this is not a treatise on the effects of new communication technologies in a changing culture. Instead, I investigate such phenomena from a practical level, discussing how they are perceived by and impact people in the Emerging Church in general and my respondents in particular.
the popular media, are authors of books which routinely occupy spots on bestseller lists for extended periods of time, and are well known to many people outside of their own congregations. This celebrity status is seen as consonant with the stated goals of these organizations to discover and attract new believers.
Megachurches cater explicitly to the unchurched person who may not have any routine access to religious figures (though most members come from a church-going background) and provide worship experiences and programs which are applicable to daily life, void of an abundance of religious symbols and rituals and are largely passive in nature (Thumma 1996). Sanctuaries and worship experiences deemphasize religious language and symbols both in terms of ubiquity and prominence in order to be sensitive to “seekers” and others for whom traditional religious symbols are an impediment to engagement with God. Instead of focusing on symbols and rituals, congregants are encouraged to concentrate on the message being presented from the pulpit. The
interactions between pastor and congregation typically take place in a large auditorium or on a television set as many congregations have services that are broadcast regionally or nationally. This largely passive interaction of transmitting information from the expert to the uneducated is at the heart of the megachurch worship experience (Twitchell 2004). In his study of the religious habits of the baby boomer generation, Wade Clark Roof locates the rise of this consumer model to the economic boom following WWII. The relative stability and economic success of the period freed people to internalize an identity based on consumption rather than the work and save ethic that characterized previous
generations (Roof 1999). It is no accident, then, that a form of church would rise up to take advantage of the same cultural forces which compelled the growth of an ethos of
consumerism in general (Schor and Holt 2000). Aldrich (1981) conceptualizes this approach to religion as an appeal to the “felt needs” of a community and, when coupled with shrewd marketing, can be used for a congregation to achieve rapid growth.
In this way the megachurch, despite being a modern phenomenon, has it roots in the 18th and 19th century American revivals. These movements utilized sophisticated marketing techniques taking advantage of the dominant communication technology of the time, newspapers, to promote large scale events that were a mixture of social event and religious ceremony to attract worshippers (Lambert 1994). These are not unlike the campaigns and strategies employed by modern megachurches who frequently broadcast their worship services, maintain sophisticated multimedia presences on the web, and tout the church as an all-encompassing community which functions as a social space as well as a religious space (Guinness 1993; Loveland and Wheeler 2003). These tent revivals attracted hundreds of people with the promise of good food and free entertainment in addition to religious teaching. Ultimately, however, these revivals left the structure and belief system of the church intact, merely providing a different venue and social context to do the same kinds of work that was already going on in established congregations (Finke and Stark 1992). Indeed, many revivals were sponsored by existing, local
congregations. Similarly, megachurches leave unexamined and unchallenged the implicit assumptions which underlie evangelicalism. The marketing suggests a new way to practice religion, updated for a modern audience, but the religion that is being practiced is still relatively mainstream and traditional (Pritchard 1995). The service order might be non-traditional and the pastor might not have been trained in a seminary, but the message that one can only guarantee a place in the afterlife through adherence to relatively strict
Biblical principles regarding morality and a belief in Jesus Christ as the savior are not only unchanged, but completely unquestioned. In other words, the differences between megachurches and mainstream, traditional churches do not extend much beyond size and style.
Finally, no discussion of megachurches would be complete without noting their substantial influence in social and political realms in addition to their stature in religious spheres. Although the movement was initially characterized as being particular to the Sun Belt, current research indicates the spread of megachurches to every state with the most notable recent growth located in the Midwest and Northeast (Thumma 1996).
Megachurch pastors typically eschew strong political stances, but their congregants are often united around a common value system which can be appealed to. Their sheer size then makes them highly influential in political battles. These are the evangelicals so largely credited with helping George W. Bush carry the closely contested Presidential elections of 2000 and 2004 (Denton 2005). Additionally, because these churches have come to occupy such a position of prominence in the modern religious landscape, other congregations have been compelled to take notice. The widespread use of Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Church model, which has been used by over 400,000 church leaders (Purpose Driven) and Bill Hybels’ Willow Creek Association, which consists of over 11,000 member churches (Willow Creek), and hosts events which train people to the model of church development developed by Hybels at Willow Creek Community Church, is testament to the extent to which other churches are attempting to incorporate elements of these methods if not adopt them wholesale.
The Emerging Church developed out of this religious climate. Despite the
massive and growing popularity of such congregations, some people were left unsatisfied by this manifestation of church. Although it offered an alternative to traditional worship services, it did not offer an alternative way of doing church. The Emerging Church grew out of a response to this kind of consumeristic, leader driven, “seeker-sensitive” approach to church, and as we will see in the next section, these responses dramatically shaped the structure, practice and ideology of the Emerging Church.