Caleb Stigile 4/8/2013 JSIS 490 Emotional Energy: Interaction Ritual Chains & Mega-Churches Randall Collins explores

the effects of ritual interactions on the development and transfer of emotional energy within social interactions in his book Interaction Ritual Chains. Collins asserts that in the midst of every social interaction there exists an emotional energy, the social emotion par energy in contrast to specific emotions as conventionally recognizedanger, joy, fear, etc. (Collins, xii). Collins claims that this emotional energy is either built up or reduced through ritual interactions. Collins explains interaction rituals as: A model of interactional situations varying along those two dimensions how much mutual focus of attention occurs, and how much emotional entrainment builds up among the participants. Where mutual focus and entrainment become intense, self-reinforcing feedback processes generate moments of compelling emotional experience. These in turn become motivational magnets and moments of cultural significance, experiences where culture is created, denigrated, or reinforced (Collins, xi-xii). In essence, rituals and symbols are channels wherein a social loop is created of selfbuilding emotional energy. In alignment with the paradigm espoused by Durkheim, rituals and symbols are the vehicles through which individuals enact changes upon society, changes that are then consumed by society, growing and morphing as they encounter the rituals and symbols of other individuals, and then are reenacted upon the original individual. Collins claims that there are four elements common to ritual interaction chains that generate an increase in emotional energy: the bodily assembly of participants, barriers excluding outsiders, a mutual focus of attention, and a shared emotional mood (Wellman, 4). In his essay Gods Love is Like a Drug, Doctor James Wellman applies Collins interaction ritual chain theory to mega churches. Specifically, Wellman uses

Caleb Stigile 4/8/2013 JSIS 490 Collins theory to attempt to explain the popularity and effectiveness of mega churches. However, Wellman claims that mega churches break away from one of the key elements of Collins conditions for successful ritual chains: barriers excluding outsiders. Wellman argues that mega churches establish few barriers to entry allowing as many people as possible to participate, which allows for a large-scale shared mood that is typically only possible in the context of a several thousandperson ritual (Wellman, 4). I would argue that mega churches do have boundaries that limit membership. At first glance, mega churches portray a front of welcome and acceptance of all. However, after deeper inspection, most mega churches have strict membership processes and lead roles that serve as barriers for entry. Essentially, mega churches create a tier system. They begin with initial open entry, but then create a sort of elitist inner circle, the true members. An individual can only attend a mega church for so long before they will be socially pushed to go through the membership process or find an area to serve. Within this inner-circle members interact through ritual chains such as lead meetings, special small groups, and service activities, which enhance these members experience and increase their acquisition of emotional energy. Another affect that this inner-circle has is that it commonly attracts what Collins calls emotional energy stars. Emotional energy stars are individuals who are able to affect the EE level of others (Wellman, 5). Another way of thinking of emotional energy stars is to think of a drug addict with an extremely high dosage tolerance. EE stars are dependent upon the emotional energy fix they get from

Caleb Stigile 4/8/2013 JSIS 490 interaction ritual chains and are able to command high levels of emotional energy. As a result they tend to be attracted to the emotional energy generated through ritual chains within the inner-circles of mega churches. This causes the leadership and most active members of mega churches to also be those that are most adept at generating and commanding emotional energy, creating an emotional energy rich subsection of the much larger mega church population. In conclusion, when Collins theory on interaction ritual chains is first applied to mega churches it appears as if mega churches break from the requirement for barriers to entry, which Collins claims is necessary for successful emotional energy generation. However, upon further review it becomes clear that mega churches actually operate upon a level of pseudo-openness, with barriers necessary to enter the inner-circle. This inner-circle serves as the premium package for emotional energy generation and often attracts emotional energy stars.

Caleb Stigile 4/8/2013 JSIS 490 Works Cited Collins, Randall. 2004. Interaction Ritual Chains. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Wellman, James K. "God's Love Is Like A Drug." (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 8 Apr. 2013.