Word: megachurches
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...pastors. Catholic and Protestant clergy have been convicted in connection with the genocide in his country in 1994, and Kagame has repeatedly stated his disdain for religious organizations. Thus a buzz went up in Kigali's Amahoro Stadium last month when Kagame allowed Rick Warren, pastor of the Saddleback megachurch in Lake Forest, Calif., and author of the best-selling The Purpose-Driven Life, to throw an arm over his shoulders and "pray for the President...
...hurt. Skow keeps albums full of letters from customers, evidence of the powerful loyalty that a Christian affiliation inspires. While many Christian entrepreneurs want to do good for their fellow Christians, advertising faith is also a clever branding strategy, says James Twitchell, author of Branded Nation: The Marketing of Megachurch, College Inc., and Museumworld. "It's all part of a narrative that you buy or sell," he says. "How else do you separate interchangeable products--and what is a more powerful brand than faith...
...plunges into metaphysical formulations for which all but religious scholars lack the basic vocabulary. "Most people don't live in the theological nuances, including clergy," says Dr. Philip Blackwell of Chicago's First United Methodist Church. And even if we did, says Jack Graham, pastor of the Prestonwood Baptist megachurch in Plano, Texas, a full understanding might still elude us. "There are many mysteries of atonement that we won't understand this side of eternity," he says. Discussion is also stunted by American Christianity's ongoing romance with a friendly, helpful, personal Jesus, which has made detailed discussion...
Wade Clark Roof, author of Spiritual Marketplace: Baby Boomers and the Remaking of American Religion, says Saddleback's megachurch ministry appeals to the notion that size equals success. "We're told that [his philosophy] not only does something for you in the sense of giving your life meaning but it also makes you happy materially, religiously and spiritually," Roof says. "What Rick is marketing is a kind of American religious ideology that conflates growth with salvation...
...similarly, the church budget has more than doubled, from $800,000 to well over $2 million. Warren says Sunday attendance at Purpose-Driven churches grows about 20%, on average: "The Purpose-Driven principles are like Intel chips, and they can be inserted into any congregation, whether it's a megachurch or a tiny one, Lutheran, AME, Pentecostal or Baptist...