A Philadelphia-based pastor has set out to bridge the gap between church enthusiasts and Harry Potter fans by creating a sermon series which draws on inspiration from J.K. Rowling’s cultural phenomenon, Faith Wire reported.
The eight-week long series invites people who might not be so inclined to attend church sermons to come out and see just how particular scenes from their favorite Harry Potter books fit into teachings from the Bible.
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Leverington Presbyterian Church Pastor Langdon Palmer created the series in an effort to attract a larger, more diverse audience.
“I’ve always had a heart for trying to reach folks outside the church,” he said. “So, I thought it might be a way to build a bridge and introduce people to the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
However, the pastor didn’t just suddenly spring this new sermon series onto his congregation.
Instead, he first brought it before his church elders to seek their wisdom, which he said was “crucial” before going forward with his Harry Potter plans.
He also feared critics would accuse him of making light of the Bible, considering his history with his own faith.
For the first half of his life, Palmer was an atheist and didn’t actually become an active Christian until well into adulthood.
In an interview with Fox News , he admitted he knew there would be two groups who could be most critical of the series:
“Hardcore Harry Potter fans who think you’re going to steal it and make it mean something it’s not meant to mean, and then there’s Christians who are like ‘Why are you talking about something that talks about magic and witchcraft in church? Aren’t you trivializing the gospel?'”
However, Palmer knew this series would work to create a common ground of sorts for believers and non-believers.
So, with the approval of the church elders, he went ahead with his planned sermons, even stringing an eye-catching banner out front of the church that proudly displays the title of the series: “Harry Potter meets Jesus: Encountering the Gospel in unexpected places.”
The 8-week series first began on May 12 with the “Lily Potter, Aunt Petunia, and Mrs. Weasley” sermon.
That one in particular looked at “Raising our kids, encountering courage, loyal friendship, and self-sacrificial love.”
Since then, other sermons have included “How to deal with Dementors and a woman called Dolores Umbridge,” “Platform 9 3/4” and “The Gospel according to Severus Snape.”
Each sermon in the series takes pieces of the “Harry Potter” universe and relates them to the Gospel.
A clip from one of the movies is shown, and then Palmer dives into his sermon on what that clip shows and how it can be related back to God and His teachings.
“I think J.K. Rowling really gets the human condition,” Palmer said. “You get these profound and moving scenes that depict what it’s like to experience prejudice, rejection, or being misunderstood…I went from a total skeptic to having the last book pre-ordered on Amazon.”
He added, “It’s probably the most significant, cultural relic of our generation. Whether people like it or hate it, it’s everywhere,”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the series has led to an increase in church attendance every week.
In fact, Palmer said he has seen attendance go up 10 to 20 percent since the first sermon in May.
The church is located in an area predominately occupied by people in their early to mid-30s, who Palmer explained likely grew up reading the Harry Potter book series as well as watching the films.
The responses to the sermon series have been mostly positive, though there have, of course, been some criticisms.
“Overall the Christian response has been mainly positive,” he said. “Most of the negative comments are from secular people who think that I am stealing Harry Potter .”
This also isn’t the first time Palmer has brought his love for pop culture into his church teachings.
In the past he has also delivered several sermon series based on Lord of the Rings , as well as a few different series on the Narnia tales and another on The Great Divorce. “
h/t: Faith Wire , Fox News
