Jenny Seay

It's a Sunday evening and the auditorium at South Barrington's Willow Creek Community Church is crammed with twentysomethings. They've gotten together to take part in Axis, Willow Creek's youth-oriented religious service.

To kick things off, a five-piece band takes the stage, and the lead singer makes eye contact with the audience. "God wants to meet with us, so we can have a powerful experience with him."

There's no irony in this statement, and as the band begins to play it becomes apparent that these kids are genuinely excited about the forthcoming service. Some wave their arms, swaying palms facing outward, others bob their heads in time with the Creed-esque worship hymns, mouthing the lyrics as they are flashed on two large screens flanking the stage.

When the song ends and Pastor Darren Whitehead takes the stage, everyone settles into their seats, and an uncomfortable hush falls over the crowd. Everyone has been forewarned that today's sermon will feature two guest pastors, California-based Mike Foster and Craig Gross, who have come all the way from the West Coast to talk about Porn Sunday.

Foster is the first to come front and center. He's neat and preppy, sporting a shorn head, as well as jeans and a plaid shirt that wouldn't be out of place at Abercrombie and Fitch. Gross, on the other hand, personifies an indie-rock god. He takes center stage modeling shaggy hair and a skinny white tie--appealing to the urban hipster contingent within the Axis congregation. The two are politely received by the audience, who spend the next forty minutes hearing why these men have made the porn industry the object of an aggressive religious crusade.

"I was in the shower talking to God one morning," Foster explains. "I said, God, how can we work together on something to make the world a better place? And he responded with one word. Porn."

Gross continues Foster's anecdote, talking about how his friend recruited him to help take on the porn industry, and how they founded the website, XXXchurch.com with the hopes of providing a resource and support system for people who felt that their lives were being dominated by the sex industry. The Axis audience listens with rapt attention, especially when the pastors shift gears and dole out suggestions for keeping pornography from interfering with their own lives.

"It's time you said, God, I want to experience this life more abundantly," Gross insists. He asks everyone with porn problems to confess their sins, and the resident five-piece takes the stage again as everyone rises, to sing the sinfulness out of their systems. (Jenny Seay)

(2005-10-18)

Also by Jenny Seay

Lords of the Ring
Wrestling is an art of illusion--professional wrestling, done right, gives the illusion that someone is getting torn apart limb from limb
(2005-10-11)

Silver Hairs and Super Villians
There's a lot of noise seeping from the closed double doors of Comfort Suites O'Hare's ballroom, and none of it sounds very pleasant
(2005-09-13)

Stalking Jerome
I unroll the passenger window of Sarah's red Ford Festiva, craning my neck to make out the numbers marking each brick bungalow we roll past
(2005-07-26)

Personal paparazzi
It's no secret that the lives of celebrities are constantly monitored
(2005-02-22)

Just do it
(2004-09-14)

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