Disneyland in Paris and the US Super Bowl will soon be used by churches as venues for massive media outreaches
A new 40-million euro Church complex near Paris Disney will include a new church that can hold up to 900 people and a private school that can accommodate more than 1,500 students.
And in the US, a US$100 million Christian ad campaign for Jesus has commenced and will expand in the months leading up to the Super Bowl.
Funded by the Signatory, a Christian foundation based in Kansas, the “He Gets Us” campaign hopes to rescue the message of Jesus from the misdeeds of Christians, especially those who say one thing and do another.
Disneyland Paris
Opened 30 years ago, the Disneyland Paris theme park is currently attracting nearly 15 million visitors per year.
Since it opened, the population of the Val d’Europe area has grown from 3,000 to over 35,000 inhabitants. It’s projected to keep growing.
The multi-million euro project comes at a time when many churches in France are being closed or abandoned and Catholicism is losing ground. ‘
But Bishop Jean-Yves Nahmias says the planned new facility isn’t a big risk.
“It’s a gamble on a future that is already here,” he says.
“There is a missionary logic: we are affirming our faith. But, concretely, the demands of the families and young people on the spot are pressing. The school will be full, as will the church,” he predicts.
Father Gérard Pelletier, who is pastor of the Val d’Europe missionary cluster, says the village churches in the cluster are too small and too far from Disneyland for the current and future needs.
“We lack space and a parish house to carry out our activities,” Pelletier says. “Beyond 30 people, it becomes complicated very quickly. In addition, the churches are too small for gathering the entire parish, for instance, on Christmas Eve.”
Nahmias remembers celebrating confirmations in crowded churches where not everyone could fit. The new church and the school — ranging from kindergarten to post-baccalaureate — are eagerly awaited – even by people who are not Catholic.
The Super Bowl
The US Super Bowl isn’t an event many would imagine advertising loving your neighbour and other Christian virtues.
Yet that’s exactly what’s happening.
Ads featuring online videos about Jesus as a rebel, an activist or a dinner party host have been viewed over 300 million times. Billboards with messages like “Jesus let his hair down, too” and “Jesus went all in, too,” have been posted in major centres.
Still to come are an updated website, an online store where people can get free gear if they forgive someone or welcome a stranger, and an outreach programme for churches.
The campaign has done extensive market research and found that, while many Americans like Jesus, they are sceptical of his followers.
The behaviour of Christians is a barrier to faith, say many.
The He gets Us campaign hopes to change this view.
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