Hmmmm. Doesn't this sound familiar? More like Disneyland more than a church?
How ever did Christianity ever grow in the conditions of the early church? No air conditioning, mood lighting, staging, comfort. It's a miracle that people responded to the message of grace given that level of discomfort.
On the contrary, the most beautiful churches are some of the oldest ones. The idea that beautiful architecture is more inspiring than the spare bedroom of my old mobile home is not all that controversial.
Rick Warren could tell people that they'd feel better if they ate nutritious meals and got plenty of exercise and the bitter people would still find a problem with it.
The poster above who suggested they should all sit on a bed of nails to prove how religious they are was right.
You definitely have a point. And many of the churches in Africa, India, South America, China are the fastest growing of our day.
It just so happens that our facility committee has worked on many of the things listed for my small home parish. (And we have full houses at all four Masses.)
However, what this article FAILED to address was the credibility of the pastor. Isn't the pastor mentioned in this article losing membership at his church?? Hmmmm -- so that would mean that the most important thing is the MESSAGE!