Shopping for God: How Christianity Went from In Your Heart to In Your Face: James B. Twitchell

In today's America finding a church has become, for some Christians, a process almost akin to shopping for a new computer or appliance. As the major denominations compete for bigger and better sound systems and larger sanctuaries the small, hometown church is being lost in the shuffle. In Shopping for God, James Twitchell researches and outlines the ways that the mega church has recently sprung into being and why it has become such a draw for the spiritually-hungry among us.

Twitchell attacks his subject from a business-market point-of-view. He discusses the strengths and weaknesses of each denomination and how they have begun competing in the current Christian marketplace, from bibles and books to t-shirts and jewelry. He also gives a history of the roots of Christianity in America and the beginning of the evangelical preacher. He breaks down each denomination, from where they started, to where they have ended up in this modern era and how they stand to gain or lose followers based on things like electronic hymnals, video screens, church wide movie releases (The Passion anyone?) and in-church gift shops. Throughout, we are shown that being a Christian in America is no longer about privacy and the comfort of small family churches. Now it's all about keeping up with the Joneses and providing everything a suffering soul could want, and possibly more then they really need.

Twitchell's research is based on an endless parade of surveys from a buffet of sources and his own time spent attending the Sunday services of churches in and around his hometown of Gainesville, FL. He's an English professor by day, so his humorous moments tend to be that of the white-bread professor who thinks he's funny but really isn't but you laugh anyway because it's just the right thing to do because he's nice. He also has a habit of sharing anecdotes and colloquialisms that are more irritating then amusing. If you can look past this though, the book itself is interesting for what is says about Christianity in America today and where it's going in the years to come.
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Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (September 18, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0743292871
ISBN-13: 978-0743292870
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