“On Ohio Flatland, a Megachurch’s Eye-Catcher Dominates” is the New York Times article I read on November 17, 2005, by Chris Maag.  The story starts: 

“MONROE, Ohio - Jesus first appears in a flash, a white statue rising from the flat cornfields 40 miles north of Cincinnati. Then he is gone, hidden behind a gas station.  The Jesus statue in Monroe, Ohio, is 62 feet tall and weighs eight tons.” 

We set out, four of us guys, at 4 p.m., bought water and disposable cameras at Target, and got to Monroe a few minutes later.  View photos here, at the website of Solid Rock Church:  the statue of Jesus, the multi-building campus, the mission of the church.

At first I was happy to be walking around the campus with the other guys, none of us having expected this adventure until a few hours ago.  We all were kinda thrilled to see the largest statue of Jesus in America.  It was unusual.  It was something to tell our friends about.  I wanted to see the campus buildings.  But everyone else acted uncomfortable.  One guy who’d said he’d go to the service with me at 7:15pm didn’t want to go anymore.

On the car ride back, one of the guys said he, well I don’t remember the exact words, but he didn’t think any organized religion was worth looking into.  I said something similar to, I’m fascinated by any organized gatherings.  As a visitor or guest, I’ve been to probably over 30 religious services, town hall meetings, etc.

Most folks I know from New York City are against organized religion of any sort, and are awfully uncomfortable about it.  I wish, even though none of us was expecting to have the opportunity of a church service tonight, that I wasn’t the only one eager to go and see the world.  Eager to observe what’s important to a lot of people, and how they share it with each other.  Eager to see what life lessons I might best apply in my own life and my organizations.

And I’m awfully impressed.  According to the New York Times story, husband and wife Lawrence and Darlene Bishop opened the church with 12 members in 1978. Today it’s a megachurch with over 3,000 members.  Mr. Bishop went from writing his first song to being awarded music evangelist of the year four years later.  Mrs. Bishop has her own Christian talk show for women which airs nationally, daily.

For some reason, lots of my New Yorker friends disregard anyone who’s religious.  But as I heard on a reality tv show last night, “We’re all human, no matter what our first impression is of someone’s surface image.” 

I’m rereading the NY Times article and looking forward to the “atmosphere of unplanned gigantism” tonight.

• Middletown, OH
• FAQ about the service I attended - part 1
• The service
• Nurturing Success
• Working with people in groups

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