Sightings 6/7/10

Decline in the Megachurches

— Martin E. Marty

Schadenfreude, or rejoicing in others ¢â‚¬â„¢ misfortunes, is abundantly evident in responses, blogged and otherwise, to the bad/sad news about the decline of the famed Crystal Cathedral, a megachurch founded in the mid-1950s in California. Publicity has been constant, for over a year, concerning the church ¢â‚¬â„¢s 55-million-dollar debt, sellings-off of property, non-payment of bills, et cetera. Other megachurches have closed when the nearby malls on whose traffic they half-depended went broke. In other cases, staff firings draw attention and sympathy. Still others are driven to hold special fund drives to make up for financial declines in the current crisis. Not only mega-places have had to do that, but do setbacks in the stories of super-successful churches add up to anything particular?

First, why Schadenfreude? One has to see a turnabout-is-fair-play attitude in some of the uncharitable responses. The megachurch networks build constituencies in part by attacking denominations, even as these networks then become more-than-virtual, indeed, parallel and competitive  ¢â‚¬Å“denominations ¢â‚¬  themselves. Worshippers who gather in town-and-country, inner-city, and left-behind neighborhoods, where neither congregations nor anything else can grow, chafe when the mega-success folk deride them, publishing books and releasing releases which suggest that smaller, declining, or holding-their-own churches and synagogues are simply doing wrong, or at least not doing right.

Through the years I ¢â‚¬â„¢ve been careful about criticizing such churches. We were all trained to keep a critical eye on denominations, Protestant and  Catholic, in what is now written off as  ¢â‚¬Å“the mainstream. ¢â‚¬  Along the way I  learned not to be hyper-critical. The morning after even a mild  half-sentence of criticism appears on TV or in print, the public relations
people of the powerful churches are at the critic ¢â‚¬â„¢s door. And, let it be  said, the other half-sentence often expresses positive views of what such  churches achieve. First, they are by no means all alike, and many could  pass most critical tests. Second, they do reach and serve people who would otherwise not be reached. Third, many are responsive to criticism. And hundreds of them nurture small groups that provide opportunities for  theological probing and equip for servant-leadership. Why knock that?

Back to the issue: What is going on with the decline of the megachurches? I ¢â‚¬â„¢ve read some sociological analyses, works in progress on which we ¢â‚¬â„¢ll report after they are published, which have some big clues. Most come down to the fact that so many of these churches replace or eclipse classic concerns such as  ¢â‚¬Å“repentance ¢â‚¬  and  ¢â‚¬Å“redemption ¢â‚¬  and have converted, in their terms and substance and energies, to market models. One organizes strategies, methods, and messages to adapt to such models and offer what the market at its best can offer. But we are learning these years that markets have limits, as do churches which are too adapted to them. When a charismatic pastoral-founder is moved from the scene, when success does not always follow those in the minority of megachurches that over-promise success, when cultural tastes change, down go the fortunes of the market-churches.

No, the megachurches are not going to disappear. But as they transition  from the world of inevitable success to re-participation in a world of  partial success, setbacks, disappointments, and frustrations, now is a good  time to see what about them can be appropriate in the lives of so many other kinds of churches and synagogues, which have much to learn, and only sometimes are themselves eager to change. All kinds of religious institutions are in this  ¢â‚¬“ whatever this is  ¢â‚¬“ together. Forget the  Schadenfreude.

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For more information:

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/30/local/la-me-crystal-cathedral30-2010jan30

http://crystal-cathedral-news.newslib.com/story/2974-3226431/

Martin E. Marty’s biography, current projects, publications, and contact
information can be found at www.illuminos.com.

Sightings comes from the Martin Marty  Center  <http://divinity.uchicago.edu/martycenter/about/>at theUniversity of Chicago Divinity School.

Attribution

Columns may be quoted or republished in full, with attribution to the author of the column, Sightings, and the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago Divinity School.

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Note from Rowland: See my take on some of this here – http://jmm.org.au/articles/19701.htm

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Comment from a friend:

It’s a reasonable article, but having visited the Crystal Cathedral in 2000, I can’t be anything other than critical. Yes, it’s possible to report the good they do as well as the negatives, but there comes a point where you can also decide that the bad so outweighs the good that the end assessment is inevitably negative.

The whole site is so clearly a monument to money that it left me reeling. I went there on a weekday. The first thing that struck me was the piped christian muzak in the CARPARK! Then there are all the statues in the grounds (Mary Joseph and Jesus plus donkey, Moses parting the Red Sea [standing in the divided waters of a fountain], etc) – garishly-coloured ones, which are presumably continually touched up (more money!) so they don’t look weathered. They’re mostly metallic-plated, with some being silver or gold rather than multi-coloured. Then you walk inside, and the first thing that struck me was the massive size and the expensive fit-out. This is a building probably close to the size of the Sydney Entertainment Centre, built entirely of glass panes (including the roof), and sitting on top of the San Andreas fault! The banks of theatre lights in the ceiling were larger than I’ve seen in any commercial venue. Even the toilets were overdone, with gold-plated tapware (no, not brass, though I acknowledge it may not have actually been gold) and woodpanelling throughout, including the benchtops. The shop had a reasonable range of (ultra-conservative) christian literature (naturally a large proportion of it by Robert Schuller), but was clearly focused on souvenirs, and it was the souvenirs that sickened me. China thimbles (not intended for actual use, judging by the size) with small shields on their side picturing the Crystal Cathedral. “What Would Jesus Do?” and fish symbol BANDAIDS!

Funnily enough, despite the fact that when they built the belltower they were careful to make sure it didn’t come any higher than the crossbar of the cross (so it wasn’t higher than Jesus’ head would be), that rule doesn’t hold inside, where the organ is front, centre and almost to the roof, while the cross is over to one side and much lower.
http://www.treasurevalleytours.com/resources/Crystal+Cathedral+Pipe+Organs.jpg (look carefully to the left in the pic to see the cross)
The interior layout is very clearly for performances, not for worhip (at least, not of God).

I don’t think it’s coincidence that such a place had its heyday in an era when society as a whole focused on, and praised, serious wealth creation. But if indeed that’s not a coincidence, it’s a sorry indictment of what the CC’s priorities really were/are.

Clare

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Clare Pascoe
http://www.clergyabuseaustralia.org
Clergy Sexual Abuse in Australia