Megachurches as Total Environments

Abstract

Megachurches must be understood as total environments. By providing programmes for nearly every stage of life, megachurches combine a sense of solidarity with a feeling of dependence. Employing Randall Collins’s theory of interaction ritual chains, this chapter shows that the desire for emotional energy (EE), which is interpreted as the physical manifestation of God’s love, has been embraced by megachurches and is the key to understanding their success. The chapter develops rational choice theory and show how megachurches charge attendees with their next ‘hit’ of EE, which becomes the life-blood of attendees that binds them together in a total environment.

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