Editor's note: We recently posted a Leadership Weekly Q-and-A with a church leader who developed a children's ministry program utilizing characters and concepts from the Harry Potter book series. At issue is the use of pop culture as a means of sharing the gospel. Given the inclusion of the young wizard, we expected to receive letters, and we did. Some focused on the witchcraft angle; most addressed the issue of culture and evangelism. (One suggests an open bar as a means of drawing a crowd to church!) Read on for a sampling we're calling "Harry Potter and the Half-baked Rants."

The idea of the Vanguard church using the popularity of Harry Potter as an opportunity to reach the community is an exciting one. … As a youth minister in the 70's, we used Halloween barns with scary scenes as a part of the activities and no one thought a thing about it in our community. Just try one now and some [Christians] will release the attack dogs on you! Congratulations for making a difference by ...