of my original assessment of the Epic Church due to the clear visual and textual references to The Epic Church's mission of being #ForPhilly in the webpage. Other, more subtle, things can be said about the service that draws back to my original statement that I believe describes The Epic Church best. For this, I will be drawing a bit of knowledge from my previous Performance Studies course. In performance studies, our social interactions, settings, and positions are all seen through the context of what it means to perform a certain social interaction, setting, or position. From my knowledge, looking just at, for example, what the preacher is wearing (baseball cap, sweater, jeans) and how he is speaking (casual jargon, cracking jokes) there is already a big distinction between what it means to perform preacher at my home's Sunday School vs what it means to perform preacher at The Epic Church vs what is expected of a preacher in the Christian community of the United States. I will go as far as to claim that how the preacher was performing in that video shows a 'welcoming' attitude towards non believers and more casual and relaxed communication between religious authority and the community (perhaps, strengthening that bond of community) than what is expected. Adding on to that, the more casual attitude towards service helps reach the more secular and young community which I believe is their main target (youth, nonbelievers, and Philadelphians). The social setting of this service also gives another aspect to what I'm trying to convey here. There is one blue backdrop, a screen where text is often displayed through the service, and a music stand, a much more casual set-up (as is usual of multimedia churches) than the ones found in traditional churches. Again, these more day-to-day setups and communication ultimately draw attention to the Church within younger and more secular communities simply because it is similar to what those people are used to.
In the end, I truly believe that both the video found in the "About" section of their website, and the service I watched still hold true to my original statement of what the Epic Church is all about. If I were to add a bit more, I'd say now that the Epic Church is all about:
"The apparent mission of the Epic church is centered on drawing in new believers, youth, minorities, and Philadelphians into the faith. They want to pave the way for a tight-knit yet diverse community centered on Jesus' teachings through casual communication and a relaxed atmosphere."
Great reflection and attention to detail.
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