Theater Church Interview: Carl Kuhl

May 14th, 2009 by Doug

Carl Kuhl is the lead pastor of Mosaic Christian Church in Hanover, MD. They meet in the Egyptian 24 theater, which has the distinction of being one of the busiest theaters in America. I sat down with Carl this morning and asked him a few questions about doing church in a movie theater.

If you were to give a church planter advice on doing church in a theater, what would it be?

Build a good relationship with the GM. That’s been something I’ve primarily done. We get along well. I like him and he likes me. We’ve build trust. When we first started, we asked to do our service at 10am. He told us no because he didn’t trust we could be out on time. After meeting there 9 months, we asked again. We have our first service at 10am this Sunday.

What have you done to build that relationship of trust?

We have a rule that we always leave the theater in better condition than when we arrived. One room in particular always needs swept and cleaned during setup. We also are honest and always ask for things. In previous ministries I didn’t always do that. I thought it was better to ask for forgiveness rather than permission. That damaged relationships more than building trust. So if we need something from the theater we ask first.

Are people beginning to identify you as the church that meets in the theater?

Yes, we’ve intentionally marketed that way. We’ve done our baptism services in other churches with 24/7 facilities. They are hard to find. The nice thing about the theater is everyone knows where it is and how to get there. What has surprised me a little is that meeting in a theater has been an obstacle for some people from a more traditional denominational or Catholic background, even the younger ones. They have been unsure about a church in a theater. Once they come they get over that though. But for most people the theater is a great location and environment for church.

Thanks Carl for that great insight. If you want to learn more about doing church in a theater, check out National Cinemedia’s webinar happening today, May 14th at 1pm est.