Includes bibliographical references (p. 201-215) and index.

Introduction -- Sacred archipelgaos: spaces of secularization -- Sacred scenes: postsuburbia and evangelical performance -- Purpose driven pluralities: variety, consumption and choice in postdenominational evangelicalism -- Purpose driven places: small performances in big churches -- Purpose driven planet: the globalization of evangelical postsuburbia -- Purpose driven politics: the saddleback civil forum and the new civility of evangelism -- Conclusion: assembling spaces of fusion, de-fusion, and diffusion in the postsuburban landscape.

"In an era where church attendance has reached an all-time low, recent polling has shown that Americans are becoming less formally religious and more promiscuous in their religious commitments. Within both mainline and evangelical Christianity in America, it is common to hear of secularizing pressures and increasing competition from nonreligious sources. Yet there is a kind of religious institution that has enjoyed great popularity over the past thirty years: the evangelical megachurch. Evangelical megachurches not only continue to grow in number, but also in cultural, political, and economic influence. To appreciate their appeal is to understand not only how they are innovating, but more crucially, where their innovation is taking place." -Book cover.