Sacred Subdivisions

In an era where church attendance has reached an all-time

low, recent polling has shown that Americans are becoming

less formally religious and more promiscuous in their religious

commitments. Within both mainline and evangelical

Christianity in America, it is common to hear of secularizing

pressures and increasing competition from nonreligious

sources. Yet there is a kind of religious institution that has

enjoyed great popularity over the past thirty years: the evangelical

megachurch. Evangelical megachurches not only

continue to grow in number, but also in cultural, political,

and economic influence. To appreciate their appeal is to

understand not only how they are innovating, but more crucially,

where their innovation is taking place.



In this groundbreaking and interdisciplinary study, Justin G.

Wilford argues that the success of the megachurch is hinged

upon its use of space: its location on the postsuburban fringe

of large cities, its fragmented, dispersed structure, and its

focus on individualized spaces of intimacy such as small

group meetings in homes, which help to interpret suburban

life as religiously meaningful and create a sense of belonging.

Based on original fieldwork at Rick Warren's Saddleback

Church, one of the largest and most influential megachurches

in America, Sacred Subdivisions explains how evangelical

megachurches thrive by transforming mundane secular

spaces into arenas of religious significance.