The Megachurch and the Mainline: Remaking Religious Tradition in the Twenty-first Century [Paperback]

Stephen Ellingson (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0226204901 | ISBN-13: 978-0226204901 | Publication Date: May 1, 2007

Religious traditions provide the stories and rituals that define the core values of church members. Yet modern life in America can make those customs seem undesirable, even impractical. As a result, many congregations refashion church traditions so they may remain powerful and salient. How do these transformations occur? How do clergy and worshipers negotiate which aspects should be preserved or discarded?

Focusing on the innovations of several mainline Protestant churches in the San Francisco Bay Area, Stephen Ellingson’s The Megachurch and the Mainline provides new understandings of the transformation of spiritual traditions. For Ellingson, these particular congregations typify a new type of Lutheranism—one which combines the evangelical approaches that are embodied in the growing legion of megachurches with American society’s emphasis on pragmatism and consumerism. Here Ellingson provides vivid descriptions of congregations as they sacrifice hymns in favor of rock music and scrap traditional white robes and stoles for Hawaiian shirts, while also making readers aware of the long history of similar attempts to Americanize the Lutheran tradition.

This is an important examination of a religion in flux—one that speaks to the growing popularity of evangelicalism in America.

(20060926)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book makes an important contribution to the study of innovation in religion from one of the rising stars in the sociology of American religion. It will challenge both scholars and church leaders who think megachurches are the answer to the problems faced by mainline denominations and those who think they are the problem."—William McKinney, president and professor of American Religion, Pacific School of Religion

 

 

(William McKinney 20070110)

“Ellingson provides a fascinating portrayal of how mainline churches are working to renegotiate their traditions to solve perceived organizational problems and speak relevantly to contemporary Americans. The Megachurch and the Mainline insightfully uses ethnography and sociological theory to understand big changes in community, identity, leadership, strategy, and the influence of evangelicalism within American mainline Protestantism struggling in a post-traditional culture.”—Christian Smith, University of Notre Dame

(Christian Smith )

“Faith in flux, tradition transformed, and religious restructuring come into brilliant congregational focus in this constructivist study of the Lutheran spirit reframed and hybridized in the flesh of evangelical megachurches or liberal seeker-churches. In showing how and why nine congregations went different ways to consensus, conflict, or compromise in trying to remake themselves in practice, Ellingson reveals the larger moral drama of multivocal cultural traditions enacted in shifting social bodies to inspire the soul of American religion, inflect its institutional arc, and contest its life to come.”—Steven M. Tipton, Emory University

(Steven M. Tipton )

"[The author] offers a very good model to understand congregational change in the United States. . . . An important contribution to the sociology of religion generally and congregational studies specifically."—Michael Wilkinson, Religious Studies Review

(Michael Wilkinson Relgious Studies Review )

"Ellingson''s research develops into an amazing case study that challenges traditional sociology of religion theories, adding a very well developed critique of religion in the United States. . . . The book is well written, and it sheds light on the transformations underway within the religious environment in the United States."

(Christopher Helland Canadian Journal of Sociology )

"Ellingson provides a careful assessment of the role played by local congregations in the process of religious change and of tradition in the work of building communities."—Nancy T. Ammerman, American Academy of Religion Book Reviews

(Nancy T. Ammerman AAR Book Reviews )

"A pathbreaking study of the interaction and clashes between Lutheran tradition and the innovations embodied in the evangelical megachurches and different kinds of spirituality."—Richard Cimino, Lutheran Quarterly

(Richard Cimino Lutheran Quarterly )

"A pathbreaking study of the interaction and clashes between Lutheran tradition and the innovations embodied in the evangelical megachurches and different kinds of spirituality."—Richard Cimino, Lutheran Quarterly

(Society for the Scientific Study of Relig 2007 Distinguished Book Award )

"For readers interested in a detailed analysis of shifts in contemporary Protestanism, Ellingson provides a variety of thoughtful points illuminating trends in mainline denominations."

(Stephen P. Shoemaker Sociology of Religion )

"I was impressed enough with this book to have adopted it for an upcoming graduate seminar in the sociology of religion. I am confident that it will stimulate vigorous discussion in graduate and undergraduate sociology of religion courses. The volume also provides many great examples of how theories of social change can be evaluated and even reconstructed through grounded, carefully conducted research."

(John P. Barkowsky American Journal of Sociology )

About the Author

Stephen Ellingson is assistant professor of sociology at Hamilton College. He is a coeditor of The Sexual Organization of the City, also published by the University of Chicago Press.

 

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (May 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226204901
• ISBN-13: 978-0226204901
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,293,791 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Reflection on Tradition and Innovation, June 5, 2007

By 

praxishabitus "reader, researcher, reflector" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Megachurch and the Mainline: Remaking Religious Tradition in the Twenty-first Century (Paperback)

Written by a sociologist, this book considers the relationship between tradition and innovation. The churches Ellingson describes are not unusual; this process is occurring all around the world. Nor is the process he describes unusual; religious groups have always had to cope with changing social conditions and accomodated themselves in various and unanticipated ways.

The book is framed around the shift from "confessionalism" toward "pietism" by which he means the turn from focus on religious identity based on institutionalized rituals and beliefs to religious identity based more on individual experience and conviction. This in no way summarizes the book, but in the process he argues that contemporary forms of evangelicalism are connecting with the religious desires of many people today such that more mainline churches are using the symbolic resources they've developed. That creates an opportunity to examine how traditions within a particular denomination are negotiated in the face of new, innovative forms of religion emerging out of contemprary societal conditions.

I'm not Lutheran, so I have no particular quibble with the author's approach to Lutheranism. Rather, as an outsider who is fascinated by religion and social change I enjoyed this book. I guess I keep in mind that this book is written by a sociologist trying to understand particular dynamics in our contemporary world, not a pastor or seminary professor who is trying to affirm or justify a particular form of congregation or belief. The concepts and issues he describes are useful and important. And they certainly apply beyond Lutheranism to a whole range of religious groups today.

For more interesting books on social change and the impact of evangelicalism, I also recommend Gerardo Marti's A Mosaic of Believers: Diversity and Innovation in a Multiethnic Church, another Marti book Hollywood Faith: Holiness, Prosperity, and Ambition in a Los Angeles Church, and Donald Miller's Reinventing American Protestantism: Christianity in the New Millennium.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Balanced look at Lutheran megatrends, October 1, 2007

By 

Stuart Bloom (Earlville, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Megachurch and the Mainline: Remaking Religious Tradition in the Twenty-first Century (Paperback)

This is a balanced look at what is happening in many Lutheran churches in today's megachurch environment. The author points out that some - not all - Lutheran churches that are moving away from the traditional worship style and historical liturgy are also moving away from the Lutheran confessions, and the centrality of Christ alone, faith alone, and grace alone. Contrary to what the previous reviewer says, nowhere does the author lament the loss of the traditional service, ethnic homogeneity, or its emphasis on education and intellect. He does point out that these trends are happening, but I can detect nowhere that he says they are good or bad. He does quote others who lament the loss of tradition, but to do otherwise would be to present a one-sided report.

Ellingson does lament the fact that some misguided Lutheran pastors have become more interested in numbers than in the central message of the Gospel, as spelled out in the Augsburg Confession.

Whether or not you agree with the author's conclusions, this is a fascinating look at different approaches to dealing with the decline of traditional mainline churches.

2 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Testament to Empty Traditionalism, May 14, 2007

By 

Richard K. Murphy "surfrev" (Walnut Creek, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Megachurch and the Mainline: Remaking Religious Tradition in the Twenty-first Century (Paperback)

Dr. Stephen Ellingson promises to give us some answers as to why some mainline churches are growing in denominations that are in decline. In the midst of trying to answer that question, he gets sidetracked by mourning the fact that these growing churches have not maintained the "tradition" of [American] Lutheranism.

Ellingson consistently misuses two terms in his writing. He uses the word "tradition" when the proper term would be "traditionalism," and he consistently uses the word "pietism" when what he is often describing is "piety." These are not small errors; they lead to completely convoluted conclusions. After wading through 176 pages of a dismissal of American evangelicalism, church growth principles, church consultants, Willow Creek Community Church and Saddleback Community Church (he demonstrates no personal knowledge of nor any direct research of any of these), we get to the fifteen page conclusion where we finally learn:

1) His definition of the Lutheran "tradition" is: its "ethnic exclusivity" (i.e. Scandinavian and German)"; its "complicated liturgical service"; its "use of classical sacred music"; and its "emphasis on education and intellect."

2) That "evangelicalism and nondenominationalism are colonizing mainline Protestantism"; and

3) Pietism is defined by "individualism and experience, consumption and choice, pragmatism and efficiency."

I would directly respond by saying that:

1) Nothing has hampered the vitality of the Lutheran Church in America for the last thirty years like this list of what "Lutheranism" is about;

2) Lutheran Christians are the ones who coined the term "evangelical," and we should not abandon it too quickly;

3) These exact same defintions could be used to describe those who doggedly insist on the church pleasing no one but themsleves by maintaining traditionalism ("the dead faith of the living") over the true Lutheran tradition ("the living faith of those who have gone before us").
What's easier (more "pragmatic and efficient"), to do the same liturgy from the same hymnal week in and week out, or to experiment with new forms and music to keep the faith vital?

Ellingson is correct in saying that some of us have "decentered the Lutheran tradition." We have placed at the center of our churches the person and work of Jesus Christ, the only true center of any "evangelical faith." We have decentered ethnic exclusivity, a complicated liturgical service, our exclusive use of classical music and our emphasis on education and training. We have recentered on Jesus and reaching out to people from all walks of life, church backgrounds (including no church background) and socio-economic classes. We have recentered on the Word and Sacrament. We have recentered our worship to celebrate God's mercy as greater than our failures and God's goodness as greater than our giftedness. This has led us to a livelier worship than Dr. Ellingson remembers from his youth, but it's hardly "rock and roll." We have recentered on equipping and training that leads to a lived faith and a Christ-following discipleship - hearts as well as minds. Guilty as charged.

Dr. Kent Hunter rightly points out the radical difference between those churches who were founded in American or have adapted to an American context rather than insisting on maintaining their "European" orientation, and concludes that this is one of the factors affecting growth or decline today. Dr. Eddie Gibbs has helped us see there are no "mainlines" anymore - only "oldlines" and "newlines." We are pleased be to be numbered among the "newlines." Their writings are helpful; this book is not.

I know some people experience all change as loss and grief. Dr. Ellingson is grieving the changes that are taking place in a church from which he became inactive "during most of my graduate school career" and had become "somewhat alienated from the institutional church." Like many traditionalists, Ellingson has made the crucial error of baptizing his personal tastes and memories, and has created a book that will only serve those final, "faithful" few [traditionalists] who will to narrowly define American Lutheranism with their congregation's final breaths.

Pastor R. Kevin Murphy, D. Min.
Saint Matthew Lutheran Church
Walnut Creek, CA
(aka "Pastor John Lincoln" of "Faith Lutheran Church")