What Disneyland Can Teach the Church about Fun

Yes, we are those people.

Very recently, for my wife’s 40th birthday, we went on a whirlwind trip to Disneyland. It was exactly how she wanted to celebrate. Two years before, we had done the same thing for my birthday.

We left the kids at home for both trips.

But don’t worry, the whole family went to Disney World the year in-between.

We are, proudly, Disney nerds.

Oh, I know their films have been a bit lackluster lately, and I’m keenly aware that they’ve dropped the ball on some beloved franchises. But none of that changes one key thing: I love Disneyland.

Like, really love it. I’ve been hundreds of times. For six years I had a season pass and lived only a few miles away. My friends and I went a couple of times a week and it never got old. My wife’s and my first date was at Disneyland, we honeymooned in Disney World, anniversaries, birthdays, it is a genuine joy for us.

This most recent time, as I delightedly walked the jazz-filled paths near the Haunted Mansion (my personal favorite), I caught myself reflecting on something that I had noticed many times before.

Disneyland is an impressively diverse place.

I was walking past an average looking African American family, stroller holding a sleepy child, exhausted from a day of excitement. Behind them was a group of young people, probably in late teens, baggy jeans and Dodgers’ jerseys denoting them as most likely local inner-city kids, laughing as they spoke Spanish to one another. Walking beside my wife and I were multiple generations of a Caucasian family, matching shirts celebrating a family reunion, grandparents and grandchildren alike beaming with smiles.

This was a single moment.

After this, I started paying attention. We walked by all manner of people, young and old, couples with shirts saying, “I’m Her Mickey” and “I’m His Minnie”, LGBTQ folks, people speaking any number of foreign languages, a single guy who came alone just because he always wanted to go to Galaxy’s Edge (AKA Star Wars Land), southern accents, Marvel fans, Star Wars geeks, and on and on. The people were all just so different.

What is it about Disneyland that attracts so many different types of people? Why is it that, in a place that many would say is meant for children, so many people from all walks of life flock there, and do so joyfully?

More importantly, can we as the church learn anything from this? It’s no secret that we struggle to be multicultural. Many of our churches have even narrowed down to a certain demographic. We see churches aiming for families, churches almost exclusively with retirees, “trendy” churches shooting for young adults, churches separated by age, race, politics, and on and on.

Why is it so hard to be diverse?

I know that I’m being a bit unfair. A multi-billion dollar theme park and your local church compare about as well as a professional basketball stadium and your local YMCA, one a monument to entertainment, the other meant for local community engagement. Yet, at their core, they share similar goals: bring people together, have those people repeatedly visit, and let their visits be enjoyable ones.

So, what can we, as the church, learn from this? Is there something the Happiest Place on Earth can teach us?

Really, it comes down to one word: fun.

How much fun do you have in your church?

It’s strange. If we see kids in the children’s ministry or students in the youth ministry laughing and having fun, we consider it a huge success! We recognize that the combination of solid Biblical teaching with just pure joyful recreation is a great way to keep kids coming back.

But once a person moves out of youth ministry, it’s all small group Bible studies and “Big Church”. We begin to focus on discipleship, growth, and maturity, which are (of course) all vital, wonderful things, but we completely leave play behind.

What happened to the fun?

Make no mistake, these things can be fun, but it’s not their purpose to be fun. Our typical programming has the purpose of teaching and supporting and growing. Again, all good things! All wonderful, blessed things! But none of them have the sole purpose of gathering for recreation alone.

When people come from all different walks of life, typical church programming can make it very difficult to feel connected to those around you. An unmarried 25-year-old likely wouldn’t be impacted by a sermon on parenting. An elderly widow would feel very out of place in a Bible study about how David portrayed manhood. That newlywed couple are probably long past a lesson on how to love and serve bullies in school.

But fun? All of them know how to have fun. Fun is the great uniter, the universal joy. Fun is inclusive, inviting everyone around to smile with you, to laugh with you. Yes, what each person considers fun will differ, but that doesn’t mean we should ignore it once adulthood hits. Fun has something for everyone.

Disney knows this. Every inch of their park is hand-crafted for people to have fun. No wall is left blank, no spot without music, no boring views or plain events. The moment someone walks into the park, they know that a good time is coming. Young, old, married, single, everyone knows that fun is in store.

I am not, of course, suggesting that churches begin marketing themselves like a theme park. I am not suggesting that we should separate our buildings into “Young Adult Land” and “Men’s Land” and the like. And I am definitely not suggesting that we should be spending outlandish amounts of money to make our different rooms and hallways look like extravagant, immersive, themed areas. 

I’m simply suggesting that we consider how much fun our churches are. It doesn’t need to be all the time, but the church could greatly benefit if we started intentionally considering where fun would fit in our programming.

There absolutely is value in having a family board game day and specifically avoiding the “quick five-minute lesson” or the “share a quick prayer at your table”. We can play some pickup basketball without it needing to be a “Bible and Basketball” men’s group. We can even host a trading card game tournament, or a video game day, or so many other things that will just allow us to enjoy time with our brothers and sisters in Christ, no matter what walk of life they’re in.

Consider this, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17). This means that God created fun, specifically designed it for our enjoyment. To intentionally have fun within our church isn’t “adding” anything, it’s completing the holistic ideal God has for his people. It’s not just “doing life together,” as is so often said. It’s enjoying life together.

Church, let’s have fun.