Are Megachurches Masters of Cognitive Design?
Sunday, August 19th, 2012
Yes, claim the authors of God is Like a Drug: Explaining Interaction Ritual Chains in American Megachurches, a paper being presented today at an American Sociological Association Meeting. According to the authors churches with 2000+ members (a megachurch) create a powerful emotional experience using charismatic leaders, stagecraft, small group dynamics, sensory rich pageantry and environments and deeply positive and consistent messaging. All key elements of cognitive and experience design. To quote:
Many participants used the word “contagious” to describe the feeling of a megachurch service where members arrive hungry for emotional experiences and leave energized. One church member said, “(T)he Holy Spirit goes through the crowd like a football team doing the wave. …Never seen it in any other church.”
I am interested to hear from readers that attend megachurches. What can they teach us about cognitive design?
