Friend of God”: Megachurches and the New Frontiers of the American Exurb

In the new century, Megachurches are growing exponentially on the American suburban landscape and now account over ten percent of all churchgoers in the U.S. A phenomenon closely connected with the regionalization of American cities, Megachurches are in many ways a reflections of both America’s changing cultural climate as well as its urban landascape. With urban growth areas penetrat-ing in what once used to be the nation’s rural heartland, American churches have recently tended to grow in size and lean towards evangelicalism and fundamental-ism. In this article, case studies involving three Megachurches (Crystal Cathedral, Saddleback Church, and Radiant Church) try to explain why these “very large churches” respond to major transformations in the American physical landscape in the last half century, where middle class fantasies of individual prosperity meet an unrelenting redefinition of organized religion in North America