I think the reason a lot of Catholics find this sort of thing like the Curt Jester posts about - a "church" with movies, video games, and comedians - so bizarre is that people talk about it in terms of church and going to church.
This is in part because that's what they call it - they use our word, "church" - and this word, for Catholics, calls to mind everything that we mean by "church," such a richness and depth of meaning and levels of meaning that it would take a good long essay to begin to do it justice, and a good long book would not be able to exhaust the topic. However, from my observation and mulling over it, it seems that for a great many Protestants, when they say the word "church," what they are saying could best be described in contemporary Catholic-speak as "Bible study on steroids." Think about it for a minute. If I'm not right in every particular, you have to admit at least that I'm onto something. This also helps explain why it is hard for many Protestants to understand what the Church is and the Mass is, because although the Scriptures are foundational to the Church, the Church is not at base a big Bible study group, and although the Mass is incredibly Bible-licious (as you can see if you are knowledgeable enough of Scripture and open-minded enough), neither is the Mass at its root a Bible Study session.
So how about a thought experiment? When you hear about one of these strange things, instead of thinking about it as a pseudo-Mass or a Church church, think of it in terms of an unconventional Bible study, or para-liturgical or devotional activity and then ask yourself if it works or not.
To be sure, the fault (generally unintentional) of Protestants is that there is a Mass-shaped hole in their spiritual lives and they are trying (with the best of intentions) to fill it with Bible study, devotion, and para-liturgy. We (through no merit or worth on our own part) have the Mass, but I think we have to ask ourselves if in our own spiritual lives if we short ourselves on these other things just because we have the Sacraments.
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