The 'What's Going on Here?' Appeal of Opening Day

As I was walking through the Boston Common this weekend, I came across a man with rolled up sleeves preaching the gospel of Christ from the steps of the big water fountain next to Park Street. Considering I didn't have the intention to go inside a church on Sunday, I kind of appreciated that a man understood my lack of religious zeal and used part of his afternoon to bring the church to me. That's just the out of the church thinking needed to resurrect a movement among young people. [It's also an interesting lesson on how you get your start as a preacher in life. Don't have a pulpit? Stand on a public fountain. Don't have a faithful congregation? Direct your sermon towards the people sitting on park benches. Don't have a commanding stage presence? Go bald and pump your fist a lot. People listen attentively to bald men with charisma.]

While life was going on all around him (skateboarding, hot dog eating, dog walking, heckling), he was focused on breathing life into the people. In essence, he was doing what the 2007-2008 CY corps will be doing Friday afternoon on Opening Day. Yes, the message is different, but the means to capture the public's imagination is similar. So, too, is the response of the average citizen.

Progression of thought of a passerby coming across a strange public spectacle:

Stage 1: "I have no idea why they are doing what they are doing, but I can't look away." When khaki-pleated young people come charging from all corners with corporate sponsor signs, you really can't look away. Just like I couldn't look away from the bald preacher who kept referring to a single sheet of loose leaf paper clothes-pinned to the music sheet stand in front of him. From the looks of the beads of sweat, I would say he had done a good 20 minutes of material by the time I saw him. Yet, he kept referring to that sheet of paper. How many talking points can you really fit on one side of loose leaf?

Stage 2: The attempt to understand and accept the message. Orchestrating a big public event has a lot of moving pieces and many central messages. That's why it's important to have phrases like "If you remember nothing else from today's event.." or "If you take nothing else from our time together..." From CY Opening Day, I always remember that Charlie Rose's suit is due back by five o'clock (Mayor's stock joke that I laugh at every year, but probably not the key message). People don't want to walk away until they grasp the central message. But people also have no attention span and they need clues that something live changing is going to be said. The fountain preacher did this well. His key message: "If you remember nothing else, remember this: those who believe will not be condemned." Come to think of it, he used a variation of that phrase for ten minutes but consistently changed the order of the words. That solves the mystery of the one sheet of notes.

Stage 3. "You know, I respect what they are doing, but I'm ready to get lunch now." In the world of civics and mobilizing citizens, this is the rub. Lunchtime has high foot traffic, but the pursuit of food trumps pretty much any cause or civic interest. I ultimately left the preacher standing on the fountain because his spiritual nourishment couldn't compete with a roast beef sandwich. Sure, that sounds lame, but let this be a lesson to all future preachers and civic engagers: if you provide food, your followers will grow.