by Jeff Achen
Thisweek Newspapers

Although a number of modern churches have embraced social media and contemporary worship music, many see Sunday worship as a time for congregants to turn off their handheld devices and leave their laptops behind.

Not Peace Church in Eagan.

Rev. Mark Reynoso is leading a new style of worship at 11:11 a.m. Sunday mornings called “Epic.”

“I do think there’s something beautiful about churches that are (asking congregants to turn off their phones to focus on God). At the same time, what we believe is our particular calling in this is slightly different,” he said.

PHOTO: Rev. Mark Reynoso of Peace Church in Eagan preaches to his congregation barefoot and standing in front of his laptop computer. He encourages his congregation to interact with him during the worship service. Photo by Jeff Achen

Started Sept. 13, Peace Church combined its traditional and contemporary services into one service and added a newer, more forward thinking “Epic” worship service.

“Epic” incorporates video dramatizations, contemporary worship music, interaction among congregation members, and elements of social media such as Twitter and text messaging to encourage more active religious living.

Reynoso preaches in his short-sleeve shirt, blue jeans and bare feet, instead of robes. Instead of a pulpit, he delivers his message in front of a table and laptop computer.

By contrast, the other, more traditional service has a choir, pipe organ music and a band. Rev. Al Pruis, lead pastor, runs that service.

He said the point of the new service is to reach a younger generation and those who have drifted away from the church.

“In reaching a new generation for Christ, we knew that we had to create an environment that allowed expressions that are part of that new generation,” Pruis said. “It’s much more visual, multimedia and always centered on God’s word.”

Pruis and Reynoso said they’re already seeing new people and a few of those who had stopped attending the church come to the “Epic” services.

“I think it’s going well. There’s a lot of energy flowing into it,” Pruis said.

Pruis, 62, said he knew he needed someone younger to lead the new service.

Fresh out of seminary, 27-year-old Reynoso has only been with the church since July 2008.

He’s immersed in social media, active on Facebook and Twitter and in Pruis’s eyes, is the perfect candidate to lead “Epic.”

“Mark has a real keen desire to be advancing God’s kingdom forward, but having said that, my role is doing whatever I can to help Mark move forward with this. My issue is, How are we reaching people?” Pruis said.

It’s all part of a larger trend toward more contemporary ministry Pruis acknowledges is happening at churches across the county.

PHOTO: Rev. Mark Reynoso encourages his congregation to use the “worship stations” at the back of the sanctuary to pray, reflect and even journal and draw during worship service. The idea is to do these things while still participating in the service with the rest of the congregation. Photo by Jeff Achen

“For churches to say that they want to reach a new generation for the Lord, you have to be extremely intentional about that,” he said. “We are being extremely intentional.”

For Peace Church, part of the Reformed Church in America, the move is not too far outside its comfort zone. Reynoso said his denomination has always been a “middle of the road.”

He relates it most closely with Presbyterian Church.

“We are very evangelical at heart. At the doctrinal level there are differences,” he said. “We have the traditional values without attempting to be overly conservative or liberal.”

The mission of Peace Church is “deeper, bigger and younger.”

“Deeper in our walk with God,  bigger in our mission to the world and younger being intentional in reaching the next generation,” Reynoso said.

The Wi-Fi-enabled church may even invite congregants to bring laptops into future services.

Already some youth leaders are ministering by text messages.

“We’re redefining what text messaging is. If it’s blurbs to get to people, those blurbs can be about God,” Reynoso said. “For me, I live in the world where I’m on Facebook every day, I’m on Twitter everyday. It’s completely natural to make that part of the worship service.”

So, each Sunday, the members of Peace Church will get their text messages, typically a challenge to live the sermon message out during the week. And they might be asked to share how it went before the church the following Sunday.

“We’re trying to claim the reality that sermons aren’t always the easiest things to apply to your life,” Pruis said.

In bridging the gap between conservative Christian principles and today’s technology-saturated world, Peace Church is attempting to make that a little bit easier.

Jeff Achen is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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