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June 14, 2005

Religion as Retail: The Coming of Big Box Christianity

You've seen them: those "mega-churches" that are springing up all over America. They look like warehouses or malls, replete with enormous parking lots and corrugated steel siding. They have hip-sounding names like Crystal Cathedral and Willow Grove (isn't that a golf course?) with multi-million-dollar budgets and high-tech sermon production studios. They borrow heavily from the business school playbook, with many hiring MBAs from prestigious programs to help grow the congregation.

Perhaps most interesting in many of these evangelical megachurches is the abandoning of traditional religious symbols, such as the crucifix, crosses, and even the Bible in some. According to a recent article in BusinessWeek, these artifacts are avoided so as to not scare away potential new attendees who might otherwise be intimidated or disturbed at the thought of "going to church."

This is the advent of religion as retail -- where different churches/faiths market their offerings (many of which have nothing to do with spirituality) in an attempt to capture greater market share and increase revenues. Size matters, marketing gets the word out, and slick operations makes sure that the member's "experience" is a good one. Sound like the same types of activities that Target and Best Buy engage in? It is.

And this shift towards religion as retail is occurring just like the transition that retail followed in America not too long ago. The retail landscape used to be dominated by multitudes of small, locally owned and managed stores, each offering a tailored service to its local clientele. These "mom and pop" operations were the standard.

Then, the efficiencies of scale were discovered and modern technology -- transportation, communication, information -- enabled coordination of much broader operations. Local chains became regional chains, and regional chains evolved to national and international market icons: Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, etc. This "big box" phenomenon -- the super-sizing of stores -- has occurred for a variety of reasons, many of which have to do with operational efficiency (which leads to lower costs and lower prices) and marketing effectiveness (e.g., large-scale advertising is usually more easily accomplished by larger companies).

So is this where religion in the US is headed? If we look at retail as a guide, we're at the early stage of consolidation and the emergence of some larger chain-style churches ("franchising" is a term common in some megachurch circles these days). "Mom & pop" churches are still the norm in many communities. But if the retail pattern replicates in religion, then the small, cozy, local church with the pipe organ and the minister/pastor who everybody knows (and who knows everybody) will be largely gone within a couple of decades. In its place (or rather, in the place of dozens of these small churches) will be a single, new, heavily branded megachurch, possibly part of a recognized chain or franchise, replete with coffee shop, bookstore, sports leagues, and maybe even a car repair center (some have them, I'm not kidding). Instead of the quaint, iconic church of stone, brick or clapboard with the steeple and the cross on top, there will be a huge steel (glass optional) box or dome that resembles much more closely the Wal-Mart across the street than the old, beautiful churches of Europe.

Is this what we want? Has spirituality in the US become such an impersonal commodity that this retailing of religion will be the new dominant mode of worship? Will this retailization lead to the same decreasing level of commitment and loyalty that retailers now struggle with? Will churchgoers "shop around" for the best combination of services and convenience, perhaps with the deciding factor being wherever most of their friends are at the moment? Will churches start offering "worship loyalty cards" like the one from Kroger on my keychain? It will be interesting, if not depressing, to find out.

Posted by Craig in Society / Politics

Comments

Posted by: bobnonn at June 15, 2005 3:57 PM

Posted by: craigf at June 15, 2005 6:48 PM

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