Salon: Christian party animals

Christian party animals

Dec. 10, 2004 | IBIZA -- By their eighth night in the West End, Ibiza's low-rent nightlife district, the members of the 24-7 Prayer team don't flinch at anything they see: not at the woman lifting her skirt to ask a group of men what color panties she's wearing; not at the guy with papier-mâché breasts strapped around his waist, standing beside a sign that says "Dexter has the clap"; not at the guy mooning the girl who just spurned his advances, or the one across the street, pulling his dick out of his pants and flopping it on the table for the viewing pleasure of two horrified, delighted young blonds.

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A guy with spiky blond hair in a "FCUK" T-shirt calls out to two of the missionaries, Lorraine Joslin and Charli Franklin. "Hey ladies, what you doing later? Stop by for a drink?" "Sorry, we're not drinking tonight," says Franklin, a throaty-voiced 21-year-old with a tiny rhinestone stud in her nose. This elicits protests and confusion from the tout.

"We're praying," she says.

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You would expect the typical evangelical Christian to be horrified by Ibiza. But the 24-7 Prayer missionaries aren't your typical evangelicals. They tend to be pierced and tattooed, antiwar and pro-fair trade, and the minute they get off prayer duty, they put on halter tops and body glitter and wristbands and go clubbing until noon the next day. They might even have a drink or two. They don't do drugs -- which alone sets them apart from most ravers. Most eschew premarital sex, although they try not be judgmental about others' sexual behavior. Like all missionaries, they want to be down with the people whom they're preaching to, but in the case of 24-7, they're not faking it. The primary difference between the average Ibiza clubber and a 24-7 missionary is what gets them off. "To know that the God who made the heavens and the earth loves me and wants to know me -- that's an amazing high that lasts much more than a few hours," says Bruce Gardiner-Crehan, 25, a 24-7 missionary with the beatific countenance of a Caravaggio apostle. As members of a generation that came of age with house music, the 24-7 Prayer team finds it a lot easier to commune with God while dancing at a rave than while kneeling in a church, listening to an organist drone on.

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For the moment, though, 24-7 is primarily a European movement -- which may be why its form of evangelism seems looser than the Ashcroftian brand that winces at topless statues. Of the two dozen 24-7 missionaries who traveled to Ibiza this summer, only two were American: Heather and Jonah Bailey, a young married couple who provide moral support and guidance to the prayer teams. Even they don't fall cleanly under the umbrella of U.S. evangelism. They hail from Bakersfield, Calif., but they live in Seville, Spain; and they're vehemently anti-George W. Bush.

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Christian party animals

This group of Christians seem different from the American brand of Christianity - anti-war, pro-fair trade.

But if they ever adopted the Ashcroft-style of preaching and came to West Hollywood, I would tell them to fuck off in less than a second.

Please read the article before responding.

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It's all in the presentation.........

Literally

...Give 'em enough money, they'll put out!

...like with unwanted sexual advances, you can always say "no thanks". I'm all for empowering the 'spiritual left'.

I didn't read the article. Have these girls gotten the spirit and doing this as their own thing...or is this an outreach program by some money grabbing fundie sect. It certainly is a new approach. If I was 20 again, I might be tempted.....

i think they might be unitarians, but they hold a baby rave where anyone is welcome to come pray with them -- with neon lights, glowsticks, bottled water, thumping music, and lots of dancing.

i've also met a few cool ravers who were committed to religion, but deeply liberal and fun. but then, they also loved drugs, pre-marital sex, and had no issue with homosexuality, so i don't know if they are in the same category of these 24-7 missionaries. i doubt it.

but i have no problem with the christian left except, where the hell have you been all these years?!?!

It sounds to me like a group of young people who desperately want to experience what other young people are experiencing, but at the same time are conflicted so they have the 24/7 prayer stuff. If it works for them, fine.

Evangelism like this is somewhat selfish, somewhat misguided, and somewhat arrogant. I applaud their liberal sensibilities, but the "Is there anything we can pray for you about tonight?" stuff is off putting and quite unnecessary.

Here is a thought for these fine young people. Begin to critically analyze your world - including the hip, new postmodern Christianity, and spend that time hanging out with the party crowd doing some real works in the area such as building houses for the needy, teaching children in a third world country, collecting money for the homeless, etc. The prayer juju doesn't help anyone but yourself by making you feel like you are increasing your spiritual capital.

For those who may say that this group of kids can counsel someone who may have a drug problem or depression, I say that it is very dangerous to have non-professional counselors trying to help people with very real and serious problems. The "find Christ and everything will be fine" line of thinking may be good for a few moments or a few weeks, but reality has a way of biting one in the ass. If this is the intent of the kids, then they would better serve their targets by bringing along a real counselor who could hook these people up with real services.

I had a wonderful theologian say to me the other day, "Fast food theology is killing an otherwise beautiful religion."

:evilgrin: