Pub Date : 2020-04-09DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780199827718.003.0004
J. Wellman, Katie E. Corcoran, Kate Stockly
We provide and support our definition of religion. Religion is (1) a social enactment of a desire for the ultimate. It is (2) embodied in ritual practices; (3) described by systems of symbols and beliefs; (4) developed in communal settings, and often institutionally legitimated. (5) Religion interacts and negotiates with powers and forces that are experienced as within and beyond the self and group. (6) This power or force is most often referred to as god/spirit or gods/spirits. (7) The affective experience of ritual, and the symbolic and social boundaries constructed in rites, mobilize group identity and bind the group into a moral community. Last, (8) these moral communities produce networks of solidarity, and carry the potential for tension and, more rarely, conflict and violence within and between groups.
{"title":"Defining Religion: Sacred Moral Communities","authors":"J. Wellman, Katie E. Corcoran, Kate Stockly","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780199827718.003.0004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199827718.003.0004","url":null,"abstract":"We provide and support our definition of religion. Religion is (1) a social enactment of a desire for the ultimate. It is (2) embodied in ritual practices; (3) described by systems of symbols and beliefs; (4) developed in communal settings, and often institutionally legitimated. (5) Religion interacts and negotiates with powers and forces that are experienced as within and beyond the self and group. (6) This power or force is most often referred to as god/spirit or gods/spirits. (7) The affective experience of ritual, and the symbolic and social boundaries constructed in rites, mobilize group identity and bind the group into a moral community. Last, (8) these moral communities produce networks of solidarity, and carry the potential for tension and, more rarely, conflict and violence within and between groups.","PeriodicalId":186590,"journal":{"name":"High on God","volume":"112 10","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"120826111","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-04-09DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780199827718.003.0012
J. Wellman, Katie E. Corcoran, Kate Stockly
In this chapter, we demonstrate how megachurches provide individuals with purpose through service. The genius in megachurch socialization is that it not only encourages service to others, but also conceptually roots this service as an expression of one’s “gifts.” It makes individuals feel as though their service—their gifts—are specifically and uniquely needed. Encouraging their attendees to engage in service results in a community overflowing with ministries for members and the community. Megachurches are like small towns—communities that welcome all and where every conceivable form of care is given, which includes hospital clinics for “every sinner and sickness.”
{"title":"Desire for Purpose in Service","authors":"J. Wellman, Katie E. Corcoran, Kate Stockly","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780199827718.003.0012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199827718.003.0012","url":null,"abstract":"In this chapter, we demonstrate how megachurches provide individuals with purpose through service. The genius in megachurch socialization is that it not only encourages service to others, but also conceptually roots this service as an expression of one’s “gifts.” It makes individuals feel as though their service—their gifts—are specifically and uniquely needed. Encouraging their attendees to engage in service results in a community overflowing with ministries for members and the community. Megachurches are like small towns—communities that welcome all and where every conceivable form of care is given, which includes hospital clinics for “every sinner and sickness.”","PeriodicalId":186590,"journal":{"name":"High on God","volume":"31 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124938933","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-04-09DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780199827718.003.0005
J. Wellman, Katie E. Corcoran, Kate Stockly
Megachurches are not a new phenomenon; in fact, they have been around for a long time in some form. We trace their history back to the beginning of the Christian faith and describe their trajectory through key historical figures, examining how the Wesley brothers, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, D. L. Moody, Charles Grandison Finney, Russell H. Conwell, and Aimee Semple McPherson produced and nurtured megachurch forms. We describe and argue that Christian churches, and megachurches in particular, are particularly potent in illumining American religious history, and that congregational studies reveal and explain core attributes of American social life.
{"title":"Megachurch: An American Original (Almost)","authors":"J. Wellman, Katie E. Corcoran, Kate Stockly","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780199827718.003.0005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199827718.003.0005","url":null,"abstract":"Megachurches are not a new phenomenon; in fact, they have been around for a long time in some form. We trace their history back to the beginning of the Christian faith and describe their trajectory through key historical figures, examining how the Wesley brothers, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, D. L. Moody, Charles Grandison Finney, Russell H. Conwell, and Aimee Semple McPherson produced and nurtured megachurch forms. We describe and argue that Christian churches, and megachurches in particular, are particularly potent in illumining American religious history, and that congregational studies reveal and explain core attributes of American social life.","PeriodicalId":186590,"journal":{"name":"High on God","volume":"70 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116055035","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-04-09DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780199827718.003.0010
J. Wellman, Katie E. Corcoran, Kate Stockly
In this chapter, we show how megachurches meet attendees’ desire for a reliable leader. In megachurches, for those who attend, their desire and the force of feeling, the zenith of emotional energy, is squarely centered on the megachurch pastor. We identify how the charismatic bond between the attendees and their senior pastor is solidified through the demonstration of his perceived extraordinary and ordinary qualities. Allowing followers to see their human side makes charismatic leaders more relatable, authentic, and trustworthy. The pastor is both the central figure around which most activities, and in some sense the lives of individuals, revolve, and the mouthpiece for the explicit articulation of the values, beliefs, morals, and symbols that will define the group. The pastor is the “mutual focus of attention” that contributes to binding the group together and amplifying the emotional energy experienced by attendees.
{"title":"Desire for a Reliable Leader","authors":"J. Wellman, Katie E. Corcoran, Kate Stockly","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780199827718.003.0010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199827718.003.0010","url":null,"abstract":"In this chapter, we show how megachurches meet attendees’ desire for a reliable leader. In megachurches, for those who attend, their desire and the force of feeling, the zenith of emotional energy, is squarely centered on the megachurch pastor. We identify how the charismatic bond between the attendees and their senior pastor is solidified through the demonstration of his perceived extraordinary and ordinary qualities. Allowing followers to see their human side makes charismatic leaders more relatable, authentic, and trustworthy. The pastor is both the central figure around which most activities, and in some sense the lives of individuals, revolve, and the mouthpiece for the explicit articulation of the values, beliefs, morals, and symbols that will define the group. The pastor is the “mutual focus of attention” that contributes to binding the group together and amplifying the emotional energy experienced by attendees.","PeriodicalId":186590,"journal":{"name":"High on God","volume":"17 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125728702","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-04-09DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780199827718.003.0006
J. Wellman, Katie E. Corcoran, Kate Stockly
We examine Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago as a rare example of a liberal Protestant megachurch that provides a case study of broader changes in American religion. We argue that there are four important lessons that can be learned from American religious history: (1) culture controls churches—churches are shaped by the cultural climates of their time, (2) emotion always trumps the mind—the emotional capacity of churches wins over cognitive claims, (3) leadership counts—charismatic leaders are vital for the success of churches, and (4) congregations tell the real story of what is going on in American religious culture.
{"title":"Congregations in a Time of Change","authors":"J. Wellman, Katie E. Corcoran, Kate Stockly","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780199827718.003.0006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199827718.003.0006","url":null,"abstract":"We examine Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago as a rare example of a liberal Protestant megachurch that provides a case study of broader changes in American religion. We argue that there are four important lessons that can be learned from American religious history: (1) culture controls churches—churches are shaped by the cultural climates of their time, (2) emotion always trumps the mind—the emotional capacity of churches wins over cognitive claims, (3) leadership counts—charismatic leaders are vital for the success of churches, and (4) congregations tell the real story of what is going on in American religious culture.","PeriodicalId":186590,"journal":{"name":"High on God","volume":"41 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123719499","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-04-09DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780199827718.003.0003
J. Wellman, Katie E. Corcoran, Kate Stockly
We propose an embodied choice theory, which argues that people make reasonable choices based on the needs and demands of human experience. These choices are driven by cognitive systems that rely heavily upon information that comes from the body’s affective systems including affective somatic markers attached to prior experiences. Megachurches are successful because they meet human emotional needs by providing emotionally powerful interaction rituals. These rituals satisfy people’s individual desires while merging them with the desires of the group. In particular, for many people, megachurches meet six desires: acceptance, a sense of awe, a reliable leader, deliverance, purpose, and a community in which to belong.
{"title":"Interaction Rituals and Embodied Choice Theory","authors":"J. Wellman, Katie E. Corcoran, Kate Stockly","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780199827718.003.0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199827718.003.0003","url":null,"abstract":"We propose an embodied choice theory, which argues that people make reasonable choices based on the needs and demands of human experience. These choices are driven by cognitive systems that rely heavily upon information that comes from the body’s affective systems including affective somatic markers attached to prior experiences. Megachurches are successful because they meet human emotional needs by providing emotionally powerful interaction rituals. These rituals satisfy people’s individual desires while merging them with the desires of the group. In particular, for many people, megachurches meet six desires: acceptance, a sense of awe, a reliable leader, deliverance, purpose, and a community in which to belong.","PeriodicalId":186590,"journal":{"name":"High on God","volume":"19 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131260102","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-04-09DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780199827718.003.0008
J. Wellman, Katie E. Corcoran, Kate Stockly
In this chapter, we show how megachurches meet their attendees’ desire for acceptance and belonging. It all begins with co-presence—being together at the same place and time—in an atmosphere of excitement and acceptance as one is welcomed and invited into the worship service. Megachurches have crafted particular strategies to make attendees feel welcome, which include having few barriers to entry. The entire experience is designed to require no prior knowledge and to make individuals feel comfortable. This is accomplished in part by incorporating aspects of secular culture. In this way, megachurches both embody the world (i.e., secularity), and introduce and bring out the sacred at the heart of the secular.
{"title":"Desire for Acceptance and Belonging","authors":"J. Wellman, Katie E. Corcoran, Kate Stockly","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780199827718.003.0008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199827718.003.0008","url":null,"abstract":"In this chapter, we show how megachurches meet their attendees’ desire for acceptance and belonging. It all begins with co-presence—being together at the same place and time—in an atmosphere of excitement and acceptance as one is welcomed and invited into the worship service. Megachurches have crafted particular strategies to make attendees feel welcome, which include having few barriers to entry. The entire experience is designed to require no prior knowledge and to make individuals feel comfortable. This is accomplished in part by incorporating aspects of secular culture. In this way, megachurches both embody the world (i.e., secularity), and introduce and bring out the sacred at the heart of the secular.","PeriodicalId":186590,"journal":{"name":"High on God","volume":"8 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114463921","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-04-09DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780199827718.003.0015
J. Wellman, Katie E. Corcoran, Kate Stockly
The dominant assessment of megachurches, in both popular culture and scholarship, is that they tend to be havens of commerce and exploitation, and purveyors of the prosperity gospel. After sifting through the data on members in twelve representative American megachurches, looking at people who were longtime members and leaders, those who were new members, and those that were just visiting, we found something quite different. We found wells of goodness, satisfaction, generosity, and inspiration. We found religious organizations that have a certain genius for meeting the needs of what Durkheim called homo duplex. Megachurches are organizations that meet the desire of humans to flourish as individuals and to do it in a group—an equipoise that is rare but deeply satisfying.
{"title":"Conclusion: Havens of Health or Habitats for the Prosperity Gospel?","authors":"J. Wellman, Katie E. Corcoran, Kate Stockly","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780199827718.003.0015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199827718.003.0015","url":null,"abstract":"The dominant assessment of megachurches, in both popular culture and scholarship, is that they tend to be havens of commerce and exploitation, and purveyors of the prosperity gospel. After sifting through the data on members in twelve representative American megachurches, looking at people who were longtime members and leaders, those who were new members, and those that were just visiting, we found something quite different. We found wells of goodness, satisfaction, generosity, and inspiration. We found religious organizations that have a certain genius for meeting the needs of what Durkheim called homo duplex. Megachurches are organizations that meet the desire of humans to flourish as individuals and to do it in a group—an equipoise that is rare but deeply satisfying.","PeriodicalId":186590,"journal":{"name":"High on God","volume":"28 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134048260","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-04-09DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780199827718.003.0009
J. Wellman, Katie E. Corcoran, Kate Stockly
In this chapter, we show how megachurches meet attendees’ desire for “wow” and awe. The data show that megachurch members are overwhelmingly “in love” with megachurch worship. Worship time is often an outward expression of praise and the sharing of joy—a time for generating collective effervescence. The collective effervescence evoked during the worship service is intensified by the fact that there are thousands of people contributing to it. Megachurch services are fields of wonder that energize and synchronize human bodies and feelings with remarkable acuity. The intense emotional energy produced prepares attendees for the pastor’s message, which follows the worship service.
{"title":"Desire for Wow, or Hacking the Happy","authors":"J. Wellman, Katie E. Corcoran, Kate Stockly","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780199827718.003.0009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199827718.003.0009","url":null,"abstract":"In this chapter, we show how megachurches meet attendees’ desire for “wow” and awe. The data show that megachurch members are overwhelmingly “in love” with megachurch worship. Worship time is often an outward expression of praise and the sharing of joy—a time for generating collective effervescence. The collective effervescence evoked during the worship service is intensified by the fact that there are thousands of people contributing to it. Megachurch services are fields of wonder that energize and synchronize human bodies and feelings with remarkable acuity. The intense emotional energy produced prepares attendees for the pastor’s message, which follows the worship service.","PeriodicalId":186590,"journal":{"name":"High on God","volume":"25 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125117420","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-04-09DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780199827718.003.0001
J. Wellman, Katie E. Corcoran, Kate Stockly
Megachurches are growing in size and number in the United States with no indication of slowing down. We argue that their success is due to motivating their congregations with emotional energy that stimulates intense loyalty and a desire to come back repeatedly to get recharged. Megachurches are like drug dealers offering members and nonmembers alike their next hit of emotional energy. Ritual life is critical for the generation of emotional energy, but so are the minimally counterintuitive ideas that capture attention, channel the emotional energy, and rally loyalty and motivation to keep coming back for more. However, these ideas are not sufficient on their own but need to be charged with emotional energy from rituals to inspire loyalty from participants.
{"title":"Megachurch: The Drug That Works","authors":"J. Wellman, Katie E. Corcoran, Kate Stockly","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780199827718.003.0001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199827718.003.0001","url":null,"abstract":"Megachurches are growing in size and number in the United States with no indication of slowing down. We argue that their success is due to motivating their congregations with emotional energy that stimulates intense loyalty and a desire to come back repeatedly to get recharged. Megachurches are like drug dealers offering members and nonmembers alike their next hit of emotional energy. Ritual life is critical for the generation of emotional energy, but so are the minimally counterintuitive ideas that capture attention, channel the emotional energy, and rally loyalty and motivation to keep coming back for more. However, these ideas are not sufficient on their own but need to be charged with emotional energy from rituals to inspire loyalty from participants.","PeriodicalId":186590,"journal":{"name":"High on God","volume":"8 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123909977","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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