Mega Churche

Outreach Magazine just released their list of the nation's largest churches. Here are some highlights (and I quote from Outreach Magazine):·


The nation's largest church (Lakewood Church, Houston, TX) grew by 38%, from 32,500 to 45,000. That is an increase of 12,500 in one year. I am sometimes in larger churches that tell me it is really hard to sustain growth for a church our size. · 230,000 attended the ten largest churches. · 216,000 attended the next 15 largest churches. That is nearly half a million people attending at the 25 largest churches. · 39 of the top 100 churches use multi-sites.

This is clearly one of the biggest changes in church in my lifetime. See Warren Bird's new book on the subject. · Less than half of the top 100 churches are white. · There are over a hundred churches in the United States that have over 2000 in attendance AND are less than ten years old. · A million people, roughly 10% of all who attend church attend the top 1,210 churches. If seen as a denomination, these 1,210 congregations would be the third largest denomination in the United States, behind Catholics and Southern Baptists.

A million people attend the top .3% of churches. Here is the interesting thing- these churches had little in common. It was an extremely diverse group, "Charismatic and Charismatic-hating. They are contemporary and old fashioned. They are Sunday School based and home group based. They are seeker targeted and seeker hostile. They are of every denomination--and no denomination. They are found in every geographical area. They are found in cities and relatively small towns" (Josh Hunt)"The ONLY thing they had in common was this: Great preaching and communication in the pulpit. Outreach Magazine

Apparently that was the common denominator. As a recent guest to our local leadership class told us, after all is said and done with our programs, facilities and outreach methods the bottom line is,'ya gotta have good church!' That includes well prepared (both spiritually and also in other ways) preaching, music and worship. Whatever method we use to get them through the door, there has to be something for them after they arrive.