29 March, 2024

MEGACHURCHES: A Mega-Summary of Our Churches

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by | 9 April, 2006 | 0 comments

By Kent Fillinger

Megachurches are a relatively new cultural phenomenon, and therefore myths and misconceptions abound regarding them. Our goals are to provide an accessible and understandable statistical profile of emerging megachurches and megachurches among Christian churches and churches of Christ, fully analyze the findings, and provide benchmarks for all churches to use when evaluating their ministries.

In 1997 when this listing of churches was first published in CHRISTIAN STANDARD, the definition of a megachurch was any church averaging 1,000 or more in weekly attendance. In recent years, church growth writers have redefined a megachurch as any church with 2,000 attendees or more.

Given the history of the annual list, we concluded it was valuable to continue to recognize all churches of 1,000 or more in attendance. To enhance our research findings and to improve our ability to correlate our numbers with national trends, we determined it was necessary to make a distinction between “emerging megachurches” of 1,000-1,999 in attendance and “megachurches” of 2,000-plus in attendance. Therefore, as you review this summary please be mindful of this distinction.

In previous years, the churches reported their average annual attendance, and baptism and transfer totals. This year, the survey was expanded and churches provided pertinent information in the following categories: attendance and growth details, senior pastor profiles, church staffing summaries, and detailed facility and finance reports. Statistical data from 1997 to 2005 has been included in the findings with particular emphasis given to the trends and shifts that occurred last year.

Attendance and Growth

In February 2006, the Megachurches Today 2005 summary report was released by Hartford Seminary, Hartford Institute for Religion Research, and Leadership Network. The report summarized 11 myths of megachurches in addition to providing insightful research findings on all 1,210 megachurches nationally. Christian churches/churches of Christ have 51 such churches, representing 4 percent of the total number. Additionally, 61 churches qualify as emerging megachurches for a total of 112 churches.

However, the 112 churches profiled in this report represent only 2 percent of all Christian churches/churches of Christ in the country. Six new churches joined the emerging megachurch list in 2005 and two churches broke the 2,000 barrier last year.

On an average Sunday, 275,411 people attend the 112 churches, which for perspective is slightly more people than live in the entire city of Lexington, Kentucky. In 2005, the average megachurch attendance was 3,732, slightly higher than the national average of 3,585. By comparison, the average emerging megachurch attendance last year was 1,395 people.

Given these statistics, one might assume that every megachurch was growing. Last year, the churches as a whole grew significantly less than they did in 2004. In 2005, the growth rate for megachurches decreased by almost half to an average growth rate of 5.7 percent. Likewise in 2005, the growth rate for emerging megachurches dropped almost half to an average growth rate of 5.7 percent.

To paraphrase Dickens, last year was the tale of two churches; it was the best of times for the 62 churches that experienced growth. Thirty-four churches grew by 6 percent or more, including five churches that grew by 26 percent or more. Mountainview Community Christian (Highlands Ranch, Colorado) led the way growing 52.9 percent last year.

But 44 churches (39 percent) experienced no growth or declined in attendance during 2005. The number of stagnant and declining churches was double the number from 2004.

On a positive note, the evangelistic temperature of the churches continues to be high. A total of 19,750 people were baptized in 2005 by these churches, which would more than fill Madison Square Garden. Crossroads Christian (Grand Prairie, Texas) led the way by averaging 13.7 baptisms per 100 in attendance over a two-year period. The average for all 112 churches was 7 baptisms per 100 in attendance.

Translated, a church averaging 250 in attendance achieving a goal of 18 baptisms for the year would experience the same percentage of baptisms as the emerging and megachurches.

Easter ranks as the greatest evangelistic holiday. While churches experienced a significant increase in attendance for both Easter and Christmas, Easter was consistently the number one attendance weekend.

One new category surveyed this year was multisite ministries. Fifteen churches (13.4 percent) representing 11 megachurches and four emerging megachurches have expanded beyond a single-campus ministry model to include additional ministry sites in their region. Sixteen additional churches have definite multisite plans for 2006, including 11 emerging and five megachurches.

The 15 churches with multisite locations grew on average almost three times faster in 2005 compared to churches in a single-campus model (9.4 percent vs. 3.4 percent). An intriguing corollary is that the 16 churches that have definite plans to launch a multisite in 2006 grew on average 6.3 percent last year, or twice as fast as those with no multisite plans.

Church Staffing Summary

In interviews with senior pastors, several identified the critical necessity of a competent, cohesive staff. While the senior pastor is seen as the voice of the vision for the organization, it is the ministry and support staff that is asked to implement the vision.

Another popular myth is that megachurches have an abundant ministry staff. The study examined the levels of full-time ministry staff. Megachurches average 20.2 full-time ministry staff members, which matches the national average. This equates to one ministry staffer for every 173 people in attendance.

Comparatively, emerging megachurches employ 9.6 full-time ministry staff members per church. An emerging megachurch averages one ministry staffer for every 155 people in attendance.

Therefore, a church with an attendance of 300 staffed by megachurch standards would have a maximum of two full-time ministry staff. It is not uncommon today for a church of 300 to have four or more full-time staff members, giving them more than twice the amount of staff per person as the average megachurch.

Facility and Finance Report

There is great diversity among the emerging and megachurches regarding property and facility space. The average megachurch has 40.25 acres of property serving 159 people per acre, while the average emerging megachurch has a little more than half as much acreage (23.5 acres) serving 118 people per acre.

The range of property sizes tops out at 145 acres for Crossroads Christian (Grand Prairie, Texas) and also includes Community Christian (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) with only 3.65 acres. Christ”s Church of the Valley (San Dimas, California) ministers to 614 people per acre on its 6-acre site. Most churches of all kinds in America sit on less than 10 acres of land, which is also true for 22 percent of the churches in this report.

Transition to Building Size

On these acres, megachurches are expanding their buildings. The grand total for all 112 churches is more than 9.3 million square feet, which is more than twice the size of the Mall of America. Additionally, facility expansions are underway at 36 churches that will add more than over 1.4 million extra square feet in 2006. The average megachurch facility is 127,169 square feet, or virtually twice the size of the average emerging megachurch at 65,186 square feet.

The 112 churches listed total more than 131,000 available seats in their worship centers””more than the largest college football stadium! More than half of the churches have a worship center that seats at least 1,000, and eight churches have worship centers that seat at least 3,000.

Megachurches average 1,776 seats in their largest worship center, slightly higher than the national average of 1,709. In contrast, emerging megachurches average half as many seats in their largest worship center (867 seats).

One more myth is that megachurches have more money for ministry. Research shows that among all megachurches, giving averages about $6 million per year. But the average megachurch in this report had total income of $5.6 million a year. The average emerging megachurch received a total income of $2.2 million a year. Attendees of emerging megachurches outgave megachurch attendees by a total of 5 percent ($29.75 per person per week vs. $28.30 per person per week).

Members in most of these churches have risked and sacrificed to invest financially in the present and future vision of each church. This commitment translates into a combined debt load of $458 million for the churches who reported these figures (about 80 percent of the 112). This calculates to an average of $5.2 million of debt per church.

The average debt load per person in attendance for megachurches is $1,971 compared with $2,891 for emerging megachurches. This research indicates that churches with a debt load between $2,500-3,500 per person had the highest percentage growth rate.

Imprint and Impact

Megachurches and emerging megachurches continue to cast an imprint on our culture and generate an impact on eternity. Watching the trends will provide valuable insights for leaders and churches of all sizes.


 

 

To purchase a comprehensive, detailed report based on the data gathered for this megachurch issue, CLICK HERE.

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