Glass Church

MARK T. MULDER is a professor of sociology at Calvin College. Mulder's scholarship focuses around urban congregations and changing racial-ethnic demographics. He is the author of Shades of White Flight: Evangelical Congregations and Urban Departure (Rutgers University Press, 2015) and co-author of Latino Protestants in America: Growing and Diverse (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017). In addition, Mulder has published numerous peer-reviewed articles in academic journals, including Social Problems and The Journal of Urban History. He has also published pieces for church audiences and won awards from the Evangelical Press Association and the Associated Church Press for his writing.  GERARDO MARTÍ is the L. Richardson King Professor of Sociology at Davidson College. He is the author of A Mosaic of Believers: Diversity and Innovation in a Multiethnic Church (Indiana University Press, 2005), Hollywood Faith: Holiness, Prosperity, and Ambition in a Los Angeles Church (Rutgers University Press, 2008), Worship across the Racial Divide: Religious Music and the Multiracial Congregation (Oxford University Press, 2012), and co-author of The Deconstructed Church: Understanding Emerging Christianity (Oxford University Press, 2014) and Latino Protestants in America: Growing and Diverse (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017). Among several research collaborations and professional roles, he served for many years as the Editor-in-Chief of the peer-reviewed journal Sociology of Religion: A Quarterly Review.

• ContentsPrefaceChapter 1        Constituency, Charisma, and CapitalChapter 2        The Imperative of Church GrowthChapter 3        Migrants to Orange County, CaliforniaChapter 4        The Possibility ThinkerChapter 5        No Hippies in the SanctuaryChapter 6        Dig a Hole, SchullerChapter 7        Always a New ProjectChapter 8        When the Glass BreaksCoda               Ends and BeginningsAppendix        Research MethodologyNotesBibliographyIndex

"The Glass Church is an excellent example of what can be gained from exercising the sociological imagination. The rich data enlisted here tell an engaging story about the changing fortunes of one of America's most entrepreneurial pastors." — John Bartkowski, author of The Promise Keepers: Servants, Soldiers, and Godly Men The Glass Church: Robert H. Schuller, the Crystal Cathedral, and the Strain of Megachurch Ministry is insightful and informative in its skillful presentation and analysis of Schuller's life and ministry.The book has indeed much to offer as it aims to edify its readers on the "past consequences and future implications for contemporary Christian congregational ministry" (p. xi).— BYUNG HO CHOI, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion"Mulder and Martí have presented a riveting account of the dangers of turning religion into just one more product in the capitalist marketplace. While the book will be of obvious interest to church leaders contemplating the expansion of their ministries, it should be required reading for anyone concerned with the way neoliberal economic models have demeaned and corrupted religious as well as educational institutions."— Nova Religio"The authors' interpretative framework focuses on constituency (the congregation in Garden Grove, CA, and the national television audience), charisma (Schuller's visionary leadership), and capital (fundraising to sustain an ever-growing ministry)....Recommended."— ChoiceGerardo Martí: What Pastors Need to Learn From the Collapse of Robert H. Schuller's Megachurch— The Stetzer Church Leaders Podcast"The president, the pandemic and the limits of positive thinking" by Mark Mulder and Gerardo Martíhttps://religionnews.com/2020/03/30/the-president-the-pandemic-and-the-limits-of-positive-thinking/— Religion News"The Glass Church offers a riveting account of the rise and fall of Robert Schuller and the Crystal Cathedral. The story contains lessons for churches large and small. I couldn't put it down."— Mark Chaves, author of American Religion: Contemporary Trends"The Glass Church has much to offer as a case study of American religion in the second half of the twentieth century and at the beginning of the twenty-first century. By presenting Schuller's ministry as a microcosm of American religion in a format accessible for a broad audience, this book would be useful in numerous classes and settings."— Review of Religion Research"Churches Reconsider Drive-In Worship" by Daniel Silliman— Christianity Today"Mulder and Marti have written a fascinating account of the rise and fall of the proto- typical American megachurch….Offers plenty of insights into the nature of an important church and minis- try in the twentieth-century United States and the creation of a uniquely American religious world."— Contemporary Sociology