Church by the Glades, the Southern Baptist Convention’s flagship circus located in Coral Springs, FL, is a 10,000-member goat farm that is known for its extravagant performances and professional renditions of profane secular music and dancing. Some of its more famous performances include the Stormtrooper Dance, Disney Medleys, and covers of Beyonce’s Freedom—and more recently, the church performed a live rendition of Kendrick Lamar’s profanity-laden N95, which is rife with obscenities, blasphemy, and objectification of women. 

Under the leadership of its lead pastor, David Hughes, the church has become a literal circus, with its acts of entertainment taking center stage—the essence of true worship and devotion is completely lost. True believers worldwide should be incensed by this distortion of the faith, as it lacks the reverence that God deserves. Were Jesus here today, he would undoubtedly express his displeasure by flipping over tables and driving out the money changers who exploit religion with this false gospel for profit.

The famous preacher Charles Spurgeon once spoke of a coming time when clowns would entertain goats instead of shepherds feeding the sheep. His insight was not prophetic, but rather a deep understanding of human nature and the doctrine of sin. But as we witness the clown show exemplified by Church by the Glades, we’re pretty sure that even Spurgeon would be astounded.

Now, Hughes has been called to lead another Florida megachurch, First Baptist Church of Ft. Lauderdale. In a move that only promises to further dilute the purity of worship, First Baptist Church of Fort Lauderdale has now welcomed the ringleader of Church by the Glades (CBG), David Hughes, into its pulpit as the 18th Lead Pastor. This approval was met with unanimous approval, a disturbing indication of the congregation’s readiness to exchange profound spiritual truth for spectacle and pageantry.

The erstwhile Lead Pastor of CBG, Hughes has spent 24 years turning a church into a circus—replete with extravagant performances, secular music, and anything that strays far from the sacred act of worship. Drawing weekly crowds of over 6,000, Hughes has been lauded for preaching the Gospel ‘creatively’—a euphemism for transforming a spiritual communion into a chaotic carnival.

First Baptist Church, a 115-year-old establishment, now seems to stand on the precipice of this same deviation. The collaboration arrangement announced between CBG and First Baptist allows shared resources but also suggests a potential bleed of CBG’s spectacle-infused style of worship into the traditionally serene sanctuary of the First Baptist.

Worse still, Hughes, who will maintain offices on both campuses, will now have the chance to extend his influence to two churches. The proximity between CBG and First Baptist Church of Fort Lauderdale opens the door to a seamless connection between the congregations—implying a likely perversion of the worship experience at both institutions.

Pastor Hughes is set to officially assume his new role at First Baptist Church of Fort Lauderdale on June 12, and one cannot help but feel a sense of foreboding. As he embarks on this new chapter of ‘spiritual leadership’ in South Florida, it is feared that the heart of worship will be increasingly lost in the cacophony of performances, renditions, and entertainment—rendering First Baptist yet another stage for a religion-meets-showbiz charade.

To think of the morning worship service on June 25, it sends chills down the spine of every true believer, who dreads the prospect of witnessing another house of God morphing into a house of irreverent entertainment. It appears that the prophetic wisdom of Charles Spurgeon—that clowns would entertain goats instead of shepherds feeding the sheep—is swiftly becoming the norm.