superchurch

[ soo-per-church ]

noun

1. a church housed in an extremely large structure and containing elaborate facilities.

Word History and Origins

Origin of superchurch¹

First recorded in 1990–95

Example Sentences

She looked up, remarking, “This is what it feels like to run a superchurch.”

From Los Angeles Times

But you reassert fundamentalism as a “church movement” first and foremost, representing localism against “superchurch” ecumenism.

From Salon

In the book, “superchurch” is one of the words that speaks to this paradox in fundamentalist rhetoric.

From Salon

What did interest me was a narrative tension that kept popping up in my research between local churches and a constructed “enemy,” variously described in terms of ecumenical federation, superchurch confederacy, a world church, and secular humanism.

From Salon

The superchurch, a mall-size, high-profile house of worship, is the natural counterpart of the super-supermarket and the multiplex cinema.

From Time Magazine Archive