Same Circus, Different Tent: How Independent Baptists Paved the Way for Today’s Church Spectacles
- Brent Madaris
- Aug 25
- 7 min read
Updated: Sep 3
Author's Note:
This article is part of a continuing effort to call the church back to biblical simplicity, spiritual discernment, and theological clarity. It complements our earlier piece: “Games, Gimmicks, and God.” For reprint permission, contact the author.
How Independent Baptists Paved the Way for Today’s Church Spectacles
Startling Statement? Read on!
In a recent headline that has shocked and amused many, a church celebrated “Freedom Sunday” by riding motorcycles through the sanctuary.¹ The pastor straddled a Harley, the music thumped, and the crowd cheered—all under the guise of honoring liberty...and Jesus.
To many Independent Baptists, this kind of outlandish behavior is "Exhibit A" of what’s wrong with contemporary Christianity.
But we should pause before mocking the show. What if we’re looking at a louder version of our own reflection?
For more illustrations of outlandish promotion in the contemporary church, see the following:
In my research for this article, I came across service themes related to Star Trek, Batman and Robin, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and the list goes on and on...
The Gimmick Gospel: Then and Now
In the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, the Independent Baptist movement in America exploded with growth. Bus ministries filled pews. Sunday School contests brought in droves. Preachers got slimed. Clowns told Bible stories. One pastor offered a brand-new bicycle to the child who brought the most friends. Another swallowed a goldfish during revival week. These weren’t fringe stunts—they were part of the mainstream effort of some churches to build big churches, fast.
Sound familiar?
The contemporary church world has simply taken those methods and added stage lighting, smoke machines, and production budgets. The vehicle may be different, but the engine is the same: pragmatism—do whatever works to get a crowd, and justify it after the fact. Speaking of Sunday School Contests and promotions, Elmer Towns gives the following quote by a prominent pastor. This quote speaks volumes.
"I'll do anything to get people into my church so I can preach the Gospel to them...I give my people an extra incentive to invite the lost to church. I don't care what the motive is for bringing lost people to church. A man can invite the unsaved to church for the glory of God or for a prize-just so long as the lost come. I would wish that all Christians everywhere would bring the lost to church to glorify God, but I know they won't do it." (Towns 1969, 142-143)
Baptist Gimmick Hall of Fame
Here are just a few real-world examples of the kinds of extravagant promotions once popular—and still practiced by some—in many Independent Baptist churches:
Goldfish Swallowing – A preacher would eat live goldfish if the bus ministry reached a certain goal.
Pie or Slime the Pastor – Kids earned the chance to humiliate the pastor on stage after a contest or campaign.
Vacation Giveaways – Trips to Gatlinburg, the Holy Land, the beach, or Disney World were offered to the person who brought the most visitors.
Car giveaways - There are multiple documented instances of car giveaways. I was actually present in a service (visiting) when one large church announced the car giveaway.
Bicycle Bonanzas – Dozens of bikes handed out for attendance and outreach efforts.
Live Animals in Church – Pastors riding horses, donkeys, or camels into the auditorium for themed Sundays.
Cash Drops – Dollar bills falling from church balconies or tossed into crowds of bus riders.
Helicopter Egg Drops – Thousands of Easter eggs released onto a church field from a chopper.
Free Electronics – iPads, Xboxes, and other gadgets raffled off at youth rallies or outreach days.
Hot Dog and Pizza Records – Eating contests used as outreach draws and platform events.
Clown or Costume Preaching – Sermons delivered in clown suits or Bible costumes for excitement.
World Record Sundays – Longest amen, loudest shout, most people in pajamas, Largest banana split—used to make the news or go viral.
Animal Attractions – Pig races, petting zoos, and reptile shows brought in to boost attendance.
Outrageous stunts - One preacher drew a crowd by promising to preach from the roof, using the scripture“ What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops (Matthew 10:27). Another preacher once drew a massive crowd by advertising that he would walk on water. When the day came, the people gathered in anticipation, expecting to see a miracle, the preacher waded into the water, took a few steps, and of course, began to sink. He looked at the stunned crowd and reportedly said something to the effect of:“Well, since I’ve got you all here, I might as well preach!” He then launched into a Gospel sermon.
In many circles these promotions were not rare; they were expected, and they were promoted as valid means for smaller churches to grow their crowds—and in some places today, these methods still are practiced and promoted. Oh, by the way, don't critique them....You will be labeled as a critical Anti-soulwinning bum.
Pragmatism with a Steeple
Whether it’s motorcycles in the sanctuary or an iPad giveaway, the underlying philosophy is identical: If it brings people in, it must be good.
This mindset, deeply embedded in both Independent Baptist and contemporary circles, operates on visible results:
More people = more success.
Bigger crowds = bigger blessing.
High energy = high spirituality.
But this philosophy directly contradicts the pattern of Scripture. The apostles were not promoters; they were preachers. Jesus lost crowds because of His strong and truthful words (John 6:66). Paul didn’t depend on tricks—he trembled and preached Christ crucified (1 Cor. 2:1–5).
And yet, many churches have replaced simplicity with spectacle. Many Independent Baptists are guilty (both historically and currently), not because of "motorcycles," but because of the same consumer-centered mindset.
The Seedbed of Modern Nonsense
It is not an overstatement to say that the Independent Baptist movement helped sow the seeds for the modern, contemporary, circus-style church. In trying to attract the lost, we often entertained them. In trying to reach children, we often resorted to a form of bribery. In the words of one preacher who spoke to me about this matter, "we gave them a hot dog, and then the church down the street stole them away with a hamburger" (or the world's longest banana split). In our zeal, we slipped from evangelism into event planning/promotion.
The result? A generation raised on cotton candy Christianity—sweet, exciting, but largely spiritually malnourished. And when these young people discovered more polished versions of the same model in evangelicalism, they simply switched tents.
Ironically, many of the loudest critics of the contemporary church scene today were trained in the very ministries that modeled gimmickry for them.² They didn’t reject the philosophy—some continue it and others have upgraded the technology and the outlandishness.
The Fallout: Shallow Disciples and Shifting Loyalties
When the church becomes a performance, people leave when the show gets old.
Young people who were “reached” with pizza, prizes, and personalities often walk away when life gets hard, temptation strikes, or no one hands them a T-shirt for showing up. Why? Because the Gospel wasn’t the main attraction—fun was.
When people leave a church that relies on hype or excitement, they don’t necessarily abandon their expectations. They just look for a better “product.” That’s why many have migrated from traditional Independent Baptist churches into slicker, louder, better-funded, more contemporary expressions of the same attractional philosophy. And others—disillusioned by the shallowness of it all—have veered toward the Reformed world, craving doctrinal depth and liturgical seriousness, even if it comes with theological baggage.
The truth is, many of the very people now leading contemporary or Reformed movements came from Independent Baptist backgrounds. They didn’t invent the gimmick culture—they graduated from it.
Recovering a Biblical Philosophy of Ministry
The answer is not to imitate the world more cleverly or complain more loudly. It is to return to the simplicity and power of the early church.
“And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42).
Notice what’s absent: gimmicks, giveaways, and theatrics. The early church grew because the Spirit of God worked through the Word of God in the lives of the people of God. That’s the model.
We must rebuild around:
Preaching that exalts Christ, not the preacher.
Prayer that believes in God’s power, not marketing schemes.
Worship that focuses on God’s glory, not crowd approval.
Outreach that models the first-century method, and not whatever the contemporary one is.
Discipleship that shapes lives, not just fills seats.
Same Circus, Different Tent
We criticize their motorcycles, but we once praised (and sometimes still use) our moon bounces.
We mock their stage shows, but we used to (and sometimes still do) host “High Attendance Sunday” with carnival booths and dunk-tanks in the parking lot.
Before we shake our heads, we must search our hearts. The modern mess didn’t come from nowhere. We helped create it. And if we’re not careful, we’ll just replicate it—on a smaller budget, with different graphics than our predecessors and contemporary churches.
Let us repent of spectacle-driven ministry and rediscover the beauty of faithful, Spirit-filled, Bible-saturated church life.
Because the church is not a circus—it’s the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15).
_________________________
Protestia Staff, “Church Drives Motorbikes Through the Sanctuary for ‘Freedom Sunday,’” Protestia, June 30, 2025, https://protestia.com/2025/06/30/church-drives-motorbikes-through-the-sanctuary-for-freedom-sunday/.
For a historical reflection on promotional methods in the IFB movement, see Elmer Towns, The Ten Largest Sunday Schools and What Makes Them Grow (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1969).
I realize that many Independent Baptists have been trained to avoid non-Independent Baptist authors. At the same time, very few Independent Baptists have written about the history of the movement, and none are recognized as formal, academic histories. Most existing accounts are anecdotal, promotional, or focused on individual institutions. For this reason, I am pointing to a handful of conservative, Baptist, and sympathetic historians whose work helps trace where we came from and how our methods have influenced others.
David O. Beale – Taught at Bob Jones University; long-respected fundamentalist historian; sympathetic to Independent Baptist perspectives. His book In Pursuit of Purity (1986) is widely cited within the movement.
George M. Marsden – Evangelical historian who examines fundamentalism in American culture; not Independent Baptist, but widely respected in academic circles for his historical scholarship. Fundamentalism and American Culture, 2nd edition (Oxford University Press, 2006)
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