| Evangelical Christians in the United States have always used popular entertainment to promote their religious message. Yet, one could argue that evangelicals have never before used popular entertainment to the extent that they do presently. Currently, "Christian bookstores" around the country sell bibles, devotionals, novels, music cassettes and CD's, music videos, T-shirts, children's toys, magazines, greeting cards, and comic books, all with an explicit evangelical content. It is estimated that the industry sells about 4 billion dollars worth of merchandise per year.; Despite its size and profitability, the evangelical culture industry (also known as "the Christian retailing industry") remains a largely "hidden industry." Using the evangelical culture industry as a case study, I propose the following research question: How do concerns with art, commerce, and ideology interact to shape how objects are created, produced, and distributed? This study is the first full-scale sociological analysis of the evangelical culture industry. My research shows that the interaction between art, commerce, and ideology is important in the decision-making process regarding production. Furthermore, I address five tensions and the tactics used to alleviate them, as a result of this interaction: (1) Ministry vs. Profit---when industry members attempt to balance making money with the perceived primary goal of doing what they do for ministerial purposes, (2) Becoming all things to all men vs. Conformity to the world---when industry members attempt to balance a desire to use elements of contemporary culture that is relevant to their target audience without losing their religious distinctiveness, (3) Desire to advance artistically vs. Adhering to tradition---when industry members attempt to balance trying new artistic styles without alienating evangelicals who may feel that only certain traditional styles are acceptable for evangelism, worship, and entertainment, (4) Spreading the Gospel vs. Maintaining an audience---when industry members attempt to balance preaching to those outside of the subculture without alienating them, and (5) Evangelical vs. Non-evangelical companies---occurs when evangelical companies are purchased by secular companies. The secular companies may wish to maximize profits by downplaying elements of ministry, while the evangelical company may wish to balance ministry with profit. |
