In an article last year, Woods Bowman, an economist and subscriber to the Lyric Opera, speculated about the secrets to their success, including: However, in that same period, the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s ticket sales were up 15%, subscriptions at the Chicago Opera Theater were up 20%, and two new opera companies were started. population who have attended an opera performance is small to begin with and has been in a decline for many years, going from 3.2% in 2002 to 2.1% in 2012. Love of opera is apparently not, however, an inherited trait, as no one in the family has so far joined him. My father is a life-long opera buff who spent years working in his office at the university on Saturday afternoons so that he could listen to public radio’s broadcasts of Metropolitan Opera performances.
Of course, not all of us have access to clever illustrators, but we do have access to other struggling institutions from which we can learn how to try things–for example, the opera! (I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t like it.) But I do want you to notice where this started–with a sign that was meant to attract the attention of children and make information about the temple and its faith accessible to them directly via their smart phones. Not surprisingly, some Buddhists have been critical of these departures from Buddhist tradition while others see this as the most recent example of the common practice of using contemporary art forms to attract new followers to an established faith tradition.
Video games featuring the characters now form an integral part of the temple’s institutional identity.A bi-weekly broadcast was created for YouTube.Theme songs were written and videos released featuring adults, including both the original illustrator of the sign and a famous porn star, dressed up as characters.
Special events were organized on the temple grounds.The grandson of a temple participant established a company that began selling gear emblazoned with the temple characters.The temple’s sign quickly attracted attention, and subsequently there have been some interesting developments: As you scroll across the image, different kinds of information will pop up.) (The image is shown above, but for a better, interactive version, see the article in Tricycle. Each of the temple’s enshrined deities were portrayed in this cartoon format, with QR codes next to each of the characters that would take visitors to a mobile-friendly website that offered information about them. It featured the kinds of images that are associated with Japanese manga (comics) and anime (animation). Maybe we just need to try a few things.įor example, in May 2009, a priest at a Buddhist temple in Japan installed a large welcome sign just inside the temple’s main gate that was intended to foster children’s interest in Buddhism. It’s possible, though, that we’re making this harder than it needs to be. Many of these mature congregations are in a decline and virtually want to grow, but it’s probably safe to say that most of us who are their members are reluctant pioneers, not quite visionary enough to imagine the next new thing or brave enough to endure the hostility and disappointment of those who cannot change. Most of our congregations are like this, even though by now most Christians go to some other kind of congregation or just don’t go. You know the ones I mean– congregations with “parlors” and pipe organs and portrait galleries of past ministers (and carpets that can’t be spilled on and furniture that can’t be moved and relics that can’t be thrown away). August 13, 2015-These are tough times for mature congregations.