Why would anyone attend a Megachurch?

Authority & Power, Clergy, Commitment & Belonging, Conservative & Evangelical Churches, Culture Frame, Megachurches, Participant Observation, Process Frame, Ritual & Worship

Question:  Why would anyone attend a Megachurch? It just seems to be about hype and money and the pastor promoting himself. That’s not what church should be about. I never expected to become an apologist for the Megachurch when I began my research years ago, but I’ve been shocked by the extent to which people…

Lower Denominational Control: Effects of Changing Church Forms

Authority & Power, Conservative & Evangelical Churches, Denominations, Mainline & Liberal Protestant Churches, Megachurches, Process Frame, Surveys

Mark Chaves’ 2011 book, American Religion: Contemporary Trends, outlines a number of ways in which denominations have less and less control over individual congregations: 1 in 5 religious congregations in the United States are now unaffiliated (Chaves 2011). Moreover, 1 in 5 people who attend church attend congregations that are unaffiliated. This is a change…