superchurch

American  

[soo-per-church] / ˈsu pərˌtʃɜrtʃ /

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of superchurch

First recorded in 1990–95

Example Sentences

In U.S. ecumenical circles, he is famed as author of the "Blake proposal" to unite his own Presbyterians with Methodists, Episcopalians and three other denominations in a vast Protestant superchurch.

From Time Magazine Archive

By coincidence, another superchurch is calling at the moment: First Baptist of Dallas, the 28,000-member flagship of Southern Baptist Fundamentalism.

From Time Magazine Archive

In the six years since the Rev. Eugene Carson Blake first proposed the creation of a giant Protestant superchurch, participants in the annual Consultation on Church Union have spent their time sparring over preliminary issues.

From Time Magazine Archive

Lyle Schaller of the Yokefellow Institute in Richmond, Ind., who counsels congregations, notes that a superchurch is guaranteed future trouble if it is built largely around a single star preacher, who will be leaving someday.

From Time Magazine Archive

Within the ranks of professional ecumenists, there is considerable argument about whether the World Council is to be simply an administrative servant of the member churches or has "ecclesiological significance" as a budding superchurch.

From Time Magazine Archive