This is a remarkable study in its capacity to develop multiple epistemic angles on the megachurch as a socio-spatial macroworld, shifting scale from broad cultural transformations to the lived experience of individual believers with striking fluency. Structural trends and intimate religious practice are seamlessly interwoven, yielding a rare balance between critical theory and participant-centered analysis. The result is an empathetic and incisive reading, at once analytically rigorous and deeply humane.

Massimo Leone, University of Turin, Italy

Josiah Kidwell deploys Frankfurt School theory and methodology to provide an original and engaging study of The Megachurch-Industrial Complex Searching for Transcendence in the Culture Industry. Kidwell's critical analysis shows how the megachurch draws on media technology, advertising techniques, and spectacle to draw spectators into their church, demonstrating how religion today is promoted and shaped by techniques of the cultural industries. His analysis shows how important forms of religion today are mediated by big religious corporations that which use strategies of the culture industry which transform religion into a vital part of the consumer society.

Douglas Kellner, UCLA, USA