WASHINGTON — When the medieval church wanted to communicate the biblical narratives to a largely illiterate society, it used stained glass windows to illustrate the stories.
So as the modern church looks for ways to reach a generation unfamiliar with the Bible, the most obvious medium, they say, is movie theaters.
"Theaters are our 21st century stained glass," said Joel Schmidgall, one of the pastors of National Community Church, a congregation that meets in four campuses — three movie theaters and a church-owned coffeehouse– around Washington.