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Megachurches: A Year in Review

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by | 11 April, 2010 | 0 comments

By Kent Fillinger

Studies, books, and articles that examine high-performing or fast-growing churches abound, and each one seeks to uncover the reasons for their success. The same is true in the business world. Successful companies frequently are profiled in an attempt to ascertain the secrets of their greatness.

Recent research from the business world demonstrates that “the “˜great” companies . . . are mostly just lucky.”1 A study of 287 high-performing companies in 13 major success studies showed “that only about one in four of those firms was likely to be remarkable; the rest were indistinguishable from mediocre firms catching lucky breaks. . . . In short, what qualifies as remarkable performance is anything but self-evident.”

The writers conclude, “Success studies should be treated not as how-to manuals but as sources of inspiration and fuel for introspection. Their value is not in what you read in them but what you read into them.”2

Our hope is that you are inspired to address the issues in your church to generate growth as you read the “success” stories of these megachurches and emerging megachurches and as you navigate the numbers in our study.

Here is a short synopsis of the key developments in each category surveyed from 2009.

Growth and Attendance

This year”s report features 114 churches””54 megachurches (churches with an average weekend worship attendance of 2,000 or more) and 60 emerging megachurches (those that averaged 1,000 to 1,999). There was a great deal of transition reflected in this year”s listings, with five new megachurches and seven new emerging megachurches, but these gains were somewhat offset by two churches dropping below the megachurch mark and four churches falling below 1,000 in attendance.

After the combined annual growth rate hit an 11-year low in 2008, these churches rebounded last year with a combined growth rate of 4.7 percent””the highest since 2005. By comparison, a church with an average worship attendance of 150 would need to grow by seven people in a year to equal the same growth rate as the churches included in our study.

The growth rate for megachurches alone averaged 4.8 percent last year, up from 3.5 percent in 2008. The average growth rate of the emerging megachurches more than doubled from 2.2 percent to 4.7 percent in 2009.

The two fastest-growing churches in 2009 were both from Florida””Real Life Christian Church (in Clermont), which grew 65 percent, and Generations Christian Church (Tarpon Springs), which grew 51 percent.

Another positive statistic is that 67 percent of the listed churches grew last year. The total weekly worship attendance of these churches grew 2 percent to a total of 317,003.

Senior Ministers

While dependence on a senior minister can be a real danger in the megachurch environment, the role of the senior minister in the growth and development of these churches should not be discounted. The old adage, “The speed of the leader, the speed of the team,” rings true as we research and study churches of varying size. (For a detailed analysis of this issue, see my article “The Leadership Factor” from the September 13, 2009, Christian Standard).

In 2009, the average starting date of senior ministers in both megachurches and emerging megachurches was 1996 and these leaders had an average age of almost 50.

In examining the age factor, we discovered there are 10 senior ministers among the churches listed who are in their 30s, and 11 senior ministers who are over 60. The churches led by the guys in their 30s grew an average of 14.2 percent while the churches led by guys 60 and older, by comparison, grew only 1.7 percent on average. The senior ministers in their 40s and 50s experienced growth rates of 4.3 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively.

The peak years for church growth continue to be when the minister is in his eighth to 10th year. Last year, churches led by a senior minister with eight to 10 years of tenure grew an average of 17 percent, followed by those leaders with five to seven years of tenure, whose churches averaged 11 percent growth.

One prevalent myth is that long-term ministry equals numerical success for a church, but research consistently dispells this. For example, last year the churches led by senior ministers with 11-20 years of tenure grew only 1.4 percent.

Worship Venues

Forty-five percent of the churches profiled offered adult worship venues in more than one room or building on their current campus in 2009. Megachurches were twice as likely as emerging megachurches to do so (60 percent compared to 29 percent).

The average megachurch offered more than six different options for worship services each week, compared with three different worship options for emerging megachurches.

Worship styles are a major point of discussion and even contention in churches across the country. The noticeable trend among the profiled megachurches and emerging megachurches is to focus on one style of worship. The churches that focused on a single worship style had the best growth rates.

Forty-five percent of the megachurches in our study focused on one style of worship, and these churches grew by more than 12 percent on average last year. For megachurches, offering three different worship styles continued to be the second most effective driver of growth. The megachurches that offered three worship styles grew 7.5 percent last year.

Half of the emerging megachurches listed offered only one style of worship, and these churches grew an average of almost 5 percent last year. Interestingly, all but one of the emerging megachurches that offered multiple styles of worship declined in attendance.

Multisite Ministry

Multisite ministry continues to shape the future of megachurches with 42 percent of the megachurches listed using a multisite ministry model compared with only 16 percent of the emerging megachurches listed.

The 32 multisite churches operated in 92 different geographic locations, which included 14 new sites launched last year. The 41 percent of churches that added a new location last year experienced an average growth rate of 10.6 percent. Despite the increase in the number of additional ministry sites, 77 percent of the worship participants still attend the original campus.

The 32 multisite churches had a combined average baptism ratio of 9.6 baptisms per 100 people in attendance; this is better than the overall average baptism ratio of 7.6. Additionally, these multisite churches grew faster in 2009 with a 6.3 percent growth rate, compared to the overall average of 4.7 percent.

The senior ministers at these multisite churches had an average age of 47.5, compared with 50.6 years for the senior ministers at single-site churches.

Seven churches indicated they had definite plans to implement a multisite model within the coming year.

Finances

Corporate bailouts, national debt, and economic stimulus and recovery plans continue to be national themes for our country. The current recession has impacted some churches more than others, but the overall average giving to the “general fund” was constant for both megachurches at $5.7 million and emerging megachurches at $1.9 million last year.

Theoretically, since these churches grew in attendance last year, there should have been a corresponding increase in total giving, but that did not occur. The actual per-person weekly giving was down less than 50 cents per person per week at megachurches and down $2.82 per person per week at emerging megachurches.

The area of giving that took a visible hit due to the recession was building funds and capital campaigns. In 2009, a combined $33.9 million was given in these categories compared with $84.5 million in 2007. And in just one year, from 2008 to 2009, the average per-church giving for building campaigns alone decreased 33 percent.

The area of giving that took an invisible hit from the slow economy was debt reduction. The total indebtedness of the churches reporting increased more than $100 million in 2009 to a grand total of $729.7 million. The average per-church indebtedness grew by almost $1 million last year to $7.2 million per church. The indebtedness of the average megachurch grew 23 percent last year to $9.7 million per church.

More than 43 percent of the churches in our study increased their ministry spending last year, while 42 percent decreased their ministry spending. Compared to 2008, 17 percent more of the churches decreased their ministry spending last year.

One of the areas most immediately impacted by giving and spending is a church”s ministry staff. Although more than 40 percent of the churches maintained their full-time staff last year, 25 percent of the churches surveyed decreased their full-time staff. The percentage of churches that increased their full-time staff dropped from 45 percent in 2008 to 33 percent last year.

________

1Michael E. Raynor, Mumtaz Ahmed, and Andrew D. Henderson, “Are “˜Great” Companies Just Lucky?”Â Harvard Business Review, April 2009, 18.

2Ibid.



Kent Fillinger is president of 3:STRANDS Consulting (www.3strandsconsulting.com)

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