Do business till he comes: The business of housing god in singapore megachurches

Abstract

Religion and business are often seen as inhabiting separate social spheres, yet megachurches combine them in ways that reflect their context. Operating in a country that combines state control and growth-oriented economic pragmatism, New Creation and City Harvest churches in Singapore manage their church-building projects to fulfil both state regulatory and church organizational objectives. Each church in their own way uses the discourse and techniques of marketing managerialism to promote growth, including through significant building projects justified in terms of their religious mission. As a business discourse, marketing managerialism not only leaves its imprint on church language, but h..