Paper short abstract:

In my presentation, I will explore recent changes in the modes of belonging to evangelical megachurches through the use of Zoom and other digital formats. I will show how my case study uses a rhetoric of “going beyond a building” to position itself in the evangelical field.

Paper long abstract:

In recent years, due to digitalization, believers’ changing “consumer behaviors”, and the Covid-19 pandemic, modes of belonging to evangelical churches have changed profoundly. The Seattle-based megachurch “Churchome” is a good example: In 2019, the previously named “City Church” decided to stream all its services online, build an app where people could pray for each other and chat with pastors, and offer its house groups the option to meet via Zoom. Church, as the name change to “Churchome” was supposed to illustrate, could and should be done from home. To them, “going beyond a building” is not only a convenient way to meet during a lockdown or with fellow believers in other countries but also something that God has intended. This has led to an entangled online-offline structure, a global network of digital groups, and many people who consider themselves active church members without ever having been to a physical Churchome location.

In my presentation, I will draw on Churchome as a case study to explore recent changes in the modes of belonging to non-denominational megachurches in the US. I will use material from interviews with both pastors and church members, participant observation of services and small groups, and an analysis of sermons. First, I will trace how Churchome’s new digital formats relate to broader developments and recent political alignments in the evangelical field and to changes in how believers perceive and choose churches to belong to and how they practice their faith. Second, I will examine how Churchome uses theological terms to legitimize and promote its digital formats. Combining both aspects, I will show that Churchome uses a theological rhetoric of “going beyond a building” to position itself in the evangelical field and to strengthen its identity as a “progressive” evangelical church.