The Vision

In 1988 my husband, daughter, and I visited EPCOT Center in Florida for the first time. I’d enjoyed visits to California’s Disneyland and Disney’s Florida Magic Kingdom several times, but something about Epcot took those experiences to a new level.

All the time I was there, and for an extended period after returning home, I found myself feeling refreshed, inspired, exhilarated, edified. I found myself contemplating the wonders of God’s creation in ways I never had before, and appreciating with new eyes the gifts He had given to mankind by which they could also create magnificent experiences to delight the heart and stimulate the mind.

In later years we took our best friends to Epcot, and the rest of Disney World, to share the experience with them.  And still later we were delighted to take our grandchildren. Every time we went, I still experienced the same magical effect I had on my first visit, and was even more refreshed by seeing it have the same effect on my guests.

It is only in recent years that it has dawned on me that those feelings of refreshment, inspiration, exhilaration, and edification are precisely what I should be feeling week in and week out year around when gathering with others for worship and learning about God… what “church” should be like.

I’ve been an active, dedicated Christian for over forty years. In that time, I’ve experienced just about every type of religious setting available in America. I’ve been part of “house churches” with a dozen people meeting in living rooms. I’ve been involved with independent non-denominational fellowship groups of a hundred or more meeting in Union Halls or motel conference rooms. I’ve sat in formal churches with hundreds of people, surrounded by stained glass windows, singing centuries-old hymns. I’ve been to contemporary mega-churches with thousands of people swaying to a contemporary rock beat, to the accompaniment of throbbing guitars and drums.

I’ve been a pastor’s wife, a right-hand assistant to several church pastors, an officer on church boards, an activities coordinator for large religious conventions, and an inspirational speaker in many settings around the country. And in all of this, although there have been a few bright spots… I have never consistently experienced the same high level of refreshment, inspiration, edification, a feeling of closeness to God, and just pure delight in the way I have when I’ve visited Epcot. And in far too many settings, I’ve experienced quite the opposite far too often.

I’ve worked with numerous church leaders in a variety of settings who were trying to “make some changes” toward more healthy and thriving environments. And I’ve watched their efforts be totally stymied by the complaints of “That’s Not the Way We’ve Always Done It”-curmudgeons. I’ve seen minor changes made which ended up being just the spiritual equivalent of a band-aid on a burst appendix. I’ve seen pastors and other church leaders be totally burned out by the failure of their efforts to yield any meaningful change.

I began dreaming … what if gathering with the Church could be more like a visit to Epcot? What was it about Epcot that elicited all those positive emotions I experienced? It wasn’t just big buildings and pretty gardens and entertaining shows. I’ve been to Las Vegas too, and it has all sorts of huge, gaudy buildings with gorgeous landscaping around them, and plenty of entertainment. But my visit there left me mostly with a sour taste in my mouth, not inspiration and refreshment and a renewed appreciation for God’s creation!

In recent months, I have been reading books about the life of Walt Disney, and the creation of the Disney theme parks, particularly Epcot. And I have found some of the answers to my questions. A number of authors have written inspirational and motivational books explaining some of the behind-the-scenes factors about Walt Disney World that truly do make it a different world. There are principles, many of them solidly biblical, upon which the experience available at the parks is built. It is these principles that contribute to the positive feelings I have experienced in my visits there, and that have attracted people by the millions from around the world. These principles are so effective that 70 percent of the people who visit WDW are repeat visitors! They are so effective that the “employee turnover” at WDW is far lower than at any other business in the hospitality industry.

And these principles can be applied effectively in many other types of settings … including churches.

The great spiritual truths of the Invisible Church do not change throughout history.  But the methods used to share and spread and reinforce them change throughout time to be most effective. The environment within which individuals are taught and nurtured to spiritual maturity also changes. And the tools provided by God through the ingenuity He built within man … including the invention of the  printing press, radio, television, recording devices, multi-media equipment, and the Internet … have changed.

I am convinced He expects us to creatively use them all to the fullest extent in the furtherance of His kingdom.

I want to experience what I’ve experienced at Epcot in some small way when gathering throughout the year with other believers to worship God and learn of His ways. For over forty years I’ve tried to be part of attempting to “patch up” old churches to make them fit to thrive on into the 21st century, in hopes that the spark may ignite there. But Jesus made it clear in one of his parables what happens when you try to patch up an old garment with new cloth … or put new wine in old wineskins.

It is time to move on to a new approach. I intend to start totally fresh, and share my vision of just what the Experimental Prototype Church of Tomorrow—EPChOT for short—can be like, designed from the ground up.

Perhaps you will catch my vision and want to be part of building it too.