A couple Saturday's ago, I performed in the youth room of East Point Christian Church during an open house event they were having. Although I had heard East Point was big, I had no idea that it has an average Sunday attendance of 1700 parishioners. As it turns out, EPCC is housed in an old Bob's Discount Furniture shop in an industrial park in South Portland, Maine.

When I arrived that morning, the first thing that caught my eye was the food vendor trucks parked outside. As I walked through the glass doors, I was surprised to hear Michael Jackson's "Beat It" blasting over the sound system. To my right was the fullsize indoor soccer field, behind me was the diner, and further back was the two story MacDonalds style play place.  This was clearly not your typical New England church.  When I finally got someone to help me, I was led to the youth room, which was around the corner from the fullsize gymnasium.  

The youth room was as large as many church sanctuaries I have performed in, and better equipped with lights and sound equipment than virtually all.  I did four 30 minute shows on the hour throughout the day.  Each was well attended, although, by the fourth show I did almost all magic as my arms were pretty worn out from juggling.  My Repetitive motion injury can't handle that much work in one day anymore.  Nonetheless, the shows were well recieved. During breaks, I found out that all the food that day was free, both from the cafe and the food trucks.  And I have to admit, the fresh made donuts were unbelievably good.

But I left that day conflicted.  Does a church need all that to do its job? Is this worldly materialism, or is it just being relevant to the yuppie population in the neighborhood? Still, is this the best use of the church's finances?  What about the people I know and respect who attend there; they clearly see value in it.  Certainly, it is not a church I would choose for my family and me even if we lived closer, but I certainly appreciate their generous offering.