{"id":15759,"date":"2024-03-28T01:29:48","date_gmt":"2024-03-27T19:59:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/28\/elevation-church-sent-easter-invites-that-omit-resurrection\/"},"modified":"2024-03-28T01:29:48","modified_gmt":"2024-03-27T19:59:48","slug":"elevation-church-sent-easter-invites-that-omit-resurrection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/28\/elevation-church-sent-easter-invites-that-omit-resurrection\/","title":{"rendered":"Elevation Church sent Easter invites that omit &#8216;resurrection&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article_content\">\n<header>\n<div class=\"article-byline\"> By <a class=\"reporter\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianpost.com\/by\/leah-marieann-klett\"> Leah MarieAnn Klett<\/a><span class=\"quiet\">, Assistant Editor <time datetime=\"Wednesday, March 27, 2024\" itemprop=\"datePublished dateModified\">Wednesday, March 27, 2024<\/time><\/span><a class=\"reporter-twitter\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/leahmarieann\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.christianpost.com\/assets\/img\/twitter-color.svg\" alt=\"Twitter\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\"\/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<figure data-index=\"0\" class=\"img-box align-center center\" itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><picture width=\"700\" height=\"396\"><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.christianpost.com\/images\/cache\/image\/13\/91\/139182_w_700_396.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.christianpost.com\/images\/cache\/image\/13\/91\/139182_w_700_396.png\" class=\"type:primaryImage\" alt=\"Steven Furtick, pastor of Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.\" width=\"700\" height=\"396\"\/><\/source><\/picture><figcaption class=\"caption\"><span class=\"photo-des\">Steven Furtick, pastor of Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.<\/span> | <span class=\"credit\">Screenshot\/YouTube<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Christian music artists and pastors have weighed in after a senior staffer at Steven Furtick\u2019s Elevation Church in North Carolina revealed the megachurch doesn\u2019t use words like \u201cresurrection,\u201d \u201cCalvary\u201d or the \u201cblood of Jesus\u201d in their Easter invitations for fear of alienating potential non-Christian attendees.<\/p>\n<p>Nicki Shearer, <a href=\"https:\/\/elevationchurch.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Elevation Church<\/a>\u2019s digital content director, recently spoke with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0bJv5pjo5u0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pro Church Tools <\/a>and said the church, which has 20 locations, avoids using language that \u201cimmediately makes someone feel like an outsider.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I think about how I\u2019m going to talk about Easter, I\u2019m thinking about how I\u2019m going to talk to people far from God, because that\u2019s the thing that matters most to us,\u201d Shearer said, adding the church wants to reach the \u201cun-churched\u201d and churched alike.\u00a0<\/p>\n<section class=\"inline-newsletter-mar24 design\" id=\"inline-mar24\" action=\"\/newsletter\/inline-mar24.html\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"graphic\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.christianpost.com\/assets\/img\/newsletter\/photo-newsletter.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<div class=\"txt\">\n<h2 class=\"title\">Get Our Latest News for FREE<\/h2>\n<p>Subscribe to get daily\/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>Shearer, who Pro Church Tools said is \u201cresponsible for what Elevation says and how they say it,\u201d said Easter and Christmas are the only two events of the year that are \u201cactually wrapped around a particular passage in the Bible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI&#8217;m putting a lot of my focus, energy, time, resources toward what I would call the \u2018cold audience,\u2019 people far from God,\u201d she reiterated. \u201cI&#8217;m not going to say the word \u2018Calvary,\u2019 not going to say the word \u2018resurrection,\u2019 I&#8217;m not going to say the \u2018blood of Jesus,&#8217; I&#8217;m not going to say any of these words that make someone feel like an outsider. This is really an important guide for how we develop language. Anyone can be a part of our church; it might not be for everyone, everyone might not like it, but anyone can come.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"An Honest Conversation With Elevation Church\u2019s Copywriter\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0bJv5pjo5u0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Pro Church Tools <a href=\"https:\/\/167.prochurchtools.com\/p\/elevation-church-won-t-say-resurrection\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">attempted to clarify<\/a>\u00a0that while certain terms are absent from invitations, they are indeed emphasized during Elevation&#8217;s services, particularly regarding the resurrection of Christ.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[It] doesn\u2019t matter how amazing your message might be if it\u2019s not accessible to the people you\u2019re trying to reach,\u201d interviewer Brady Shearer of Pro Church Tools said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>On its website, <a href=\"https:\/\/easter.elevationchurch.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Elevation<\/a> made available an Easter message that can be copied and pasted to send to potential attendees.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Hey, do you have plans for Easter Sunday?&#8221; The message reads. &#8220;I&#8217;m heading to Easter at Elevation. Would you like to join me? The music and the message are always incredible. It&#8217;s honestly one of my favorite ways to celebrate the holiday. I&#8217;d love to have you as my guest this year!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Christian Post reached out to Elevation Church for comment. A response is pending.<\/p>\n<p>Nicki Shearer\u2019s comments sparked controversy among some on social media, with critics accusing Elevation Church of diluting Christian messages for the sake of inclusivity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is woke-ism,\u201d Shane Idleman, pastor of Westside Christian Fellowship in Southern California, said. \u201c&#8217;I don\u2019t want to offend others.&#8217; Well, you just offended God. \u2026 I want to say, listen, you can market the Gospel; just say, \u2018Come and see what Christ has done. \u2026 I&#8217;m not embarrassed of the Gospel, Calvary is a wonderful thing. He shed His blood on Calvary and has set me free and He has risen again.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou might want to get up and go and find a place where you&#8217;re not offended because the Gospel offends us,\u201d he added. \u201cIt breaks us, it humbles us. I&#8217;m here because of God, not because of you. \u2026 When did the Church become for non-believers? We are to welcome them, reach them, love them and understand them. But at the end of the day, I&#8217;m here because of God, and I will not apologize, if that&#8217;s a little too strong.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Weighing in on the controversy, Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of First Baptist Dallas, also criticized efforts to water down the Gospel message ahead of significant Christian observances by not mentioning the crucifixion and resurrection as futile, likening it to &#8220;trying to swim in an empty swimming pool.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn <a href=\"https:\/\/bibleportal.com\/passage?search=1+Corinthians+15+&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">1 Corinthians 15<\/a>, Paul declares that the foundation of Christianity is the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ,\u201d he told The Christian Post. \u201cTo try to reach people on Christmas and Easter without mentioning the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ is like trying to swim in an empty swimming pool. What\u2019s the point?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shane Everett and Shane Barnard of the worship duo Shane and Shane told CP that the resurrection has a non-negotiable place in Christian doctrine and stressed that omitting such crucial elements risks presenting a form of Christianity devoid of its power.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis seems like a very dangerous place to be,\u201d Everett told CP.<\/p>\n<p>Barnard added that while he\u2019s heard some \u201cgreat sermons\u201d by Furtick, &#8220;you can\u2019t leave the resurrection and even the ascension out of the Gospel.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and the resurrection is proof that the check cleared. It\u2019s a key event in history. I don&#8217;t know how you could read that and, especially on Easter, not proclaim the resurrection for all who would believe,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>The Gospel, according to Shane and Shane, should be presented in its fullness, including the challenging aspects like the acknowledgment of sin, without dilution or omission for the sake of making it more palatable.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Boasting in our weakness and leading with a limp,&#8221; as they put it, is the key to creating an environment where seekers feel welcomed and understood, as exemplified by the Apostle Paul.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Gospel is an invitation for sinners; Christ Jesus came to die for sinners,\u201d Everett said. \u201cThat&#8217;s not to say that some aren&#8217;t and some are. It&#8217;s just that some see that they are and some see that they&#8217;re not. The Gospel is an invitation for sinners, the lowly and weak. \u2026 If you&#8217;re a sinner, and if you&#8217;re in need of a Savior, it&#8217;s the greatest news ever. There&#8217;s nothing you need to do. You don\u2019t need to pad that for a seeker, because a seeker is seeking the Gospel. They\u2019re after a life of freedom, the forgiveness of sin, everlasting life and God.<\/p>\n<p>You don\u2019t have to overthink it. If you&#8217;re on an island and you read this book, it&#8217;s pretty clear what the hope of our salvation is. Be bold and share it. And trust that God&#8217;s going to do the work. It&#8217;s His perfect Word.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"article_credit\">\n<p>Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.christianpost.com\/news\/mailto:leah.klett@christianpost.com\">leah.klett@christianpost.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.christianpost.com\/news\/elevation-church-sent-easter-invites-that-omit-resurrection.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Leah MarieAnn Klett, Assistant Editor Wednesday, March 27, 2024 Steven Furtick, pastor of Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. | Screenshot\/YouTube Christian music artists and pastors have weighed in after a senior staffer at Steven Furtick\u2019s Elevation Church in North Carolina revealed the megachurch doesn\u2019t use words like \u201cresurrection,\u201d \u201cCalvary\u201d or the \u201cblood of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15760,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[]},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15759"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15759\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}