Most churches in the United States are small, like the one I have been leading since June of 2021. When I started preaching there, COVID was raging in the world, and nobody was in the sanctuary except the musician and me. It was all on Zoom.
We weren’t the only ones, and now (it seems) every church in the world is broadcasting worship services. Our little church, Providence Baptist in Hendersonville NC, invested more than $10,000 in equipment, trained a couple of volunteers, and sent our stuff into cyberspace. We have a steady audience in 6-8 states, and some of them respond with comments, requests, and even money.
There is a lot to like about little churches, like small diners, small bookshops, and small theaters. Not everything has to be big.
I have liked my church, the smallest of my 55-year career as a minister. It helps that we have a lot of talent and enough money to pay all the very part-time salaries, the utilities, and just about anything else we need. It has been a wonderful experience being the pastor of 40 people, 25 of whom show up on Sunday morning for worship. Some of them and some others show up every Sunday afternoon to feed the homeless, a ministry now beginning its 16th year.
Most Christians, however, prefer large churches. Statistically speaking, the majority of Christians in the United States attend a large church, indeed, a very large churches. Somebody just published a list of the largest church in each of the 50 states plus the District.
Most exceed 2000 in attendance on a weekend with some as many as 100,000. Life
Church in Edmond, OK leads the way, but like others, it does so by counting people on multiple campuses and in multiple countries!
And half are new, by which I mean their founding has been during my lifetime. Some are still led by their founding pastor or pastors. Twenty of the 51 on the list are not affiliated with any one denominational network. Ten are Roman Catholic, including churches in Vermont, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Louisiana, North Carolina, and the District.
Yes, North Carolina, St Matthews Parish in Charlotte “with over 10,500 registered families and drawing more than 12,000 worshippers each week. Often called a Catholic megachurch, the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin runs it. The church prides itself on being inclusive, warmly welcoming divorced and LGBTQ Catholics, and embracing the teachings of the Second Vatican Council.”
Who knew!
One I do know about is Southeast Christian Church in Louisville. It grew to mega-size under the leadership of Bob Russell, now in retirement but still an effective preacher (which is what I hope somebody would say about me). I’ve attended several times over the years and occasionally tune in now to hear the preaching of their Executive Pastor, Carl Kuhl, who happens to be my nephew.
Fifteen of these churches are affiliated with Protestant denominations, especially Baptists, both black and white. The church in Montana is a Foursquare Church, Methodists claim the megachurch in Kansas and Lutherans the one in Iowa. Of course, it is a Latter Day Saints church that makes the list in Utah. Lakewood in Houston may still have connections to its original Pentecostal roots, like the Assembly of God church in Missouri.
The Hartford Institute for Religion Research is the primary center for collecting and evaluating data on megachurches. You can take your own look at their statistics here, although their summary reflects a pre-COVID analysis. I interviewed their lead scholar, Dr. Scott Thumma, in The Meetinghouse following their 2020 report, which estimated that there are at least 1750 megachurches in the United States.
I’ve never been a member or a minister of a mega-church so I cannot comment on the experience. I will, however, confess that I have never wanted to attend a mega-church, although the thought of leading a congregation to that level of activity and attendance has been appealing. But it was not to be.
I am old enough to trace the techniques of church growth, from Sunday bus routes, to large sanctuaries without windows, to the multi-campus congregation, and now to the use of technology and social media.
Who knows what is next? For them, I do not know, but for me, what’s next is a Sunday morning broadcast for people who have quit church—big church, little church, and everything in between. There are a lot of such folk around, including in my own family.
Most churches in the United States are small, like the one I have been leading since June of 2021. When I started preaching there, COVID was raging in the world, and nobody was in the sanctuary except the musician and me. It was all on Zoom.
We weren’t the only ones, and now (it seems) every church in the world is broadcasting worship services. Our little church, Providence Baptist in Hendersonville NC, invested more than $10,000 in equipment, trained a couple of volunteers, and sent our stuff into cyberspace. We have a steady audience in 6-8 states, and some of them respond with comments, requests, and even money.
There is a lot to like about little churches, like small diners, small bookshops, and small theaters. Not everything has to be big.
I have liked my church, the smallest of my 55-year career as a minister. It helps that we have a lot of talent and enough money to pay all the very part-time salaries, the utilities, and just about anything else we need. It has been a wonderful experience being the pastor of 40 people, 25 of whom show up on Sunday morning for worship. Some of them and some others show up every Sunday afternoon to feed the homeless, a ministry now beginning its 16th year.
Most Christians, however, prefer large churches. Statistically speaking, the majority of Christians in the United States attend a large church, indeed, a very large churches. Somebody just published a list of the largest church in each of the 50 states plus the District.
Most exceed 2000 in attendance on a weekend with some as many as 100,000. Life
Church in Edmond, OK leads the way, but like others, it does so by counting people on multiple campuses and in multiple countries!
And half are new, by which I mean their founding has been during my lifetime. Some are still led by their founding pastor or pastors. Twenty of the 51 on the list are not affiliated with any one denominational network. Ten are Roman Catholic, including churches in Vermont, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Louisiana, North Carolina, and the District.
Yes, North Carolina, St Matthews Parish in Charlotte “with over 10,500 registered families and drawing more than 12,000 worshippers each week. Often called a Catholic megachurch, the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin runs it. The church prides itself on being inclusive, warmly welcoming divorced and LGBTQ Catholics, and embracing the teachings of the Second Vatican Council.”
Who knew!
One I do know about is Southeast Christian Church in Louisville. It grew to mega-size under the leadership of Bob Russell, now in retirement but still an effective preacher (which is what I hope somebody would say about me). I’ve attended several times over the years and occasionally tune in now to hear the preaching of their Executive Pastor, Carl Kuhl, who happens to be my nephew.
Fifteen of these churches are affiliated with Protestant denominations, especially Baptists, both black and white. The church in Montana is a Foursquare Church, Methodists claim the megachurch in Kansas and Lutherans the one in Iowa. Of course, it is a Latter Day Saints church that makes the list in Utah. Lakewood in Houston may still have connections to its original Pentecostal roots, like the Assembly of God church in Missouri.
The Hartford Institute for Religion Research is the primary center for collecting and evaluating data on megachurches. You can take your own look at their statistics here, although their summary reflects a pre-COVID analysis. I interviewed their lead scholar, Dr. Scott Thumma, in The Meetinghouse following their 2020 report, which estimated that there are at least 1750 megachurches in the United States.
I’ve never been a member or a minister of a mega-church so I cannot comment on the experience. I will, however, confess that I have never wanted to attend a mega-church, although the thought of leading a congregation to that level of activity and attendance has been appealing. But it was not to be.
I am old enough to trace the techniques of church growth, from Sunday bus routes, to large sanctuaries without windows, to the multi-campus congregation, and now to the use of technology and social media.
Who knows what is next? For them, I do not know, but for me, what’s next is a Sunday morning broadcast for people who have quit church—big church, little church, and everything in between. There are a lot of such folk around, including in my own family.
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