TY - JOUR
T1 - 'In the Goofy parking lot'
T2 - Growth churches as a novel religious form for late capitalism
AU - Maddox, Marion
PY - 2012/6
Y1 - 2012/6
N2 - Literature on megachurches (Protestant churches with attendance over 2000) concentrates on numbers at the expense of an associated, but more instructive, characteristic: an overriding commitment to growth. Churches of any size can adopt a growth-oriented theology, style and organisational structure. In such churches, the growth imperative is likely to apply not only to congregational membership but also to church buildings and collection receipts; to the television ministry and other forms of outreach; to the pastor's book and CD sales; and to individual members' businesses, incomes, houses and possessions. In each dimension of religious life, at both individual and corporate level, the gospel of growth demarcates a novel Christian form, attuned to the ethos of late capitalism.
AB - Literature on megachurches (Protestant churches with attendance over 2000) concentrates on numbers at the expense of an associated, but more instructive, characteristic: an overriding commitment to growth. Churches of any size can adopt a growth-oriented theology, style and organisational structure. In such churches, the growth imperative is likely to apply not only to congregational membership but also to church buildings and collection receipts; to the television ministry and other forms of outreach; to the pastor's book and CD sales; and to individual members' businesses, incomes, houses and possessions. In each dimension of religious life, at both individual and corporate level, the gospel of growth demarcates a novel Christian form, attuned to the ethos of late capitalism.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84862114703&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0037768612440954
DO - 10.1177/0037768612440954
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84862114703
SN - 0037-7686
VL - 59
SP - 146
EP - 158
JO - Social Compass
JF - Social Compass
IS - 2
ER -