Reel place of worship

On a recent Sunday in the Assemblies of God church, the pastor discussed

the book of Proverbs.

While Psalms is the Bible's songbook, Proverbs is the teacher's manual, the

Rev. Dean Jackson says. It shows folks how to develop moral skills, moral

insight and fear of the Lord.

"Don't get the wrong impression," he reminds the congregation about the

concept of fear of the Lord. "Don't dread God to the point of being paralyzed

from acting."

The congregation listened. Not from pews, but from plush movie theater seats.

They paid tithing. Not in the collection plate, but in a popcorn bucket.

And they sang along. Not with the organ, but with guitars, drums and

keyboards.

For the past three years, Rock Canyon Church members have been worshipping in

the theaters at the Provo Towne Centre. The church board actually sold a

bricks-and-mortar building on Canyon Road in Provo to purchase audio-visual

equipment and lease theater space each Sunday from 8 to 11:30 a.m.

"It was part of my struggle going into the ministry," said the Rev. Jackson,

a third-generation pastor. "I think a lot of traditional churches � please don't

misunderstand me, I'm not against traditional churches � but my frustration

always came with, I don't think they're meeting all the needs. My challenge was,

can you do it differently without compromising your core values or compromising

the church? We found it very doable."

The move hasn't saved the church any money, because it's expensive to lease the

theaters, the Rev. Jackson said, and some church members opted not to follow