Many evangelical church denominations have no megachurches, a new survey finds.
Evangelical leaders participating in the July survey of the National Association of Evangelicals reported that their denomination has few, if any, large churches.
Moreover, “none” was the top answer from evangelical leaders when asked about the role megachurches play in their denominations.
“The numbers show that megachurches are relatively few in America. They make up less than one percent of the total number of congregations,” commented Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, in a statement.
“However, they have a disproportionate influence and visibility. They are the leaders to which pastors and other church leaders look for how to do church,” he added.
Salvation Army, for instance, has very few large congregations among its 1,329 churches that have 300 to 400 people, said Todd Bassett, former National Commander for the Salvation Army in the United States.
Likewise, Kerry R. Ritts of the Primitive Methodist Church USA said her denomination is small and has no megachurches.
However, larger denominations like the Assemblies of God have quite a few large congregations.
The general superintendent of the denomination, George Wood, said megachurches have “a very important role” in the Assemblies of God.
The top 191 largest churches in the denomination, Wood said, have a combined Sunday attendance of 378,450. In other words, 1.5 percent of Assemblies of God churches account for more than 21.4 percent of the total attendance of all the denomination’s churches.
There were mixed opinions about America’s megachurches.
Some complimented megachurches for leading the way in leadership and innovation, for financial support of ministries, solid evangelical theology, and especially “church planting” in which large churches start new churches.
But criticism of megachurches included competition with smaller churches for members, self-reliance, and lack of cooperation with other churches.
Joseph Tkach of the Worldwide Church of God said megachurches play no role in his denomination.
“We view them as a modern invention that does not follow the pattern of the early church. And of course, we do not view all of the megachurches as being the same. Some are exceptionally good and some are not,” he said.
The Evangelical Leaders Survey is a monthly questionnaire to 100 members of the NAE board of directors that includes heads of evangelical denominations with about 45,000 local churches, executives of para-church organizations and colleges plus a limited number of individual evangelicals who hold at-large seats.
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I would like to add though that 'people being saved' is the end of true worship! I wasn't trying to downplay this. Of course evangelism is vital! Those who worship in spirit and truth follow God's commandment to:
Luke 10:27 - "...love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself."
This verse is emphatic with the truth that God is to be loved (i.e. worshiped) first and foremost, and that our neighbour must follow this. Without the heart, soul and strength in our love for God, the love for our neighbour would be as filthy rags to Him.
continued from below...
It is clear then, that God is SEEKING such to worship Him. Such what? Such worshippers who are in His presence not merely physically, but spiritually. And since God is Holy, he cannot be worshipped by anyone who is not of the spirit. It would be completely contrary to Godâ
Dear pcmoore4:
While I believe that your heart is in the right place, I was troubled by one thing in particular from your last post. When you say, "the Gospel is being preached in truth and love," as a criterion to justify a church, I cannot help but be reminded of the passages in John-
John 4:23, 24 - "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."
The Greek for both occurrences of â
If people are coming to know Christ, the Gospel is being preached in truth and love, believers are being baptized and spriritual growth is being encouraged and prayerfully directed; what does it matter what the size of the church is? God be glorified and Jesus be made famous to the nations. Who cares? Mega, mini, medium...
BTW...my local church is only 70 people, So dont fire off some comment to me about belonging to a mega.
MAKE JESUS FAMOUS!
Biblically, there is nothing wrong with a mega church. before you I am defending mega churches, let me say that I do not belong to a large Mega church. However, If mega churchs were wrong then what do you call the saving of three sound and five thousand in the book of acts? The bible says three thousand were saved in a day. That is an instant mega church by our definition. Sure Jesus wanted to make those who followed him were genuine, but that applies to any believer anywhere regardless what local fellowship they go to.
The real problem is how the word is taught. If leadership is teaching that big means blessed of God then that is incorrect, if a small church teaches that being small is God's will then that is wrong also. What counts what the body of Christ is doing. Are the sharing the gospel message with the lost and when those who are lost come to faith in Christ are they discipling them?That is bibles model for church growth. If a certain church experiences growth that doesn't mean they are out of God's will. Of course on can argue and say why not split the church and break the number down. Well...that can be debated. there is certainly nothing sinful about doing that. It is up to the leadership.
Another issue is human ingenuity. Here in America we don't need the Holy Spirit because we have our conferences, counsulting firms and strategic planning seminars. I don't believe the church should advertisethe gospel as if is a commodity. Preach the gospel and let the Holy Spirit add to the church. Remember its quality not quantity.
Greg Laurie's church, Harvest, is the exception. It is
warm and welcoming and the workers are great. Sunday mornings are amazing and the Sunday night services are
Gods salvation at work. It is great to see whole families and gang members go forward and accept Christ as
savior. We try to arrange our vacations around visiting
Harvest whenever possible. No gimmicks or "atmosphere"
Gods Holy Spirit is welcome there, no strings attached.
In my experience, the problem with Mega churches is they are often only formed based on the "personality" of the founding pastor. There is often a degree of arrogance where they (the "mega-pastors") start also believing this, and as a result, simply grow and grow and grow their church and facilities. While I do think there are some positives to this approach (namely a united political force, an ability to have top notch facilities and programs) to me, pastors would be much better served to set a specific membership goal, and upon reaching it, move to seed a new church to serve the local community. 5 strong moderately size churches will reach and impact more lives than 1 big personality driven mega church - in my opinion and experience. Imagine if rather than one 20k membership church there were eighty 250 people membership churches in a city with a common oversight and the humility to share some of the resources as it makes sense... People might recognize those sitting next to them in the pew, have a personal relationship with their pastor/church leadership and indeed have a presence across the local community. To me a much better model - but don't hold your breath - I am sure there is a budding mega-church in your community already planning their next building expansion project...
Well if where not for change, all Christians would belong to a Cotholic Parish.congregation. Mega Churches seem to be the latest scapegoat. While they not be everynes favorite cup of tea megachurches aren't inherantly bad and can served God just as well as any other church. I just don't recall the same concern about the mega congregations/crowds Billy Graham could gather and how Graham couldn't be doing God's work.
this is why:
Rock star or pastor? It's hard to
tell in many churches today as they
attempt to "outworld" the world.
Chris Seay is the pastor of Ecclesia in
Houston, a "hip church" for people who
want to remain as cool as the world
around them"
While in the Kentucky Air National Guard I had to go to Louisville for my weekend duty, I met a person who attended Southeast Christian which is truly a mega-church, I shared how I could not be comfortable in a church that size because I was concerned about the ability to fellowship with other members as well as how do you effectively disciple members in a church that size. He shared that what many people do not understand is that Sunday was purely a time to come together for worship and the proclamation of God's Word. He went on to say that a majority of the people who become members came into the church through one of the small groups that were meeting in the Louisville area throughout the week as opposed to coming to an event at the church or even coming on a Sunday morning. He shared that it is in the small groups where people are coming to Christ as well as being discipled and having fellowship with other members. I still personally prefer a smaller church but at the same time see that some but not all mega-churches are being effectively used of God to effectively reach their community with the Gospel of Christ. When it comes to church size, one size does not fit all.
"Megachurches really have no biblical basis for existance.The new testament church took place in homes and synagoges."
Actually...the home churches would gather together once a week for what was called the 'eclesia' (sp) which was the mass gathering. The mega-church as it's called is usually made up of small group (home based) 'churches' which all meet together once a week in the main building.
This is the model of many, many mega-churches. The small group leaders function as the pastors. Now, Pastor is only used once in the entire Bible and it is someone who takes care of the sheep. In a church our size we have several pastors on staff and many 'lay' pastors in the body itself. The main problem with the mega-church is interface between the small groups and the leadership of the church.
Still, the mega-church is a fairly new concept in evangelical Christianity. It will take time....
Megachurches really have no biblical basis for existance.The new testament church took place in homes and synagoges.For the most part megachurches preach prosperity,and materialism.All they really seem to be is "christian"theemed malls with book stores that feature the main pastors latest best seller,coffee shops,TV studios,and ministry marketing centers with a few sermons a week tossed in.It is hard to find one that doesn't have some sort of scandal associated with it,either sexual or financial in nature.And finally you have to ask how can someone be a responsible shephard for a flock of thousands and answer to the Father for his actions?Megachurches are just to worldly to have a positive effect for the kingdom of God.