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theweaselkingPastor Ron Vanderwell of The Gathering was ready Sunday with earplugs and a message from Metallica.
Yes, the Bay Area heavy-metal band, and author of what Vanderwell posed as thought-provoking lyrics: "Broken is the promise, betrayal/ The healing hand held back by the deepened nail/ Follow the God that failed."
"These guys are not happy," he said of the group.
Metallica's lyrics provide the perfect conduit to the Bible, which offers solutions, said Vanderwell, who paralleled lyrics, such as the band's 1991 "Follow the God that Failed," with Bible verses to make his point.
Is it possible, Vanderwell asked, that God is a Metallica fan?
"'Yes, that is what I'm trying to say,' " Vanderwell said.
For three and a half years, Vanderwell has led The Gathering, a denomination of the Christian Reformed Church, which meets in the comfy confines of the Regal Cinema at Natomas Marketplace in Sacramento. A coffee bar, with bottled water and doughnuts, greets the 75 or so worshippers filing into the theater; jeans and T-shirts are OK.
Vanderwell, who looks more like he walked out of a Gap ad, instantly is at ease on the stage as he starts a Power Point presentation - complete with sound - on the giant screen, beginning with a photo of the current band members.
"This is what happens when kids are too old for the Vienna Boys Choir," he joked.
Yes, the Bay Area heavy-metal band, and author of what Vanderwell posed as thought-provoking lyrics: "Broken is the promise, betrayal/ The healing hand held back by the deepened nail/ Follow the God that failed."
"These guys are not happy," he said of the group.
Metallica's lyrics provide the perfect conduit to the Bible, which offers solutions, said Vanderwell, who paralleled lyrics, such as the band's 1991 "Follow the God that Failed," with Bible verses to make his point.
Is it possible, Vanderwell asked, that God is a Metallica fan?
"'Yes, that is what I'm trying to say,' " Vanderwell said.
For three and a half years, Vanderwell has led The Gathering, a denomination of the Christian Reformed Church, which meets in the comfy confines of the Regal Cinema at Natomas Marketplace in Sacramento. A coffee bar, with bottled water and doughnuts, greets the 75 or so worshippers filing into the theater; jeans and T-shirts are OK.
Vanderwell, who looks more like he walked out of a Gap ad, instantly is at ease on the stage as he starts a Power Point presentation - complete with sound - on the giant screen, beginning with a photo of the current band members.
"This is what happens when kids are too old for the Vienna Boys Choir," he joked.