Mall would be better with some soul
The torture is coming, and theres absolutely nothing
I can do to stop it. At some point this holiday season, I will have to enter the
great memorial to money and spend every cent in my pocket. While
this will make me sober, it also will contribute to the well-being
of many relatives and friends. In Minnesota, we have many memorials to money. There are the
Dales Ridgedale, Rosedale, Southdale as well as
a whole bunch of other malls that dont quite measure up
to Dale status. But we also have one giant center of retail commerce, the Mall
of America, which is touted as one of the largest malls in the
world. A mall in Canada may be larger by a shop or two, but Minnesotas
Megamall is the real big deal. You can enter the Mall of America in the morning and walk in
and out of shops until evening. Then the entertainment section
beckons, and you can boogie until morning. In all that time, you
might never have to face your inner being or those spiritual fibers
that march you along from birth to death. Sure, you might run
into one religious store, a Catholic shop that sells all manner
of help for the faithful. But if you dont like what it sells,
you can leave and never come back. In a big mall, its simple
to avoid anything remotely connected to faith. Youve probably experienced some of this soulless shopping.
We trudge along, pilgrims dedicated to consumption, with no thought
of how this will rot our souls or shrivel our chakras. But hope is not all lost. Two local guys have been working
for years to bring some meaning to the big mall experience. Delton
Krueger, a retired United Methodist pastor, and John Chell, a
retired Lutheran pastor, might not be the most exciting men at
the mall, but they are determined. Together they have been massaging the environment, forming
committees, contacting shop owners and making their presence known
to store and mall managers at the Mall of America. Patient fellows
of good cheer, they are winning the battle, albeit slowly. Early next year, they will open a kiosk at a prime location
in the Mall of America. The electronic kiosk will feature a powerful
computer with a touch-screen system that will reveal all the congregations
in the Twin Cities, plus an interfaith calendar and information
about the religions of the world. To finance the kiosks
operation, the computer also will carry information about religious
products available through the Mall Area Religious Council, an
organization the two founded years ago. The kiosk, say Chell and Krueger, is the first step to the
real dream: a full-scale store, run by volunteers, that will offer
jewelry, artifacts, greeting cards, T-shirts just about
anything you could ever hope to buy as an expression of your faith.
If they ever get The Meaning Store (as it is to be called) up
and running, it will be a hit count on it. But that dream may be a couple of years off, because Chell
and Krueger will have to raise about $100,000 just to get the
merchandise together. These plans practical and spiritual
at the same time have been formulated over the years by
the Mall Area Religious Council. The trick to bringing spiritual meaning to a merchandise mall
is patience. The first rule to pay attention to is: Mall managers
want to make money. So dont get in their way. The second:
Mall managers dont want to make anyone angry. So play your
cards right, and you may capture the ear of an earnest manager. Finally, make the pitch nonspiritual. Tell them you simply
want to help the mall succeed, and if they appreciate your effort,
some rewards might bounce back to the religious people you represent.
This is an amazing opportunity to connect with thousands of people
at the most spiritual and material season of the
year for Christians. Stop complaining about the commercialization of Christmas and
instead put yourself in the mix. You know where people are heading
these days to the mall. If you arent there with them,
they might miss the ultimate message.
Clark D. Morphew
Posted For December 11, 1999