Reinventing American Protestantism : Christianity in the new millennium / Donald E. Miller.

During the past thirty years the American religious landscape has undergone a dramatic change. More and more churches meet in converted warehouses, many have ministers who've never attended a seminary, and congregations are singing songs whose melodies might be heard in bars or nightclubs. Donald E. Miller's provocative examination of these "new paradigm churches"--sometimes called megachurches or postdenominational churches shows how they are reinventing the way Christianity is experienced in the United States today.

Drawing on over five years of research and hundreds of interviews, Miller explores three of the movements that have created new paradigm churches: Calvary Chapel, Vineyard Christian Fellowship, and Hope Chapel. Together, these groups have over one thousand congregations and are growing rapidly, attracting large numbers of worshipers who have felt alienated from institutional religion. While attempting to reconnect with first-century Christianity, these churches meet in nonreligious structures and use the medium of contemporary twentieth-century America to spread their message through contemporary forms of worship, Christian rock music, and a variety of support and interest groups.

In the first book to examine postdenominational churches in depth, Miller argues that these churches are involved in a second Reformation, one that challenges the bureaucracy and rigidity of mainstream Christianity. The religion of the new millennium, says Miller, will connect people to the sacred by reinventing traditional worship and redefining the institutional forms associated with denominational Christian churches. Nothing less than a transformation of religion in the United States may be taking place, and Miller convincingly demonstrates how "postmodern traditionalists" are at the forefront of this change.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1997.

During the past thirty years the American religious landscape has undergone a dramatic change. More and more churches meet in converted warehouses, many have ministers who've never attended a seminary, and congregations are singing songs whose melodies mi

Author Notes

Miller Donald E. :

Donald E. Miller is Professor of Religion at the University of Southern California. He is coauthor with Barry Seltzer of Homeless Families: The Struggle for Dignity (1993) and with Lorna Miller of Survivors: An Oral History of the Armenian Genocide (California, 1993).

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Since the 1960s, American Protestantism has undergone significant changes, as mainline churches have experienced declines in membership. However, the new face of American Protestantism may be seen, according to Miller, in the "new paradigm churches," mega-organizations that transcend denominational polity and structure to bring Christianity to larger numbers of people in both conventional and nonconventional ways. Miller, professor of Religion at the University of Southern California, focuses his study on three such groupsCalvary Chapel, Vineyard Christian Fellowship and Hope Chapelto show the ways in which American Protestantism is being reinvented. He begins his study with a brief history of these new movements that traces their origins to the "hippies and beach baptisms" of the '60s, a time when, he notes, Christians were seeking ways to spread their message successfully to social groups for whom traditional worship and religious structure were irrelevant. These non-mainline groups were successful primarily, according to Miller, because they combined an emphasis on the simple message and organizational structure of first-century Christianity with contemporary "methods of worship, rock music, and a variety of support and interest groups." Miller examines the ways in which these groups "democratized the sacred," handing the organizational authority and interpretation of the Bible over to the congregations. Miller's evenhanded and balanced interpretation provides important insights into the character of contemporary American religion. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Choice Review

Miller's fascinating study of "new paradigm" churches focuses in particular on the Vineyard Fellowship and the circles of offspring or "adopted" congregations that have formed around Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa and Hope Chapel in Hermosa Beach, CA. Miller (Univ. of Southern California) knows that some would call these groups either evangelical or pentecostal, but he argues that neither of these labels captures "their "distinctive character. Instead he calls these new paradigm churches postmodern sects--postmodern in their structure and operation (i.e., decentralized and democratic) and sectarian in their lean, lay-oriented, whole-person emphases. Miller writes in an easy participant-observer style, and, while he does not share the religious perspective of these churches, he clearly respects the way in which they have been able to provide postmodern seekers with an experience of the sacred. The concluding chapter moves in a somewhat different direction from that of the rest of the book, drawing lessons for the Protestant mainline from these new paradigm churches. All in all, this is an excellent study of a very significant contemporary religious movement. General; undergraduate through professional. D. Jacobsen; Messiah College

Library Journal Review

Miller (religion, Univ. of Southern California) analyses what he calls "new paradigm churches." He bases his well-researched work on three churches that got their start in Southern California: Calvary Chapel, Vineyard Christian Fellowship, and Hope Chapel. Unlike more mainline evangelical churches that they resemble, these groups appeal primarily to young, middle-class families. Offering a unique blend of contemporary culture and life-transforming spirituality, they are growing rapidly as mainline churches decline. These groups are contemporary and casual in style, have very little doctrine or hierarchy, and seem to make great use of lay members in many aspects of ministry. Miller sees these churches as embodying no less than a new Protestant Reformation, with the common people reclaiming religion from the elite clergy, and he makes an interesting case for his assertion. An excellent book with some new insights; recommended for public and academic libraries.C. Robert Nixon, M.L.S., Lafayette, Ind. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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