Gearfuse

Amsterdam’s Koepelkerk (meaning roughly “domed church” in Dutch) is one of the main landmarks on the city’s skyline. Koepelkerk has been around since the 17th century and it’s been painted by the legendary Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh, but today it’s far from your typical church.

Since 1975, the Koepelkerk has been rented by the Renaissance Marriott and they’ve renovated the church so it can be used for parties and business meetings. When I stopped by the hotel the church was set up for a technology conference and I got to see how the three hundred year-old organ is used to show Powerpoint presentations using a projection screen. This is the only place I could imagine seeing a powerpoint presentation at a business meeting that wouldn’t bore me to death.

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It appears that Protestant churches around the country are using Halo 3 as a recruiting tool to draw in young congregants. This comes despite it’s violent subject matter and mature ESRB rating. Naturally, this development has many churchgoers in an uproar, but supporters argue that Halo is an effective tool in “reaching the elusive audience of boys and young men”–a crucial demographic. So, if you want old people, set up Bingo night. If you want young people, set up a Halo 3 tournament.

Does the fact that Halo 3 helps recruit young men into the congregation justify it’s use in church? According to James Tonkwich, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy–”If you want to connect with young teenage boys and drag them into church, free alcohol and pornographic movies would do it. My own take is that you could do better than that.” Not necessarily buddy, I like your first idea.—Sean Fallon

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