Megachurch: Belong Before You Believe

In 1903, Max Weber traveled to Oklahoma City where he encountered a Calvinist congregation and did ethnographic research that became the starting point for his classic text on the relationship between religious belief and economic culture. In this lecture, I present findings from my research (working with professional photographer Nancy Warner) on Oklahoma City megachurches. Warner’s striking photographs show the window-less Walmart box-store architecture of these megachurches whose sprawling parking lots call to mind those of professional sports stadiums or large shopping malls. The food courts, bookstores, and other features reinforce the shopping mall ambience; and the black ceiling and the lighting of the auditorium evoke a rock concert or perhaps even a night club. Are these businesses disguised as churches? That could be one interpretation. But the voices of participants and pastors suggest another: these are churches disguised as businesses. Whichever one adopts, this is a new moment in the protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism.