McChurch - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

McChurch is a McWord

McWords

A McWord is a word containing the prefix Mc-, derived from the first syllable of the name of the McDonald's restaurant chain. Words of this nature are either official marketing terms of the chain , or are neologisms designed to evoke pejorative associations with the restaurant chain or fast food...

used to suggest that a particular church has a strong element of entertainment, consumerism

Consumerism

Consumerism is a social and economic order that is based on the systematic creation and fostering of a desire to purchase goods and services in ever greater amounts. The term is often associated with criticisms of consumption starting with Thorstein Veblen...

or commercialism which obscures its religious aspects. The term is sometimes used as a derogatory synonym for megachurch

Megachurch

A megachurch is a church having 2,000 or more in average weekend attendance. The Hartford Institute's database lists more than 1,300 such Protestant churches in the United States. According to that data, approximately 50 churches on the list have attendance ranging from 10,000 to 47,000...

Elements of a McChurch

The precise origins of the term McChurch are unclear, dating back to at least the early 1990s. Prominent media sources using the term include:

Robert McClory's 1992 article "Superchurch", published in the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

alternative newsweekly The Chicago Reader
The Chicago Reader
The Chicago Reader is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded in 1971 by a group of friends from Carleton College...

. This article describes Willow Creek Community Church
Willow Creek Community Church
Willow Creek Community Church is a non-denominational, multi-generational Evangelical Christian megachurch located in the Chicago suburb of South Barrington, Illinois. It was founded on October 12, 1975 by Bill Hybels, who is currently the senior pastor...

, a megachurch
Megachurch
A megachurch is a church having 2,000 or more in average weekend attendance. The Hartford Institute's database lists more than 1,300 such Protestant churches in the United States. According to that data, approximately 50 churches on the list have attendance ranging from 10,000 to 47,000...

in South Barrington, Illinois
South Barrington, Illinois
South Barrington is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States south of Barrington, Illinois. The population was 3,760 at the 2000 census. South Barrington is a wealthy suburb of Chicago and home to the famous megachurch Willow Creek Community Church. The village is known throughout the area...

as a McChurch.
Charles Colson
Charles Colson
Charles Wendell "Chuck" Colson is a Christian leader, cultural commentator, and former Special Counsel for President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1973....

's 1994 book The Body, which describes a McChurch that the author attended in Japan. The author also uses the term "Hot Tub Religion" to express the same sentiment.
Dan Schaeffer's article "McChurch" in the 2002 issue of the Christian-themed Plain Truth Magazine
The Plain Truth
The Plain Truth is a U.S.-based magazine founded by Herbert W. Armstrong, who also founded the Radio Church of God , Ambassador College, and The World Tomorrow radio and television programs. Herbert W...

. Schaeffer states that many Christian churches have "gone Las Vegas" in order to grow their congregations.
Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

State Representative Stan Moody's 2006 book McChurched which describes a pervasive consumerism in the evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...

Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

community. Moody, a Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

, attributes this sentiment to the incorporation of Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

pro-capitalist influence into the religious community.

While precise definitions of a McChurch also differ, McClory attempted to list the following common elements, which he found at Willow Creek and other similar churches:

Presentations and sermons
Sermon
A sermon is an oration by a prophet or member of the clergy. Sermons address a Biblical, theological, religious, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law or behavior within both past and present contexts...

with an emphasis on entertainment, use of modern theatrical technology, and a heavy "feel-good" tone, at the expense of religious experiences such as guilt
Guilt
Guilt is the state of being responsible for the commission of an offense. It is also a cognitive or an emotional experience that occurs when a person realizes or believes—accurately or not—that he or she has violated a moral standard, and bears significant responsibility for that...

and self-sacrifice. McClory described the overall sermon content of such churches as "the basic salvation message in contemporary dress and without any of the bitter side effects."
The incorporation of revenue-generating businesses within the main church building. This included bookstores, nurseries and day-care centers, gyms, and cafeterias.
Majority of attendance and offerings come from meetings that, according to the church's own theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

, are not valid church services. For example, the pastor of Willow Creek, Bill Hybels
Bill Hybels
William Hybels is the founding and senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, one of the most attended churches in North America, with an average attendance of nearly 24,000 as of 2011...

, emphasized that his popular weekend and Sunday services (attendance at the time of the article, 16,000) are "not intended as worship in any formal sense," and are officially designated as informal meetings to attract the "unchurched." The church held its official services (attendance, 4,500) on Wednesday and Thursday nights.
Primarily located in suburban and exurban areas, ostensibly to attract higher-class attendees and boost donations. McClory noted that Willow Creek is located in a remote, wooded area, and all attendees required an automobile to attend. He also reported that the church's attendees are almost all drawn from the surrounding upper-class subdivisions of northwest Chicago suburbs.
Near-complete lack of religious symbols in and outside the church. Except for a cross-shaped cork bulletin board, no religious symbols could be found either in or around the Willow Creek complex. Likewise, traditional church elements were replaced (e.g., instead of pews, attendees sat in cushioned movie-theater chairs).

Elements of a McChurch

See also

Further reading