3 Things ‘Dancing Guy’ Taught Celebrity Megachurches
1. Plant Shills in the Congregation

During a visit to the largest megachurch in the United States — boasting 50,000 congregants and 10 million TV viewers each week — I was thrilled to be escorted near the front to see it’s Smiley Preacher.

Talking with those seated around me, it was apparent everyone was from out-of-state, most married, and based on the amount of Dockers khakis and Macy’s floral blouses —baby boomer majority.

Q: So, if you have visiting baby boomers at a worship rock concert, how do you create a memorable visual for your viewing audience?

A: Plant ‘Dancing Guys’ throughout the congregation to stoke the flame.

On stage, 50+ choir members swayed back-and-forth, clapping or waving their hands to set the pace and rhythm. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but something that seemed out-of-place was the various congregants littered throughout the sanctuary near the front and side aisles. They looked like models, starkly different than the congregation’s typical demographic — early 20’s, A-lister fashion sense, with clothing choices that looked to be stolen from the Black Eyed Peas.

When the worship music got going, the young/cool models took the lead to bust a move in the audience — jumping up-and-down like Tigger on a trampoline, full of energy, waving hands in the air like they just don’t care. It helped influence several people around me to open up and publicly express their inner spirit. Even for my cool demeanor, I was so pumped that when the collection buckets came around, I tithed the biggest amount I had ever done in my life.

Looking back at the experience and given the demographics — my memory started tugging at me that something seemed off. If this was the Dancing Guy video — the band were the leaders, the models were the first followers, and the congregation was the piling concertgoers.

If proven, is it right for a church to plant shills in the congregation to fast-track momentum of its congregation? If so, would that be considered deceptive?
['Dave Boice']
['Church Planting', 'Megachurch', 'Christianity', 'Viral Video', 'Church Leadership']