Description
Robert H. Schuller's ministry-including the architectural wonder of the Crystal Cathedral and the polished television broadcast of Hour of Power-cast a broad shadow over American Christianity. Pastors flocked to Southern California to learn Schuller's techniques. The President of United States invited him sit prominently next to the First Lady at the State of the Union Address. Muhammad Ali asked for the pastor's autograph. It seemed as if Schuller may have started a second Reformation. And then it all went away. As Schuller's ministry wrestled with internal turmoil and bankruptcy, his emulators-including Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, and Joel Osteen- nurtured megachurches that seemed to sweep away the Crystal Cathedral as a relic of the twentieth century. How did it come to this?
Certainly, all churches depend on a mix of constituents, charisma, and capital, yet the size and ambition of large churches like Schuller's Crystal Cathedral exert enormous organizational pressures to continue the flow of people committed to the congregation, to reinforce the spark of charismatic excitement generated by high-profile pastors, and to develop fresh flows of capital funding for maintenance of old projects and launching new initiatives. The constant attention to expand constituencies, boost charisma, and stimulate capital among megachurches produces an especially burdensome strain on their leaders. By orienting an approach to the collapse of the Crystal Cathedral on these three core elements-constituency, charisma, and capital-The Glass Church demonstrates how congregational fragility is greatly accentuated in larger churches, a notion we label megachurch strain, such that the threat of implosion is significantly accentuated by any failures to properly calibrate the inter-relationship among these elements.
About the Author
Mark T. Mulder is Professor of Sociology at Calvin College. Mulder's scholarship focuses around urban congregations and changing racial-ethnic demographics. He is the author of Shades of White Flight: Evangelical Congregations and Urban Departure (Rutgers University Press, 2015) and co-author of Latino Protestants in America: Growing and Diverse (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017). In addition, Mulder has published numerous peer-reviewed articles in academic journals, including Social Problems and The Journal of Urban History. He has also published pieces for church audiences and won awards from the Evangelical Press Association and the Associated Church Press for his writing.
Gerardo Marti is L. Richardson King Professor of Sociology at Davidson College. He is author of A Mosaic of Believers: Diversity and Innovation in a Multiethnic Church (Indiana University Press, 2005), Hollywood Faith: Holiness, Prosperity, and Ambition in a Los Angeles Church (Rutgers University Press, 2008), Worship across the Racial Divide: Religious Music and the Multiracial Congregation (Oxford University Press, 2012), and co-author of The Deconstructed Church: Understanding Emerging Christianity (Oxford University Press, 2014) and Latino Protestants in America: Growing and Diverse (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017). Among several research collaborations and professional roles, he served for many years as the Editor-in-Chief of the peer-reviewed journal Sociology of Religion: A Quarterly Review.
Reviews
"The Glass Church offers a riveting account of the rise and fall of Robert Schuller and the Crystal Cathedral. The story contains lessons for churches large and small. I couldn't put it down." -- Mark Chaves * author of American Religion: Contemporary Trends *
"The Glass Church is an excellent example of what can be gained from exercising the sociological imagination. The rich data enlisted here tell an engaging story about the changing fortunes of one of America's most entrepreneurial pastors." -- John Bartkowski * author of The Promise Keepers: Servants, Soldiers, and Godly Men *
"Churches Reconsider Drive-In Worship" by Daniel Silliman
* Christianity Today *
"The president, the pandemic and the limits of positive thinking" by Mark Mulder and Gerardo Marti
https://religionnews.com/2020/03/30/the-president-the-pandemic-and-the-limits-of-positive-thinking/
* Religion News *
"The authors' interpretative framework focuses on constituency (the congregation in Garden Grove, CA, and the national television audience), charisma (Schuller's visionary leadership), and capital (fundraising to sustain an ever-growing ministry)....Recommended." * Choice *
"The Glass Church has much to offer as a case study of American religion in the second half of the twentieth century and at the beginning of the twenty-first century. By presenting Schuller's ministry as a microcosm of American religion in a format accessible for a broad audience, this book would be useful in numerous classes and settings." * Review of Religion Research *
"Mulder and Marti have presented a riveting account of the dangers of turning religion into just one more product in the capitalist marketplace. While the book will be of obvious interest to church leaders contemplating the expansion of their ministries, it should be required reading for anyone concerned with the way neoliberal economic models have demeaned and corrupted religious as well as educational institutions."
* Nova Religio *
"Mulder and Marti have written a fascinating account of the rise and fall of the proto- typical American megachurch....Offers plenty of insights into the nature of an important church and minis- try in the twentieth-century United States and the creation of a uniquely American religious world." * Contemporary Sociology *
Gerardo Marti: What Pastors Need to Learn From the Collapse of Robert H. Schuller's Megachurch * The Stetzer Church Leaders Podcast *
- The Glass Church: Robert H. Schuller, the Crystal Cathedral, and the Strain of Megachurch Ministry is insightful and informative in its skillful presentation and analysis of Schuller's life and ministry.
- The book has indeed much to offer as it aims to edify its readers on the "past consequences and future implications for contemporary Christian congregational ministry" (p. xi).
Book Information
ISBN 9780813589053
Author Mark T. Mulder
Format Hardback
Page Count 294
Imprint Rutgers University Press
Publisher Rutgers University Press
Weight(grams) 567g
Dimensions(mm) 235mm * 156mm * 28mm
