80% of the churches in the US are on the decline, and that includes every traditional denomination. The younger crowd has been quite clear about loving Jesus but disliking the church. In fact, According to Dave Kinneman’s book, “Unchristian,” they trust the gay community more than the Christian community!
So what’s up with the continued growth of the supposedly “outdated” mega church? While the US economy is eking out a weak 1-2% growth and the global economy is sputtering along at 2-3%, the largest mega-churches shot ahead at 9.9%! While most churches remain small, these large churches keep getting larger.
Check out these 2008 mega-church stats from Outreach magazine’s annual survey:
- Attendance of the largest 103: 1,128,451 (average size= 10, 956)
- Growth from 2007 to 2008: 111,525 (9.9%)
- Greatest percentage gain: 72% (Church of The Highlands, Birmingham)
- Smallest church of the top 100: 7000
- Average number of sites per church: 2.42
So what’s going on here? This mega-church growth wasn’t supposed to continue. The recent struggles at Willow Creek (the mega-church poster child in Chicago) had many bloggers celebrating the indisputable death of the mega-church model. Why do you think they continue to grow, and do you think it’s good for the Kingdom?
Noted researcher, Ed Stetzer, summarized the data into the “Top 10 Lessons” gained from the group of mega-churches:
- Everyone on the church teams is hyper-focused on the vision
- They are passionate about engaging the community, the hurting, and those far from Christ
- They cultivate a environment of creative innovation
- They are willing to risk “restarting” their church with new sites, buildings, and even new leadership
- They are implementing “Digital Connections,” and thousands attend on-line
- They are intentional about the often elusive 20-30 year old crowd
- They are becoming multi-generational as millions of boomers age
- They are launching “multiple-sites” with the average number at 2.42 sites/church
- They are moving to a “shared team” leadership model
- They focus their attention on a specific demographic and are mono-cultural
Of course there are downsides to rapid growth. The leaders are burning out (Most would say they are “Rushnecks”), and many are promoted into roles they aren’t qualified for. As a result, the churches fail to adequately disciple and assimilate new people…resulting in unhealthy growth and a consumer culture. In light of the sobering decline of the traditional church, where would we be without this creative innovation and courageous risk taking?
Do the negatives outweigh the positives? Would you attend a mega-church? Why or why not?
Ed,
As you know, I attend Church of the Highlands, Outreach’s number # 1 fastest growing church. The numbers in the magazine are conservative to say the least.
I chose this church first and then moved to the city. Not the other way around as most do because they have to. I’ve watched the church go from 2500 to 10k; the small group directory on my desk is like a phone book.
When people know where I am, I often get the “how are they doing that” phone call. First thing I say, “get a pen, paper, and new perspective”. Because it’s going to be so much more simple than expected. Our church does four things and if a ‘new idea’ doesn’t fit in those four, it doesn’t happen; or so they say. There are exceptions to the rule, but I haven’t cracked the real code on what those are…. Their simple focus is mostly the ingredient for their success, but also, at times, serves as a limitation to the very free-market they profess to.
To answer your questions, the positives totally outweigh the negatives. Traveling like we do, I both love and hate that when I come to church, no one asks, “Where have you been?”
I love it because I don’t have to defend my church attendance. I hate it because, like anyone, I like to know when I’ve been missed.
I like church growth and I like stats, but the numbers I want to see are:
- Where is the growth coming from? The little church down the street that’s struggling, or outsiders coming to Christ?
- How many new believers (as a percentage of the congregation) did they baptize this year?
- Are people growing? Or are they attracted to a mega-church because they can stay anonymous, un-involved, and childlike in their faith indefinitely?
Numbers can be deceiving.
I’m sure people attend mega-churches for all the right reasons, and grow in their experiences there. Personally, I don’t think I could do it. I like community. I like family. I like feeling like I am part of the Church. Some people probably enjoy those things in their mega-churches, but it’s not for me. I like knowing my pastor.
Bartender,
You sound in conflict there brother. You want to be missed but don’t want anyone to know your missing…huh?
Sloooooowwww down there padre’. Help me out here…what are the specifics you really like and dislike about it. An inquiring mind wants to know.
Ed
Last Sunday, Church of the Highlands has over 100 people make a new commitmment to Christ; over 400 during the message series that lasted 4 or 5 weeks. Being there and knowing the church’s DNA pretty well, I will say that many of those coming to God have a negative-experience church background.
Remember the first sentence in UnChristian…..”The church has an image problem.”
I have had countless conversations with people at COTH that say, ‘wow, we didn’t know church could be like this’. I smile and agree, rejoice with those who rejoice and then keep moving – because I can see both sides.
Somebody once told me, “All churches have problems, find the one that has the set of problems you can live with and go to that one.” Well, my church has some of the best problems I’ve ever seen. Are there things I think should change – ab-so-lu-te-ly…………but I am thankful for the vision and focus of the place I call home.
Bartender,
Thanks for the insight.
Digging deeper…….
Why do people say, “I didn’t know it could be like this?”
Ed
I really think I could go to any church with my family as long as it was sound. I don’t know…I love community but I’ve found that the best times of really getting to know people are when we have them over to our house for dinner and different things…so I could do that at a big church too. I don’t think anyone wants to feel lost in a crowd or alone…but lets face it, that can happen in a room full of…10 people. If I’m right with my creator and Jesus is being preached from scripture at a church in truth, I think I could be happy in a big huge group of Christians or a small one. =o)
I’ve only been in a few really large churches though (counting E 91st here in Indy since it’s across the street =o), my opinion is kind of shallow when I consider that.
Ann
Hey Ann,
Thanks for sharing.
I do think the key is a few really close relationships one can rejoice and cry with and a larger group that shares your spiritual values. The larger group/congregation needs to have strong leadership that is spiritually grounded, has a clear God inspired purpose/vision, and is committed to discipleship and holding each other….youth and adults… accountable to grow and bear fruit for the Kingdom, each other, and the community. In mega-churches there are many sub groups or little congregations building off the vision of the big congregation.
One other big issue is the congregation needs to be a place of identity, encouragement, and inspiration. We were created to be in relationships with others…to love God and love each other. Love doesn’t seek it’s own.
Young Christians, especially, need a youth group where they have identity, support, encouragement, and inspiration (where there is no vision the people perish) or the pull of their culture seems to become just too great to overcome. If we do not provide a spiritually grounded fellowship where they can belong, be loved and inspired by adults, and find purpose they will find a some other group to fit into. And, unfortunately, quickly adopt the values of this other group. The congregation, whatever size, has a huge responsibility to create and sustain that group.
The blessings of a father are passed to the third and fourth generation…Proverbs.
Ed
Ed,
My primary concerns for the mega church are 1) commitment to a Christian life, and 2) a sense of brotherhood.
I think it is very easy in a mega church scenario to let the life style you lead go less to your convictions and more to your desires. A tighter nit group creates accountability. Lets face it the human side in us will always be lured away from God.
I have friends who attend mega church’s and they do get a sense of community from those who choose small group settings, etc. I dont get the sense they enjoy a truly unified brotherhood.
Matt
Matt just shared that he has friends attending a ‘mega church’ and they don’t sense community. Is that because the churches they attend have no “sense of community” or because Matt’s friend have no “sense FOR community”?
What I mean is – are they making an effort to connect. At some level we have to be (1) Intentional with creating community with others and (2) Authenticity – which could actually be considered more important than Intentional.
If you are intentional without being authentic, then…………well – you’re like an ‘over-greeter’ at church. If you are authentic, but not intentional then who will ever know you’re authentic?
Matt/Btender,
I think your right on BTender. Some churches just don’t get the community thing and make no effort with how they are organized or how their facilities facilitate connections….yes research clearly shows facilities do matter.
And as Btender shared some people just aren’t ready to connect for many reasons so no matter what the ministry does they will not connect until they are ready and comfortable.
Regarding the commitment to Christian life….. there is an issues here. Many of these fast growing mega-churches are growing too fast to assimilate and disciple all the people.
However, I’ve been in many, many small traditional churches that are about preserving a comfort zone more so than building Christian depth and fruit. As a result they fail as badly and in many ways and are part of the reason so many are leaving and searching for a genuine faith experience that builds real spiritual strength, depth, and power in their lives.
At the same time there are mega-churches that are doing a good job at spiritual growth. So, my experience suggests it comes down to the spiritual heart, leadership ability, and vision of the ministry more so than size or denomination.
Ed
I’m almost afraid to jump in on this one, because I know how feelings run on both sides.
We attend Christ Fellowship in Palm Beach Gardens (Number 25). We started when it was at 150-175 every week. Now we run 16,000. (Up 4k from when the article was researched).
Community, as I suspect Bartender would agree, is something you DO, not something that is provided for you. You can turn your back on brotherhood and community in a small church AND in a large church. The best mega-churches (really hate that term) have –how to describe it — churches within the church. And that’s where you find community, radical commitment and even being missed week to week. Sometimes those churches within a church are small groups, but sometimes they are not. In my case, i have a group of families radically committed to each other that won’t show up on any organizational chart or small group directory, but we exist just the same.
That being said, I enjoyed our two years of the church being small. There was something special about knowing and being known. God speaks in both ways, to people in both kinds of churches. I don’t believe, therefore, that it’s an either/or situation. Once more there’s the exquisite tension of living with an “and” in our times.
Marla,
Excellent summary!
You capture the real essence of the issue. It all depends how God has wired us, what we’re passionate about, and where/how we see our ministry. Great community, as you state, is more about giving than getting. It’s more about ministry than being taken care of.
And…that is what real Christianity’s about …I guess…right?
I love your thoughts Marla! You continue to bless this conversation. We gotta meet sometime!
Have a peaceful week!
Ed
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I think mega-churches are deceiving–they seem healthy because they are growing but who really knows–they can’t know if they are healthy because there are too many people–and that spells trouble because then you have burnt out leaders who don’t have time for their flock and pastors letting people lead small groups who shouldn’t be leading small groups–like control freaks and single groups leaders who are using the singles groups like a dating site–I’ve seen it happen and none of the pastors did anything about it in the name of peace when many women were leaving—not enough accountability means zero spiritual growth–so if you want to hide and remain remain immature I would suggest a mega-church–and the pastors can never admit when they are wrong! Not what pleases God!
Hi Melanie,
It sounds like you or your friends have experienced pain in the mega-church environment. There is much pain to be found there. And many mega-church pastors are coming to grips with that. I’m spending the week with 30 of them who are as concerned as you are about it.
However, I’ve found as much pain in small church environments. You can find control freaks and incompetence there as well. The average church size in the US is around 90 people. Could that be a result of a lack of competence of most church leaders to influence beyond a small group. Most small church leaders would love to impact more people (grow) but lack the ability.
Generalizations are dangerous. There are good people leading small as well as large churches. And, of course, there is plenty of incompetence in all arenas to make us cry. Its unfortunate that all we have are fallible people here on earth to lead churches as well as every other organization we depend on.
Could that be why Jesus suggested grace and love are so important?
Blessings,
Ed