Prime minister

Abstract

Megachurches are as conveniently associated with contemporary southern religion in the minds of some as their rural single-room predecessors were for others. With roots in the move from downtown to the suburbs, the development of "health and wealth " theology, praise music worship, and technologically savvy presentations, these religious institutions are salient features on the southern religious landscape. If a megachurch is a Protestant church with two thousand members, then Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, with its thirty thousand members, qualifies as a gigachurch. In his portrait of Osteen, William Martin plumbs the ministry of this "pastorpreneur" and his appeal in America's popular culture. Martin predicts that the youthful, charismatic, and well-organized Osteen, seen by some as a successor to Billy Graham, will continue to be an important influence on the southern and national religious scene. Copyright © 2008 by The University Press of Kentucky.