A church in Atlanta has announced plans to add aerialists to its worship services as a regular feature but instead of a warm reception for the creative idea, Pastor Brian Meadows of the Embassy Church International has had to defend the decision from the criticism.
Meadows posted the announcement about the aerialists last April 9 on Instagram, where he shared a photo of a young woman in a leotard who performed for the church members while a music group sang. He also posted a short video of the aerial performance as a preview.
"@EmbassyCity fully plans on making aerialists a FULL PART of our normal worship experience!" Meadows wrote on the photo-sharing site. "We endeavor to create a culture driven by the creativity and character of Christ!
Embassy Church was celebrating its CREATE Conference when an aerialist first made her appearance during the worship time on April 7. The said event was "an unconventional confluence of the arts, culture, media, entertainment, and technology" that recognizes the artistic talents of the ministry members, according to reports.
Critics, however, felt that the performance took away the essence of worship and praise of God. Ann Brock of The Old Black Church said, "We strayed far from worship for the sake of entertainment."
Brock said that it might be appropriate to showcase the aerialists for one special night at the church. She, however, disagreed with Meadows' plan to make the performance a regular part of the service. "To me, [it's] just too much," Brock said.
Responding to the criticisms, the pastor said that the aerialist might be a distraction but churchgoers would get used to it eventually in the same way that people have been getting used to the "foolery that happens in church." Meadows also said he's open to discussing costume ideas, which other critics have called out as female aerialists usually wear skin tight leotards and the men perform topless.
