Society and the US megachurches: a lesson?

Published: July 20, 2007, 12:19 pm

The ever-fascinating Robert Putnam, whose theories on social capital, particularly the downside of ethnic diversity, are influencing governments in both the US and Britain, emits interesting ideas in this interview in the Guardian; particularly about the US "megacurches" of tens of thousands. "They have very low barriers to entry - the doors are open, there are folding chairs out on the patio - you can leave easily. But then they ramp people up to a huge commitment - at some megachurches, half of all members are tithing [giving a tenth of their income]. How do they get from the low to the high commitment? By a honeycomb structure of thousands of small groups: the mountain bikers for God group, the volleyball players for God, the breast cancer survivors for God, the spouses of the breast cancer survivors for God, and so on....The intense tie is not to the theology but in the emotional commitment to others in their small group" It is a pattern he

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