[URBAN NOTE] "Millennials restoring their faith at Toronto's C3 Church"
CBC News' Laura DaSilva reports on an apparently dynamic Pentecostal church in Toronto. I do wonder, though, how many of the new parishoners are truly unchurched, and how many are simply switching demoninations and congregations (for a while? for an experiment?).
With an avant-garde rock band, an Australian pastor in skinny jeans at the mic and Drake-inspired graphics behind him, C3 might seem more like Coachella than what it really is - church.
"I think if Jesus were alive today, he would've had an Instagram account," said C3 Toronto's lead pastor Sam Picken in an interview Sunday. "When we preach the Bible, we try to preach it in a way that's going to be relevant to the audience."
The Pentecostal Christian City Church movement - known as C3 - started in Australia in 1980. There are more than 450 churches across the world, including 11 in Canada.
Picken, 32, started the Toronto chapter with his wife and a handful of friends in 2012. Now, more than 800 people call it home.
"I think the people of Toronto, myself included, we're seeking meaning," Picken said. "We're seeking acceptance. We're seeking community."
The church rents auditorium space each week at Central Technical School, 725 Bathurst St. The members hope to raise enough money to acquire a permanent location, Picken said.
With an avant-garde rock band, an Australian pastor in skinny jeans at the mic and Drake-inspired graphics behind him, C3 might seem more like Coachella than what it really is - church.
"I think if Jesus were alive today, he would've had an Instagram account," said C3 Toronto's lead pastor Sam Picken in an interview Sunday. "When we preach the Bible, we try to preach it in a way that's going to be relevant to the audience."
The Pentecostal Christian City Church movement - known as C3 - started in Australia in 1980. There are more than 450 churches across the world, including 11 in Canada.
Picken, 32, started the Toronto chapter with his wife and a handful of friends in 2012. Now, more than 800 people call it home.
"I think the people of Toronto, myself included, we're seeking meaning," Picken said. "We're seeking acceptance. We're seeking community."
The church rents auditorium space each week at Central Technical School, 725 Bathurst St. The members hope to raise enough money to acquire a permanent location, Picken said.