Why Big Churches Keep Getting Bigger
People have been writing about the end of the “megachurch” for years. The funny thing is the research continues to confirm that megachurches are healthy and more and more people are attending them.
Prior to Thanksgiving, the Leadership Network released their “2010 Large Church Economic Outlook Report“. The report compiled research from their survey of large churches and found:
“Generally, the larger the church, the more likely it is to have experienced an increase in attendance and giving from 2009 to 2010.”
In very difficult economic times when you might expect “big church” to experience the same downturn as “big business”, just the opposite has been the case. Bigger churches are healthier than ever.
This comes on the heals of Outreach Magazine finding that the fastest-growing churches are growing faster than they have in the past. And, the Hartford Institute for Religion Research documenting the number of megachurches growing from 350 in 1990 to 600 in 2000 to over 1,400 that they’re tracking today.
It’s interesting to me that the voices talking about the decline of the megachurch seem to get more vocal as the number of big churches continue to increase. Have you noticed that?
With that in mind, over the next couple of weeks I’m going to share why I think big churches keep getting bigger…even though some people don’t want them to.
Before I share my opinion, what’s yours?
2 Theories -
1. Growth produces growth – the “snowball effect” – more people, more hooks in the water, etc..
2. Smaller churches reach people, then people are frustrated w/ smaller churches because they don’t.. (fill in the blank) “have a good enough kid’s ministry”..”the music isn’t good enough, like on the radio”..”leave me alone, everyone is always in my business”
I think alot of Mega churchesare able to sustain a sense of momentum which can help motivate and energise a congregation. In my unqualified opinion, I also think todays culture likes Big churches verses smaller churches.
Big churches also can have more resources to put towards marketing and also a larger full-time staff, so they do have more of a resource bank of manpower and money, which does help.
The other thing too is, a crowd seems to attract a crowd. My thoughts anyway.
1. Leadership
Bigger churches have a focused leadership and that leadership presents a more focused direction that people can grasp and follow
2. Politics
The politics that are in the smaller churches do not exist within the larger churches congregational body
3. Resources
Since mega churches have a more focused direction their priorities shift more towards true ministry and their resources go to true ministry. In turn people are drawn to a church that is really ministering rather than trying to keep dead programs alive
4. Excitement factor
People get excited by what other people are excited about as the comment before said Growth produces growth
5. Age focused groups
As a minister in my 20′s in a traditional older smaller church I have very few people in my church in my age group in a large church the community in which I can be involved with people my own age becomes a huge draw
I am sure I could find some more but I will leave it at that. I look forward to your insights
Numbers don’t lie. Good stuff, Tony. Good stuff, LN…
Not based on hard data but just my experience:
I’ve noticed that a lot of medium sized churches (500-2000) are shrinking and I would guess that people leaving those are more comfortable in a larger church than a smaller one. May be a contributing factor.
1. Structure & Polity – I’m sure most megachurches aren’t congregationally led, and many small churches are. It would be interesting to see a study on the “government” of megachurches versus the entire church landscape.
2. Leadership – Good leadership is necessary to help a church grow large and good leadership attracts followers.
3. It fits culture – Critical mass is important to our culture, as is excellence. It’s easier to provide that when you’re a megachurch than it is when you’re at 200.
4. Multisite – Many megachurches are multisite now, so they’re getting the benefits of both worlds while still being 1 church.
Looking at things strictly from a non-spiritual vantage point, I think that a lot of people are realizing that a mega-church can accomplish infinitely more on a global scale. We’re dealing with economies of scale here.
I think it depends on your definition of “growth” and “health”. If butts-in-seats is the measure of success, then I think the research indicates that mega churches are thriving. If a pouring out of one’s self in service to God and others is the measure of success, I’m not sure. Renewed spirituality and increased Christian discipleship are difficult to quantify. I think mega churches are tapping into a residual of people in American culture who still go to church to (1) be seen, (2) receive quality programming, (3) feel good about being a moral person, (4) be inspired by a charismatic leader, and (5) don’t want to deal with the messiness of intentional Christian community. There are examples of this model being both effective and ineffective. Most mega-churches are less than 50 years old. Time will tell if this approach to ecclesiology has a lasting impact on the lives of its members…and in the life of their community.
Good article.
I agree with other comments: momentum can become self-sustaining; bigger churches enjoy synergies that allow them to offer more and better ministries and programs; some of the growth is at the expense of the medium-sized chuches.
My concern is that contrary to what our culture says, numerical growth (attendance, dollars) doesn’t necessarily mean Kingdom growth. In the communities served, are there any meaningful changes in divorces, abortions, domestic violence, homelessness, etc.? We often use the wrong yardstick when measuring church success or failure.
I talk about this alot with my younger church friends. I am often in the minority when I talk about how the megachurch isn’t dying.
I agree that in no way does just being a megachurch signify spiritual health, but neither does being a small church.
My only thoughts are to look more in depth at Barna’s findings. I wonder if something is read into the data rather than taking the data for what it is. And when you look at the definition of Christian in most of these studies, it’s not what the Bible defines as a Christian in most cases.
I’ve got a Marketing Degree, imo the data is flawed, but I am curious about your thoughts on the matter and can’t wait to read them.
Ed Stetzer addressed this last week. In his thread someone commented it was due to the fact that megas can offer excellence in everything and people like excellence.
I’m serve a church in a resort area. Different, but there are people to be reached. So, I’m glad megas are growing. When it comes to success, it’s great. When it comes to lostness, it’s great, but is a drop in the bucket. We need every church to reach more.
All good.