Table of Contents
Definition of Megachurch
(noun) A Protestant church with an unusually large congregation.
Example of Megachurch
- Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas in the United States.
Megachurch Pronunciation
Syllabification: meg·a·church
Audio Pronunciation
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˈmɛɡəˌtʃərtʃ/
- British English – /ˈmɛɡətʃəːtʃ/
Usage Notes
- Plural: megachurches
- The term is typically used in reference to churches in the United States with more than 2,000 members.
- Megachurches are typically conservative or evangelical and use multimedia presentations during services. Additionally, megachurches typically offer a variety of social activities to members.
- Variant spellings:
- mega-church
- mega church
- Also called seeker church.
- Pejoratively called:
- big box church
- McChurch
Additional Information
- Religion Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Ellingson, Stephen. 2007. The Megachurch and the Mainline: Remaking Religious Tradition in the Twenty-first Century. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- Loveland, Anne C., and Otis B. Wheeler. 2003. From Meetinghouse to Megachurch: A Material and Cultural History. Columbia: University of Missouri Press.
- Database of Megachurches in the United States – Hartford Institute for Religion Research: hirr.hartsem.edu
- Megachurch Definition – Hartford Institute for Religion Research: hirr.hartsem.edu
Related Terms
Works Consulted
Andersen, Margaret L., and Howard Francis Taylor. 2011. Sociology: The Essentials. 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.
Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).
Cite the Definition of Megachurch
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “megachurch.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 19, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/megachurch/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
megachurch. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/megachurch/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “megachurch.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 19, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/megachurch/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“megachurch.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/megachurch/>.