Today is the big day.  We go to settlement on the People’s Church and begin renovations on a building that was a movie theater from 1910-1960.  The goal?  To restore and reopen a 1930′s movie house.  It’ll be a place where the community can step back in time and not just enjoy a movie but a movie theater.  It’ll also double as our Capitol Hill campus.  Not unlike Ebenezers Coffeehouse, the vision is to create a marketplace environment where the church and community can cross paths.  In a sense, theaters are the Aeropagus of American culture and we’re not afraid of mixing it up in the marketplace of ideas.  Paul certainly wasn’t. Like Ebenezers, every penny of profit will go toward helping the orphan, the slave, those who are poor, those who have AIDS, and a wide variety of causes we’re involved with around the world.

I think the day is coming when fewer churches will pay millions of dollars to construct buildings that are used a few times a week.  I don’t think it makes sense financially, especially for urban churches.  And spiritually speaking, part of incarnating the gospel is figuring out how to translate the good news into cultural forms that are accessible and understandable.  I don’t think that just means language.  I think it can mean architecture too. For what it’s worth, I put my faith in Christ after watching a movie.  God used that particular medium to invade my heart and mind.

We’re quick to complain about things we find objectionable in culture.  In the words of Michelangelo, “Criticize by creating.” Our goal is to put things on the screen that make people think, make people cry, make people laugh, and make people strive toward beauty, justice, and life to its fullest.  More than making memories we want to stir dreams.  To that end, we begin.