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Boston Globe
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
A mini megachurch is slowly taking over the Liberty Tree Mall
People mingled outside Netcast. Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff No one ever guesses it's a church, let alone a church that now fills a huge chunk of the innards of the mall, hosting 1,000 people during two services on a typical Sunday. Its membership is growing so rapidly that Netcast recently leased a third storefront to create overflow seating for people who couldn't fit into the main church. If you find it weird for a booming 'mini' megachurch to be located in a mall across from an arcade that just has claw machines, Matt Chewning, the church's founder and lead pastor, would agree with you. But he would also tell you it's working. Advertisement 'It's been amazing to see people rolling into Marshalls to return something and suddenly finding themselves checking out our church,' he said. Others find their way into the coffee shop, asking about what's going on. 'It happens every week. A large part of our church has simply stumbled in.' Netcast — think casting a net, a reference to a story from the Gospel of Matthew — has been around since 2010, when Chewning, a former college basketball player, started preaching out of his Beverly home. Netcast is a Christian church, but unaffiliated with any denomination, and intentionally laid-back. This isn't the kind of church where people show up in their 'Sunday best'; Chewning is fond of preaching in a T-shirt and sneakers. Advertisement Pastor Matt Chewning delivered his sermon on a recent Sunday. Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff Chewning first had the idea to move his church into the mall when he walked out of the AMC one day in 2018, noticed a store with the ridiculous name 'Kids 4 Less,' and kind of joked to himself that they'd let anyone in there. At the time, Netcast was searching hard for a place to move the church, after a long run at Briscoe Middle School in Beverly, which began in 2012. When the middle school moved into an And why not the the opposite of claustrophobia, you can find it quickly on the walk down the Olympic-length walled-in corridor that leads to Kohl's. That's because the mall is structured around big box retailers such as Target, Best Buy, and Total Wine & More that you enter directly from the parking lot, rather than the mall proper. Chewning knows all about how important a mall can be for building community. He's 42 and grew up in New Jersey when its mall culture was the stuff of legend, and it's not like Netcast is the first church to set up in a mall. Just across Route 114 at the Advertisement It took 18 months to build out the main church, which has 350 seats and is entered through the coffee shop, and on March 12, 2020, Netcast received its certificate of occupancy. It never got the chance to hold a service before the world shut down. The mall it returned to after COVID was more tumbleweedy. The movie theater was doing nowhere near its former numbers, and the food court became barren. Yet Netcast thrived by betting on two things: people were looking for a church that didn't feel like a church; and Pastor Matt Chewning called his wife Beth Chewning up to the stage to acknowledge her on Mother's Day during a service. Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff Chewning gives off the vibe of a cocky ex-hooper but has an earnest self-deprecation to his conversations and his preaching, leaning more toward the questions he's asking himself than the answers he's found. He came to Christianity somewhat accidentally, after he was recruited to play basketball at Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy. He said he had zero interest in religion, but he was surprised to find himself drawn to a group of fellow students at the Christian college who were committed believers, including his soon-to-be wife Beth. He went all in quickly, and after college, when he and Beth were living in North Carolina with their four children, he felt called to start a church of his own, affiliated with nothing except the Bible. Advertisement To accomplish that goal, the couple set their sites on a return to Massachusetts, which they describe as 'under-reached.' In 2010, a 27-year-old Matt Chewning held the first Netcast service in the living room of their home for 30 people he met on Facebook. His message, and Netcast itself, has been under construction ever since, by design. 'Other churches tell you what they believe and want you to adopt those beliefs. We think it's a process, and we want people to feel comfortable being in process.' Chewning said the mall, like the elementary school before it, was a perfect fit for his style of church, because he always wanted it to feel like it was in the center of a community, not tucked away on the outskirts. But even he has been surprised by the growth of the church since moving into the mall. 'We didn't move in thinking it was some marketing idea of 'Location, location, location.' It was never about growth. It was about having enough space for the people we had. And now . . . we just don't have enough seats.' A woman followed along with the Bible reading from the overflow room at Netcast. Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff Chewning said he's in talks with the mall about building a 1,000-seat auditorium. Already, Netcast is hosting Sunday school-type classes in two of the theaters at AMC, and it just opened the 200-seat overflow room, where people can watch the main service on a video feed. Chewning always tells everyone the church is about Jesus, and the rest they try to keep simple. 'People don't have a problem with Jesus, they have a problem with churches,' he said. 'Even the word 'church' comes with all sorts of baggage. We don't hide that we're a church, but it's not on the door.' Advertisement Chewning said the church has a loose congregation of about 2,000 people and that typically half of them come to church on a Sunday. (There are services at 9 and 11 a.m.) And Netcast, as well as nontraditional churches like it, are growing in an era in which Claire Simmons prayed during a worship song at Netcast, inside the Liberty Tree Mall in Danvers, on May 11. Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff So what is a Netcast service? On a recent Sunday, the 11 a.m. service began, as usual, with a full-on concert, a 40-minute set performed by three guitarists, a drummer, a keyboardist, and two singers, working their way through several modern Christian rock songs while a multimedia display accompanied them on the giant screens that ring the stage. When Chewning finally swaggered on, carrying an iPad and a Bible, he was wearing white Reeboks and a baggy T-shirt that read 'Living Testimony.' He preached for nearly 50 minutes on a theme of ' It's a new concept of 'church' for a new age. And it's all happening inside the Liberty Tree Mall, next door to a Five Below, for an audience that was on its way somewhere else and instead found a church — and then kept coming back. The Quadros-Lopez family, of Peabody, left the Liberty Tree Mall after attending a Netcast church service. Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff Billy Baker can be reached at
Herald Malaysia
22-05-2025
- General
- Herald Malaysia
Full text: Catechesis of Pope Leo's first general audience
God sows His Word on all hearts, trusting it will grow — hope rooted in His mercy and love, even through life's struggles May 22, 2025 Pope Leo XIV waves as he arrives for his first weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) This is the text of the catechesis and appeal from Pope Leo XIV's first general audience, given May 21, in the Paul VI brothers and sisters, I am pleased to welcome you in this, my first general Audience. Today, I will resume the cycle of Jubilee catecheses, on the theme 'Jesus Christ Our Hope', initiated by Pope Francis. Let us continue today to meditate on the parables of Jesus, which help us to regain hope, because they show us how God works in history. Today I would like to dwell on a parable which is somewhat peculiar, because it is a sort of introduction to all the parables. I refer to that of the sower (cf. Mt. 13:1-17). In a certain sense, in this account we can recognize Jesus' way of communicating, which has a great deal to teach us for proclaiming the Gospel today. Every parable tells a story that is taken from everyday life, yet wants to tell us something more, to refer us to a deeper meaning. The parable raises questions in us; it invites us not to stop at appearances. Before the story that is told or the image that is presented to me, I can ask myself: where am I in this story? What does this image say to my life? In fact, the term 'parable' comes from the Greek verb paraballein, which means to throw in front of. The parable throws before me a word that provokes me and prompts me to question myself. The parable of the sower talks precisely about the dynamic of the word of God and the effects it produces. Indeed, every word of the Gospel is like a seed that is thrown on the ground of our life. Jesus uses the image of the seed many times, with different meanings. In chapter 13 of the Gospel of Matthew, the parable of the sower introduces a series of other short parables, some of which talk precisely about what is happening on the terrain: the wheat and the weeds, the mustard seed, the treasure hidden in the field. What, then, is this soil? It is our heart, but it is also the world, the community, the Church. The word of God, in fact, makes fruitful and provokes every reality. At the beginning, we see Jesus who leaves the house and gathers a great crowd around him (cf. Mt. 13:1). His word fascinates and intrigues. Among the people there are obviously many different situations. The word of Jesus is for everyone, but it works in each person in a different way. This context allows us to understand better the meaning of the parable. A rather unusual sower goes out to sow, but does not care where the seed falls. He throws the seeds even where it is unlikely they will bear fruit: on the path, on the rocks, among the thorns. This attitude surprises the listener and induces him to ask: how come? We are used to calculating things – and at times it is necessary – but this does not apply in love! The way in which this 'wasteful' sower throws the seed is an image of the way God loves us. Indeed, it is true that the destiny of the seed depends also on the way in which the earth welcomes it and the situation in which it finds itself, but first and foremost in this parable Jesus tells us that God throws the seed of his Word on all kinds of soil, that is, in any situation of ours: at times we are more superficial and distracted, at times we let ourselves get carried away by enthusiasm, sometimes we are burdened by life's worries, but there are also times when we are willing and welcoming. God is confident and hopes that sooner or later the seed will blossom. This is how he loves us: he does not wait for us to become the best soil, but he always generously gives us his word. Perhaps by seeing that he trusts us, the desire to be better soil will be kindled in us. This is hope, founded on the rock of God's generosity and mercy. In telling the way in which the seed bears fruit, Jesus is also talking about his life. Jesus is the Word, he is the Seed. And the seed, to bear fruit, must die. Thus, this parable tells us that God is ready to 'waste away' for us and that Jesus is willing to die in order to transform our life. I have in mind that beautiful painting by Van Gogh, The sower at sunset. That image of the sower in the blazing sun also speaks to me of the farmer's toil. And it strikes me that, behind the sower, Van Gogh depicted the grain already ripe. It seems to me an image of hope: one way or another, the seed has borne fruit. We are not sure how, but it has. At the centre of the scene, however, is not the sower, who stands to the side; instead, the whole painting is dominated by the image of the sun, perhaps to remind us that it is God who moves history, even if he sometimes seems absent or distant. It is the sun that warms the clods of earth and makes the seed ripen. Dear brothers and sisters, in what situation of life today is the Word of God reaching us? Let us ask the Lord for the grace always to welcome this seed that is His Word. And if we realize we are not a fruitful soil, let us not be discouraged, but let us ask him to work on us more to make us become a better terrain. Appeal of the Holy Father The situation in the Gaza Strip is increasingly worrying and painful. I renew my heartfelt appeal to allow the entry of dignified humanitarian aid and to put an end to the hostilities, the heart-rending price of which is being paid by children, the elderly and the
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Defense contractor Palantir says a ‘massive cultural shift in the U.S.' has justified 20 years of thankless toil. ‘We were the freak show … and we spent 20 years for this moment'
Palantir CEO Alex Karp is feeling vindicated as corporate America warms up to his company's flagship AI offering and revenues from its bread-and-butter government work continue to increase in the DOGE era. Karp is known for his brazen and philosophical commentary, but it doesn't appear to have gotten in the way of results. Palantir's commitment to serving U.S. military and intelligence agencies long made it an outlier in Silicon Valley. For years, CEO Alex Karp recalled on the company's first-quarter earnings call Monday, potential private-sector clients shied away from doing business with the upstart defense contractor and its quixotic chief executive. But now, as chief technology officer Shyam Sankar noted on the call, companies like AIG, Citi, BP, Hertz, and fellow defense firm L3Harris are touting their gains from using Palantir's flagship Artificial Intelligence Platform, or AIP, to investors. Meanwhile, when it comes to the company's bread and butter, management—along with plenty of investors and Wall Street analysts—believes Palantir is perfectly suited to capitalize on efforts to cut federal spending and streamline government contracting. 'We were the freak show,' Karp said. 'And we spent 20 years for this moment.' It's not hard to see why he feels vindicated. The company's U.S. revenue in Q1 grew 55% year over year and 13% from last quarter to $628 million. Even after Palantir's highly priced shares fell sharply after the earnings call, the stock is still up roughly 330% in the past year. Karp, who cofounded the company with Peter Thiel, Stephen Cohen, and Joe Lonsdale in 2004, has become famous for his brazen and philosophical commentary. His quarterly letter to shareholders quoted Saint Augustine, the Gospel of Matthew, and a speech from Richard Nixon to staff on the day of his resignation in 1974. His unorthodox style, however, doesn't appear to be getting in the way of results. On Monday, Palantir raised its forward guidance, projecting revenue to grow 36% to between $3.89 billion and $3.902 billion in 2025. High expectations, however, are already baked into the stock price. Palantir shares currently trade at roughly 200 times its projected earnings over the next 12 months, according to estimates from S&P Capital IQ, compared with a forward P/E ratio of just over 20 for the S&P 500. That helps explain why the stock was down about 13% as of midday Tuesday, but shares are still up over 40% this year compared with the S&P's 4% decline. Poised for the era of AI and DOGE Mariana Pérez Mora, a VP of equity research in aerospace and defense at Bank of America, has called Palantir an 'overnight AI success 20 years in the making.' Karp echoed a similar message on Monday, citing a 'massive cultural shift in the U.S.' amid corporate America's embrace of the company's offerings. U.S. commercial revenue hit $255 million, soaring 71% compared with the same quarter last year and up 19% from the final quarter of 2024.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Defense contractor Palantir says a ‘massive cultural shift in the U.S.' has justified 20 years of thankless toil. ‘We were the freak show … and we spent 20 years for this moment'
Palantir CEO Alex Karp is feeling vindicated as corporate America warms up to his company's flagship AI offering and revenues from its bread-and-butter government work continue to increase in the DOGE era. Karp is known for his brazen and philosophical commentary, but it doesn't appear to have gotten in the way of results. Palantir's commitment to serving U.S. military and intelligence agencies long made it an outlier in Silicon Valley. For years, CEO Alex Karp recalled on the company's first-quarter earnings call Monday, potential private-sector clients shied away from doing business with the upstart defense contractor and its quixotic chief executive. But now, as chief technology officer Shyam Sankar noted on the call, companies like AIG, Citi, BP, Hertz, and fellow defense firm L3Harris are touting their gains from using Palantir's flagship Artificial Intelligence Platform, or AIP, to investors. Meanwhile, when it comes to the company's bread and butter, management—along with plenty of investors and Wall Street analysts—believes Palantir is perfectly suited to capitalize on efforts to cut federal spending and streamline government contracting. 'We were the freak show,' Karp said. 'And we spent 20 years for this moment.' It's not hard to see why he feels vindicated. The company's U.S. revenue in Q1 grew 55% year over year and 13% from last quarter to $628 million. Even after Palantir's highly priced shares fell sharply after the earnings call, the stock is still up roughly 330% in the past year. Karp, who cofounded the company with Peter Thiel, Stephen Cohen, and Joe Lonsdale in 2004, has become famous for his brazen and philosophical commentary. His quarterly letter to shareholders quoted Saint Augustine, the Gospel of Matthew, and a speech from Richard Nixon to staff on the day of his resignation in 1974. His unorthodox style, however, doesn't appear to be getting in the way of results. On Monday, Palantir raised its forward guidance, projecting revenue to grow 36% to between $3.89 billion and $3.902 billion in 2025. High expectations, however, are already baked into the stock price. Palantir shares currently trade at roughly 200 times its projected earnings over the next 12 months, according to estimates from S&P Capital IQ, compared with a forward P/E ratio of just over 20 for the S&P 500. That helps explain why the stock was down about 13% as of midday Tuesday, but shares are still up over 40% this year compared with the S&P's 4% decline. Poised for the era of AI and DOGE Mariana Pérez Mora, a VP of equity research in aerospace and defense at Bank of America, has called Palantir an 'overnight AI success 20 years in the making.' Karp echoed a similar message on Monday, citing a 'massive cultural shift in the U.S.' amid corporate America's embrace of the company's offerings. U.S. commercial revenue hit $255 million, soaring 71% compared with the same quarter last year and up 19% from the final quarter of 2024.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Granderson: Taxpayer money for a church school? We know where that leads
For today's sermon on courage, I would like the church to open their King James Bibles to Matthew 27:24: 'When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.' While Pontius Pilate knew Jesus was an innocent man, the Roman governor authorized his crucifixion in large part because he was afraid of appearing disloyal to Caesar and losing power. The constitutional crisis our country currently finds itself in may be new to America, but as we see in the Gospel of Matthew, the wreckage caused by political expediency began in ancient times. Which brings us to St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, a proposed online faith-based charter school in Oklahoma that is seeking public funding, a decision to be determined by the U.S. Supreme Court this year. Last summer, the state's Supreme Court rejected the contract St. Isidore had with Oklahoma. However, Gov. Kevin Stitt objected, saying in a statement, 'I'm concerned we've sent a troubling message that religious groups are second-class participants in our education system.' Now, let me tell you what I'm concerned with: the 2019 audits by the Catholic Church in Oklahoma that found abuse allegations against 22 clerics to be substantiated. Alleged predators responsible for the care of children were systemically transferred by superiors from state to state from 1960 until 2018. 'The long and the short of it is you trusted us, and we failed,' Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley wrote in a public letter following the reports. 'I also am sorry for the complicity and negligence of those who failed to respond adequately to reports of abuse, for whatever reason, whether they are bishops, priests, deacons, religious or lay persons representing the Church.' While Catholic leaders in Oklahoma were applauded for acknowledging past failures, that did not protect the church from facing millions in lawsuits over those allegations and others. In fact, in 2022, 10 current and former students filed a $75-million lawsuit accusing Mount St. Mary Catholic High School in Oklahoma City of fostering 'a rape culture,' saying the school 'did not take reasonable steps to report or stop the rampant rape culture and ongoing sexual abuse.' A federal judge dismissed the case in 2023 because the statute of limitations had run out — not ruling on the merits of the allegations. These are just recent headlines from one state. From 2004-23, the Catholic Church paid more than $5 billion to settle sexual abuse cases tracked by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and certain U.S. religious communities. Whatever else you take from those examples and statistics, this much is clear: The Catholic Church isn't hurting for cash. I can't help but wonder why on Earth taxpayer money would be needed to fund Catholic schools. It's not that I'm against faith-based education. My son attended a private Christian school. But I am against any attempt to tear down the wall between church and state. Just turn to the example of Pontius Pilate to see what can happen when secular power tries to exert control over religious life. History is full of enough evidence to warn us away from this mingling. We don't need a test case in Oklahoma to prove the point. In 1534, when England's Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy, King Henry VIII became the supreme head of the Church of England, breaking with the papacy. Because Henry wanted to divorce his first wife, the pope's rule had become … inconvenient. The king pressured English church officials who knew better into making him the religious leader as well as the monarch. And when Henry's second wife did not produce a male heir, he had her executed so he could marry a third woman. He faced no consequences. Why? Political expediency. Parliament washed its hands of the controversy, because lawmakers could tell themselves the king was above the law and above the church. And as with Pontius Pilate, history shows the attempt to sidestep accountability was futile. The people who founded the United States were trying to leave behind that entanglement and corruption. They embraced the 1st Amendment to keep the government out of religious life and to keep religion out of government. For taxpayers to fund a religious school would pull us back toward tyranny. This week White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said he wanted the country's children to 'be taught to love America.' I agree. And that begins with protecting America from becoming a theocracy. @LZGranderson If it's in the news right now, the L.A. Times' Opinion section covers it. Sign up for our weekly opinion newsletter. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
