How loud is too loud?
BARRIE, ON - The congregation of Mapleview Community Church in Barrie was praying that God would enlarge their borders. However, they didn't expect it would stem from the neighbours complaining that the church was infringing on the city's noise bylaw.
"We have been given a unique opportunity, and we'll say it's from the Lord, to put our church and what we're doing on the map," says pastor Jay Davis. "It's brought attention and people have started coming out to see what this 'rock and roll' church is doing."
Affiliated with the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, Mapleview started out with nine members meeting in a living room three years ago. The congregation now numbers about 700, the majority under the age of 40.
Since it was growing so fast, the church needed more room and that's when the troubles began. They added a new addition to their church—a Sprung Instant Structure, a dome-shaped, tent-like building.
However, it soon became apparent that the walls were far from soundproof when neighbours started to complain that the worship band was disturbing the Sunday morning peace and quiet. Eight complaints were registered between March and August 2000.
The police suggested Mapleview ask Barrie city council for an exclusion from the bylaw.
However, the council declined to get involved, and left it up to the church and the neighbours to sort things out for themselves.
Church leaders, the local alderman, police, and neighbours met at the beginning of February to try and sort through their differences. It was
amicable all around, says Davis, as they cleared the air and agreed to work together.
"We're going to work together at bearing with one another until the problem can be resolved," he says. "We're not changing our style or our format—nobody's asked us to."
Musical differences
Mapleview ministers to people of a postmodern mindset, says Davis. The worship band, which includes electric guitars, drums, and percussion, plays upbeat, contemporary music, although not the rock 'n roll as reported by some newspapers.
"We sing contemporary music that a lot of the evangelical churches throughout North America are doing," he says.
But, says LeRoy Pennell, pastor of Heritage Baptist Church in Barrie, when it comes to worship music, the church in general needs to be wary of presenting a Sunday version of what the world offers the rest of the week.
"Music is one of those things that deeply influences individuals and we have to be careful when we're dealing with spiritual matters that we're looking to meet the spiritual needs and not just looking to tickle the emotions," he says.
Heritage is conservative when it comes to their musical style, he says, but that doesn't keep the young people away. "We have an outstanding group of young people who are not afraid to take a stand and be different, and that includes their music styles. We know that it can be done. We know that you don't have to use what I would consider to be worldly music to win people to Christ."
But, says Davis, using techniques already perfected by the world can be instrumental in drawing people to the church. "The world has spent millions of dollars on market research and affecting people. We'll tinker with it and adapt them for God's purposes."
Publicity beneficial
Mapleview's story has made its rounds through the media—from local news coverage to a front page article in the Toronto Star and write ups in the Globe and Mail. Davis even did some call-in radio shows.
"It's really an interesting phenomenon how it's grabbed the attention of the secular media in the Toronto area and spread. It becomes almost a
freedom of religion type scoop with some of the newscasters asking 'Are they trying to squash you from worshipping?'"
However, Davis doesn't think that's the case. The media has distorted a lot of the issues and hasn't always got the facts straight, he says.
But he prefers to put a positive spin on all of the attention the church has been receiving. The publicity has served the church well as more people come to see what they're all about, he says, which gives them a chance to share about Jesus.
And after all, he adds, the church has been praying the prayer of Jabez (1 Chronicles 4:10) every Sunday, for God to "enlarge" their borders. "God has really honoured that prayer," says Davis. "He's enlarged our borders in ways that we could never have guessed, so we think it's an answer to prayer. We see God's handprints all over it."
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