ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: RETAILING RELIGION: BUSINESS PROMOTIONALISM IN AMERICAN CHRISTIAN CHURCHES IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY John Curran Hardin, Doctor of Philosophy, 2011 Dissertation directed by: Associate Professor David B. Sicilia. Department of History Evangelist Billy Graham once remarked, “We are selling the greatest product on earth – belief in God – why shouldn‟t we promote it as effectively as we promote a bar of soap?” His comparison is misleading in its simplicity, since it strikes at the heart of the complex relationship between religion and the modern American marketplace. Retailing Religion examines how American Christian churches in the twentieth century promoted their institutions and messages by adopting modern public relations, advertising, personal sales, and marketing techniques from the secular business community. Retailing Religion develops four principal themes. First, Christian churches in the twentieth century followed the promotional trends of corporate firms with only a slight lag time. Second, this borrowing nurtured the growth of rationalism and individualism in American Christianity, which contributed significantly to the religion‟s modernization. This transformation was especially pronounced in churches‟ growing dependence on rational methods and numerical metrics, and in their transition from a producer orientation to a consumer orientation. Third, church promotional efforts increased not the secularization but the pluralization of American Christianity by erecting a platform for cooperation among churches, denominations, and religions. Fourth, church promotionalism fostered an ongoing tension between their sacred mission and their secular methods. Wrestling with this tension, both advocates and critics of church promotion labored throughout the century to develop historical, theological, and pragmatic arguments to defend or denounce the practices. The tension was so complex and often contradictory that some of the strongest advocates for religious retailing were also its biggest critics. The key historical actors in this study are the leading pioneers and practitioners of church promotion: organizations such as the Religious Public Relations Council; experts such as Gaines Dobbins, Philip Kotler, Peter Drucker, and George Barna; pastors such as Robert Schuller, Bill Hybels, and Rick Warren; and critics such as David Wells and Os Guinness. In tracing their adoption, development, implementation, and dissemination of the latest business promotional methods, Retailing Religion provides a broad portrait of American religion‟s struggle to remain both faithful to the divine and relevant to the world. RETAILING RELIGION: BUSINESS PROMOTIONALISM IN AMERICAN CHRISTIAN CHURCHES IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY by John Curran Hardin Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2011 Advisory Committee: Professor David B. Sicilia, Chair. Professor James B. Gilbert Professor David Freund Professor Miles Bradbury Professor Robert Nelson ©Copyright by John Curran Hardin 2011 For my grandfather, John A. Hardin, “Sr.” Thanks Papa. ii Acknowledgements This dissertation would not have been possible without the support of several institutions and their gracious staffs. Grants from the Louisville Institute, the Presbyterian Historical Society, and the Department of History at the University of Maryland enabled me to focus on my dissertation for the past two years. Seminars hosted by the Louisville Institute and the Lehrman American Studies Center were invaluable in providing conversation partners and encouragement in the early and final stages of this project. Several archivists helped me navigate various collections and sources along the way. I am grateful to the staffs of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Archives, the Presbyterian Historical Society, the Joint Archives of Holland, and The Drucker Institute for their assistance. Thanks also to the Religion Communicator‟s Council for granting me access to their archival collections. I owe my love of history and my interest in American religious history to Grant Wacker. As an undergrad, I studied civil engineering at The Citadel and abhorred the subject of history. However, years later, while studying theology at Duke University, the curriculum forced me to enroll in Dr. Wacker‟s course on American Religious History. I loved it. I still remember meeting with him after class one afternoon and expressing my newfound interest in the subject. He suggested that I consider pursuing a PhD, and I laughed. How could a civil engineer complete a PhD in history? Yet, I was crazy and naïve enough to try and Dr. Wacker was ambitious and kind enough to take me under his wing as an alien in the discipline while I completed my Masters. Along the way, he introduced me to Jim Gilbert, a professor in U.S. History at the University of Maryland. iii In May 2004, after graduating from Duke, I moved to Washington, D.C. to enroll as a doctoral student with Dr. Gilbert. While studying at the University of Maryland, two men, Jim Gilbert and David Sicilia, played an inestimable role in my development as a scholar and in the genesis and completion of this dissertation. Dr. Gilbert introduced me, through his books and courses, to the contested spaces with “indistinct boundaries,” where religion negotiates its identity with other institutions and systems of meaning in American culture. He also went to bat for me when few were willing to take a risk and give an engineer an opportunity to be a historian. Without his scholarship and his support, my doctoral career would not exist. David Sicilia, or “Boss,” introduced me to the fascinating field of business history. The idea for this dissertation developed in his course on the history of American business and economics. Since then he has remained an ardent supporter of my academic career, shepherding me through comprehensive examinations, a prospectus defense, and the production of this dissertation. His sense of humor, his wisdom, and his friendship have been invaluable, and I cannot thank him enough for his service and his kindness to me. I am also grateful to the other members of my dissertation committee for taking the time to provide me with their feedback and questions: David Freund, Robert Nelson, and Miles Bradbury. Outside of the university, there have been countless friends that supported, encouraged, and coached me throughout this endeavor. Mark Dever introduced me to the intricacies of Christian ecclesiology and fed my appetite for the subject. Throughout the development of this project, he has been an invaluable resource of information and creative thinking. His enthusiasm for this dissertation has often been much greater than iv my own, and his encouragement, guidance, and friendship have been absolutely crucial in its completion. I also thank Connie Dever, Justin Sok, Garrett Conner, and many, many members of the Capitol Hill Baptist Church, who assisted me by repeatedly asking about this project, discussing the topic, tracking down sources, and even reading bits of drafts. Thanks to Matt and Ashley Wells for graciously hosting me in their home on repeated trips to Philadelphia. Other friends specifically helped me navigate the waters of graduate school. From their own experience, they gave me examples and suggestions on how to survive and sometimes even excel as a doctoral student. Among them particularly were Jon White, Chris Esh, Ian Drake, Khalil Habib, and Will Inboden. I also owe a special debt of gratitude to Greg Anderson, Maria Robles, and the rest of the crew at the Bruegger‟s Bagels on Wisconsin Avenue in Washington, D.C. where I consumed gallons of caffeinated drinks and wrote the majority of this dissertation. They made the writing process very enjoyable with lots of laughs and lots of cinnamon raisin bagels with peanut butter. My family has also been a constant source of support and encouragement along the way. As I have shifted from engineer, to golf course builder, to golf instructor, to minister, and finally to graduate student, my mother, Martie, aka “Mookie” or “Mook- dawg,” has always supported me. No one could ask for a more magnificent, loving, funny, wise, caring mother. I will never be able to repay her for all of the sacrifices and energy that she has given for my successes, but I hope that this dissertation will stand as a small monument to her labor and love. I am also thankful to my brother, Dan, for his interest in my research and his encouragement of an older brother that could never seem to get out of school. v During my second semester at the University of Maryland, I met a student at a rival school, the University of North Carolina, named Jessica Roeger. The next semester, I asked her to marry me, and a semester later, to my great joy, she did. Since then she has been by my side throughout this adventure. In fact, she has carried me through most of it. All along the way, she has graciously supported my other marriage, to this dissertation. Now that it is complete, I anxiously await our next adventure. It is the greatest privilege of my life to have her as my wife, and there are no adequate words to express my adoration and appreciation of her. My only disappointment in this dissertation is that my grandfather, John A. Hardin, “Sr.” or “Papa,” did not live to see its completion. He was always quick to ask, “How‟s the thesis Johnny Boy?” and even appeared interested as I went on and on about it. He would then remark with his trademark slogan, “that‟s grand.” Any successes that I have had throughout my life, I owe in great part to his generosity, his example, and his expectations. I am deeply grateful to him for his love and support. It is an indescribable honor for me to dedicate this “grand” dissertation to him. vi Table of Contents Introduction: Wrestling with Demons ............................................................................ 1 Christianity in the American Marketplace .................................................................