Hillsong and “megachurch” practice: semiotics, spatial logic and the embodiment of contemporary evangelical protestantism

Noah's ark: evangelical christianity and the creation of a value environment in hong kong

“…The story of Noah's Ark allows the resort to tap into a highly accessible narrative, with story elements-chief of them the huge towering Ark itself, the life-size animals, and the pedagogical dimension afforded by the animals and the invocation of earth's ecosystem-that are easy to materialize and dramatize. In contrast, the Christian values of "faith, hope, and love" are, like most aspects of Protestant Christianity's individualized and internalized spiritual experiences, extremely difficult to materialize or externalize in concrete ways (Goh 2008). The core challenge for Protestant Christianity continues to be the concrete manifestation of a God who is "spirit" and not flesh, and who explicitly forbids representation in image or icon (Exodus 20:4;Deuteronomy 4:12,15;John 4:24).…”

Black Mega-Churches in the Internet Age: Exploring Theological Teachings and Social Outreach Efforts

“…From the directory search, a total of 189 African American churches provided online broadcasts of entire worship services. Drawing upon the criteria for what constitutes a mega-church (Elligson 2009;Goh 2008;June 2008;Priest et al 2010;Warf and Winsberg 2010) and the continuum of Lincoln and Mamiya (1990) from other-worldliness to this-worldliness, the senior researcher, along with another member of the research team, identified and selected 12 Black mega-churches. The research team purposely selected 12 exemplary Black megachurches from the online portal.…”

“…Primary characteristics of mega-churches include the following: (1) 2,000 or more people who attend the church on a weekly basis (Goh 2008;Priest et al 2010;Warf and Winsberg 2010); (2) lively, exuberant worship services including specific instrumentation, i.e., electronic instruments and drums (Goh 2008;Hall-Russell 2005); (3) two or more Sunday worship services; and (4) integration of technology such as a church website, texting, digital multimedia, and blogging (Elligson 2009;June 2008;Patterson 2007;Pinn 2002;Smith 2006;Warf and Winsberg 2010). Towards the goal of increasing church attendance and reaching larger and larger audiences, pastors of Black megachurches purposefully have invested in online outreach to bring the Gospel message to individuals beyond the confines of local geography.…”

Geometries of ‘global’ evangelicalism

“…This works is two ways, both rooted in how charismatic Christianity, especially the Hillsong experience, functions. First, Hillsong operates on the 'performance of the mega' (Goh 2008), which is achieved through sophisticated sound systems and vast numbers of worshippers at their events and services. For example, a Hillsong church cannot be founded unless there are a minimum of 100 worshippers present (Porter 2017), which is needed to create its distinctive experience.…”