What began as a simple question, "What is a megachurch?" quickly became an obsession for filmmaker Morgan Mead.
Production began on Easter Sunday 2007 in Bowling Green, KY and ended in June, 2009. During that time Mead would travel the country fueled by pocket change and a thirst for answers. What he found would change his way of thinking about religion, church, and preconceived notions of the largest churches in America.
The quest began with a handful of ignorant assumptions seeded by media coverage and hear-say. The first stop was to get some real facts from an expert named Scott Thumma. Scott is a megachurch researcher at the Hartford Seminary and author of many books and articles on the subject of megachurches. He turned some of Mead's assumptions upside down and verified others. Armed with the facts, Mead then headed to numerous megachurches, small churches, and to the general public to get their points of view.
Mead found plenty of megachurch opposition from the public, the media, and even from other churches. The surprising part is why the opposition exists. It's not just the enormous size of the megachurches, the money, the scandals, or the media attention. These megachurches are under fire because of theological reasons and because of their methods behind attracting their large crowds.
"The Alpha and the Mega" explores the megachurch phenomenon with a look at the different types of megachurches, their origins, and of course their opposition. Are these megachurches taking over America and running the small church out of town? Are they preaching "religion lite"? Are they money-making machines? Is their message watered down or too empowering? Should pop culture really be used in church? Why does church need to be so BIG?
Find out the real truth about America's largest churches.
