The Saint Rose Chronicle

Issue date: 9/26/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Geoff Arbuckle Pastor Dan Rushing shows off his new fellowship which launches October 28th

When one thinks of a church or other place of worship, what usually comes to mind is a standard building filled with religious paraphernalia, not a movie theater.

However, a new church is planning to change all that, basing itself out of the nearby Madison Theatre, and specifically catering to Saint Rose students with a desire to improve their own lives.

New Beginnings Fellowship (NBF) is headed up by lead pastor Dan Rushing, a Kansas City native. The son of a minister himself, Rushing became affiliated with NBF a year and a half ago, specifically coming to Albany to begin a church in the area.

According to Rushing, NBF's mission is to create disciples of Jesus Christ by promoting a love of God and one another.

"Our vision really is to create a service that is relevant with the people, and uses real-life examples and topics, in a culture that is our age group," Rushing said. "We have several Saint Rose students that come to our church, and so we're really trying to connect on a level that is relevant, and that really connects the Bible with real life - stress, family, relationships, sex - real-life issues that portend to the fact that Jesus really has something to say about our lives."

In advertisements for the church, Rushing makes reference to a "prison of religion", believing that people do not have to be religious in order to be Christians.

"A lot of people feel that there's a default where you have to "do" or you have to "don't"…they define their Christianity by what they don't do. All of a sudden they've missed the whole central element of what it means to be a Christian,' Rushing said. "Being Christian isn't about going to church every Sunday - that doesn't define you as a Christian. Being a Christian means you have a personal relationship with Jesus, and that he knows you intimately."

But why hold these services in a movie theater?

"It's not typical," Rushing said. "Some people may be intimidated by a church, whereas a movie theater creates an atmosphere were people are comfortable…it's a place of enjoyment and entertainment where I don't feel judged. I connect it with things I like to do. This gives us an opportunity to say that the Gospel really isn't about a building…we do it to make a statement that we aren't traditional, and it's just a great place to get together."

Continued...

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