Wednesday, July 08, 2009

megachurch or christian corporation?


Megachurches: huge groups of people that gather in a stadium-like setting to listen to a preacher who typically has some sort of celebrity status and typically delivers crowd-pleasing sermons.
Peter Drucker calls megachurches “the most important social phenomenon in American society in the last 30 years.”
Don't ask me if megachurches are good or evil. All I know is the first megachurch, a rented drive-in where Robert Schuller preached to hundreds sitting in their parked cars, looks a lot like entertainment. And not a lot like community. But I'm no expert: ask the folks at triple canopy, who put together an essay and slideshow detailing the parallel evolution of the megachurch and the corporation.
Perhaps the most patent aspect of all this is how deeply megachurches are rooted in a passing trend. The current business model they emulate is just that-current. And destined to be outdated by the end of the decade. Will megachurches prove to be a passing fad? Probably.

No comments: