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High on God: How Megachurches Won the Heart of America
"God is like a drug, a high, [I] can't wait for the next hit." This direct quote from a megachurch member speaking about his experience of God might be dismissed as some sort of spiritually-induced drug riff. However, according to the research in this book, it was not only sincere, but a deeply felt, and sought-after sensibility. Megachurch attendees desire this first-hand experience of God, and many report finding it in their congregations. The book focuses on the emotional, social and religious dynamics that pull thousands of people into megachurches and how those churches make some feel like they are "high on God" and can't wait to get their next spiritual "hit."
High on God gives the first robust and plausible explanation for why megachurches have conquered the churchgoing market of America. Without condescension or exaggeration, the authors show the genius of the power of charisma, the design of facilities, the training of leaders, the emotional dynamics, and the strategies that bring people together and lead them to serve and help others. Using Emile Durkheim's concept of homo duplex , the authors plot the strategies that megachurches employ to satisfy the core human craving for personal meaning and social integration, as well as personal identity and communal solidarity. The authors also show how these churches can go wrong, sometimes tragically so. But they argue that, for the most part, megachurches help their attendees find themselves through bonding with and serving others.
High on God gives the first robust and plausible explanation for why megachurches have conquered the churchgoing market of America. Without condescension or exaggeration, the authors show the genius of the power of charisma, the design of facilities, the training of leaders, the emotional dynamics, and the strategies that bring people together and lead them to serve and help others. Using Emile Durkheim's concept of homo duplex , the authors plot the strategies that megachurches employ to satisfy the core human craving for personal meaning and social integration, as well as personal identity and communal solidarity. The authors also show how these churches can go wrong, sometimes tragically so. But they argue that, for the most part, megachurches help their attendees find themselves through bonding with and serving others.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published January 10, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 17, 2020
like 3000 Durkheim citations. starts off interesting, gets less so after they move out of their more theoretical pieces. essentially sociologists who also happen to be mainline protestants decide to investigate megachurches and are quite surprised to find that megachurches solve Durkheim's problem of homo duplex--basically the precarious tension between the dual nature of humankind, the need to associate with groups that signify something bigger than ourselves and to retain our own independence. the book is decent, but i'm getting pretty tired of left leaning folks expecting right wingers to be dumb, their religion to be totally fraudulent or at least selfish, etc. makes me feel like i will forever be a political pinball, getting frustrated with one side only to run headlong into a blinking, slightly elastic and perhaps obnoxiously loud piece of plastic or metal on the other side. and so on. (they make a big deal of their realization of their own prejudice against megachurches, that they were basically all just wolves in capitalist pigs' clothing, in order to make a point to the liberal academics who will form the majority of their audience, which is admirable, but also telling and depressing). that being said, it's a humane, clearly and occasionally engagingly written piece. Their sociological theory made sense and seemed mostly appropriate for the topic.
also classic avoidance re: "we will not adjudicate whether God is really present to people because sociologists don't do theology, etc." and then their language, on at least four counts, directly claims that megachurch goers interpret affective experiences and collective effervescence as the Holy Spirit. These claims have direct, exclusionary theological freight. And then they actually bring in theology at the end, with the late Peter Berger, to compare the Prosperity Gospel with liberation theology, which ultimately makes for a very weird note to end the book on, and showcases the thinness of their claim not to touch theology, and then also, by extension, their refusal to put down the ~brackets~ and discuss the relationships these people have or do not have to God/Jesus/Holy Spirit. In other cringe-worthy moments: they interpret the ecstasies of Pentecostalism as squarely pre-modern, they jive with a Durkheim quote about man only being man because he is "civilized" (which for Durkheim means something less horrible than a rabid colonialist, but still, it doesn't look good), they acknowledge that the sacred and profane are constantly mixing but then turn around and deploy the term "secular" as if it is decidedly well-defined and so on. I do not understand why historians and sociologists think they can write about religion and not even stay up to date on highlights in religious studies theory and discourse. Especially when they are historians and sociologists who are frustrated that members of their field don't take religion seriously.
also their historical analysis is...well...very poor. their citations of Bowler's Blessed are confusing and potentially wrong. Or they've at least forgotten what was in half of that book. Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield get misinterpreted, too. The authors don't appear to be that widely versed in historical literature on the topic of American evangelicalism, generally. 3 stars is generous, but here I am with my lonesome call to humanize our enemies/others, which these authors do. That is the most difficult thing for academics to do, so they deserve credit.
also classic avoidance re: "we will not adjudicate whether God is really present to people because sociologists don't do theology, etc." and then their language, on at least four counts, directly claims that megachurch goers interpret affective experiences and collective effervescence as the Holy Spirit. These claims have direct, exclusionary theological freight. And then they actually bring in theology at the end, with the late Peter Berger, to compare the Prosperity Gospel with liberation theology, which ultimately makes for a very weird note to end the book on, and showcases the thinness of their claim not to touch theology, and then also, by extension, their refusal to put down the ~brackets~ and discuss the relationships these people have or do not have to God/Jesus/Holy Spirit. In other cringe-worthy moments: they interpret the ecstasies of Pentecostalism as squarely pre-modern, they jive with a Durkheim quote about man only being man because he is "civilized" (which for Durkheim means something less horrible than a rabid colonialist, but still, it doesn't look good), they acknowledge that the sacred and profane are constantly mixing but then turn around and deploy the term "secular" as if it is decidedly well-defined and so on. I do not understand why historians and sociologists think they can write about religion and not even stay up to date on highlights in religious studies theory and discourse. Especially when they are historians and sociologists who are frustrated that members of their field don't take religion seriously.
also their historical analysis is...well...very poor. their citations of Bowler's Blessed are confusing and potentially wrong. Or they've at least forgotten what was in half of that book. Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield get misinterpreted, too. The authors don't appear to be that widely versed in historical literature on the topic of American evangelicalism, generally. 3 stars is generous, but here I am with my lonesome call to humanize our enemies/others, which these authors do. That is the most difficult thing for academics to do, so they deserve credit.
November 11, 2021
In a world where we have churches opening up almost every week with new leaders and new ideas , it is important for the followers of Christ to be aware of why they are called to be followers and why the only true leader is Jesus Christ.
"High on GOD" is a research book which tries to understand the growth and influence of megachurches in the US. The facts in this book provide a clear pattern and study for churches around the world to understand what to avoid and what to be sure about. Almost all the megachurches in the US have been hit by scandals ranging from financial , sexual and leadership pitfalls that are important lessons for all of us to learn and avoid.
The book is a practical application of research and science and may not be appreciated by all. The concepts of "Homo Duplex" , the Megachurch Ritual Cycle and the influence of oxytocin on the process of relationships and worship rituals help us become aware of the warning signals of the megachurch scam syndrome as I call it. One thing which is very clear from these facts is that one should never replace the WORD OF GOD and the PERSON OF CHRIST with the charismatic presence of a church leader , no matter how good a teacher ,orator or thinker he or she is.
So in case you intend to read this which I believe you should, do it in prayer and understanding , follow it up with readings from the books by Emile Durkhiem and Randall Collins to understand more and keep the Bible as your single source of truth.
GOD Bless
October 15, 2020
(NOTE: I'm stingy with stars. For me 2 stars means a good book or a B. 3 stars means a very good book or a B+. 4 stars means an outstanding book or an A {only about 5% of the books I read merit 4 stars}. 5 stars means an all time favorite or an A+ {Only one of 400 or 500 books rates this!).
This was an interesting book. Three "liberal" sociologists set out to critique megachuches and after having actually studying them coming to the opposite conclusion.
A few quotes:
The largest 10% of churches account for more than 50% of all American churchgoers. (5)
In the United States, the number of megachurches increased from 350 in 1990 to over 1,600 in 2011, and there is no indication that the trend will abate. 3 Even after surpassing an average weekly attendance of 2,000, megachurches continue to multiply at an average rate of 5% a year. (5)
We, as authors of this texts, took years to come to our own conclusions that initially were neither obvious nor apparent to us during our first take on American megachurches. … Early on, we thought we’d show their superficiality and their biases, and the way they anesthetize churchgoers from reality. But then, as we went over the data and continued attending megachurch services, we began to realize that these are very successful human groups … (30)
In the context of megachurches, we argue that emotional energy manifests in response to the following six realms of affective desire that motivate people to engage in megachurch rituals and activities: 1. a sense of belonging and welcome … 2. a sense of awe and sensory stimulation … 3. what we call a reliable leader … 4 a feeling of deliverance …. 5. a new purpose … 6. a process of remembering .. (38)
Megachurches have been an inevitable aspect of the Christian faith from the beginning. (45)
Mark Chaves’s 2011 book, American Religion: Contemporary Trends (38)
offers an overview of American religious trends during the last hundred years. The continuities are what we might expect: belief in God, frequency of prayer, church attendance, and belief in heaven and hell, but the changes are what really stand out. He cites that in 1957 only 3% of Americans would mark “no religion” on a survey; by 2008, 17% did, 39 and by 2014, 23% of adults self-identified as “religiously unaffiliated.” (40) Further, 91% of Americans in 1924 agreed that Christianity was the only true religion, whereas only 41% made the same claim in 2008. (41) Even more striking is the fact that two-thirds of contemporary Americans say that a religion besides their own might offer a true way to God. (65-66)
More than any other single variable, the megachurch pastor facilitates, directs, and dominates Collins’s “mutual focus of attention.” 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. (133)
This was an interesting book. Three "liberal" sociologists set out to critique megachuches and after having actually studying them coming to the opposite conclusion.
A few quotes:
The largest 10% of churches account for more than 50% of all American churchgoers. (5)
In the United States, the number of megachurches increased from 350 in 1990 to over 1,600 in 2011, and there is no indication that the trend will abate. 3 Even after surpassing an average weekly attendance of 2,000, megachurches continue to multiply at an average rate of 5% a year. (5)
We, as authors of this texts, took years to come to our own conclusions that initially were neither obvious nor apparent to us during our first take on American megachurches. … Early on, we thought we’d show their superficiality and their biases, and the way they anesthetize churchgoers from reality. But then, as we went over the data and continued attending megachurch services, we began to realize that these are very successful human groups … (30)
In the context of megachurches, we argue that emotional energy manifests in response to the following six realms of affective desire that motivate people to engage in megachurch rituals and activities: 1. a sense of belonging and welcome … 2. a sense of awe and sensory stimulation … 3. what we call a reliable leader … 4 a feeling of deliverance …. 5. a new purpose … 6. a process of remembering .. (38)
Megachurches have been an inevitable aspect of the Christian faith from the beginning. (45)
Mark Chaves’s 2011 book, American Religion: Contemporary Trends (38)
offers an overview of American religious trends during the last hundred years. The continuities are what we might expect: belief in God, frequency of prayer, church attendance, and belief in heaven and hell, but the changes are what really stand out. He cites that in 1957 only 3% of Americans would mark “no religion” on a survey; by 2008, 17% did, 39 and by 2014, 23% of adults self-identified as “religiously unaffiliated.” (40) Further, 91% of Americans in 1924 agreed that Christianity was the only true religion, whereas only 41% made the same claim in 2008. (41) Even more striking is the fact that two-thirds of contemporary Americans say that a religion besides their own might offer a true way to God. (65-66)
More than any other single variable, the megachurch pastor facilitates, directs, and dominates Collins’s “mutual focus of attention.” 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. (133)
November 5, 2021
Wellman et al. take as their starting point that many people misunderstand American megachurches, and so intend here to study the phenomenon from a relatively neutral perspective, trying not to adopt the predominantly negative tone that characterizes rhetoric around megachurches, while also trying not to create an apologetic for these outsized congregations. Their book succeeds at certain points and fails at others, if I'm honest. Though claiming a predisposition towards seeing these churches in the same negative light that most mainstream commentators do, the prose actually seems to support a reading that the authors were hoping to find that things were better than they seemed on the surface in these churches, and indeed they did; this is not to question the validity of their findings by any means, but more a comment on the style and manner in which their claims of surprise are articulated. The main finding of the study is that megachurches use particular tactics to meet the needs of their audience, to engage them, and to send the back out for the sake of ministry, and in the end the authors do make a somewhat convincing case that these churches do a lot of good in the communities they serve, good that often goes unnoticed or at least unappreciated by their detractors. At the same time, though, I can't help but feel that the authors findings are somewhat colored by their assertion that emotion and affect are the absolute core of religious experience, over and above belief; they qualify this in several ways and even hedge the assertion in some ways so as to seemingly account for some of the more obvious ways that people might critique this claim, and I can respect the work they do with this but am still not convinced that this is the best tactic to use or even that their hedging makes the claim any more true. I think I feel this way because in part the shift to a centralization of affect seems to predispose their analysis to a positive reading of the churches they study: because they really and truly are masters of creating affective experiences. But in recognizing this, I'm not sure the book reads as a comprehensive view of whether or not these churches are exceptional at doing much beyond that affective experience.
July 6, 2019
Megachurches are a subject of fascination for me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m quite happy with my liberal-leaning Protestant church of choice. However, I usually read (and review) books by evangelicals, and while I don’t always agree with their theology, there’s something about their faith that has me going, “How do I get something like that?” These writers seem to be high on the religious experience that they have a hand in facilitating to some degree — especially if they are the lead pastor of their church. So that got me down the road to reading this book, High on God, to broaden my understanding of what makes megachurches click. The book does not disappoint.
To be sure, given that the publisher is Oxford University Press, the book is geared towards academics and scholars, and I’ll be upfront and say that I didn’t understand all of it. (There’s a lengthy section in the Appendixes about the role that oxytocin may play in experiencing a religious going-on that went largely over my head but, suffice to say, the authors of this book — James Wellman, Katie Corcoran and Kate Stockly — seem to gravitate towards a scientific bias, even though one of the authors does admit to regularly attending a megachurch in Seattle.) The book is full of $100 words and high concepts. However, it is largely readable, especially as one proceeds from the opening chapters of the book — which argue that humans are homo duplex, in that we want to be both individuals and also paradoxically part of a larger social group — and get into the real meat of what makes megachurches tick.
Read the rest of the review here: https://medium.com/@zachary_houle/a-r...
To be sure, given that the publisher is Oxford University Press, the book is geared towards academics and scholars, and I’ll be upfront and say that I didn’t understand all of it. (There’s a lengthy section in the Appendixes about the role that oxytocin may play in experiencing a religious going-on that went largely over my head but, suffice to say, the authors of this book — James Wellman, Katie Corcoran and Kate Stockly — seem to gravitate towards a scientific bias, even though one of the authors does admit to regularly attending a megachurch in Seattle.) The book is full of $100 words and high concepts. However, it is largely readable, especially as one proceeds from the opening chapters of the book — which argue that humans are homo duplex, in that we want to be both individuals and also paradoxically part of a larger social group — and get into the real meat of what makes megachurches tick.
Read the rest of the review here: https://medium.com/@zachary_houle/a-r...
September 11, 2019
Very academic. It puts forth the reasons why megachurches succeed the way they do. How they are able to pack thousands of believers under one roof. The thesis is compelling and those studying religious behavior and sociology will benefit greatly on this book. It lists six important points on why megachurches are successful.
Thanks to the publisher for the advance reading copy.
Thanks to the publisher for the advance reading copy.
July 16, 2021
this was fascinating- neither dismissing megachurches out of hand nor falling entirely for their shtick. of course, i don’t agree with it in its entirety (e.g. the final chapter on the prosperity gospel, as thought provoking a perspective as it offered) but it definitely gave food for thought and a good overview of the sociology of megachurches
May 10, 2022
pretty interesting… this was a scholarly book so it was specialized and got really boring at times. how many times can you read about emotional energy and homo duplex. if you are interested in megachurches and why people are drawn to them, this is a good one. if you are looking for more of a survey… do not read this. its so long. and theres so much sociology.
July 27, 2020
I was hoping for more insight into the specific psychology of what attracts members to megachurches vs those attending smaller congregations or not attending church at all, but the sociological assessment of megachurches was interesting.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews