2 April, 2025

2017 Fast Facts about Megachurches and Emerging Megachurches

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by | 15 April, 2018 | 0 comments

These statistics from 2017 are gleaned from megachurch and emerging megachurch data collected by Kent Fillinger. Be sure to read Fillinger’s article, “Special Church Report Part 1: Megachurches and Emerging Megachurches,” and look at the accompanying tables (“The 2017 Charts: Megachurches and Emerging Megachurches”).

 

Compiled by Kent Fillinger

AVERAGE SIZE
Megachurches: 5,307
Emerging Megachurches: 1,366
Combined average weekly attendance: 390,218

GROWTH RATES
Megachurches: 5.7% (up from 3.4% in 2016); overall, 71% of megachurches grew (up from 61% in 2016).
Emerging Megachurches: 4.1% (up from 2 percent in 2016); overall, 57% of emerging megachurches grew (down from 61% in 2016).

FASTEST-GROWING MEGACHURCHES
Traders Point Christian Church, Whitestown, IN, 29.5%
Compass Christian Church, Colleyville, TX, 24.5%
Shepherd Church, Porter Ranch, CA, 22.6%

FASTEST-GROWING EMERGING MEGACHURCHES
River Hills Christian Church, Loveland, OH, 68 percent
Eastpoint Christian Church, South Portland, ME, 47.4 percent
The Point Church of the Triangle, Cary, NC, 34.9 percent

BAPTISMS
Megachurches baptized 22,599 people (an average of 411 baptisms per megachurch).
Emerging megachurches baptized 6,080 people (an average of 84 per church).

BAPTISM RATIOS
(Number of baptisms per 100 people in average attendance)
Megachurches: 7.1
Emerging megachurches: 6.1

HIGHEST BAPTISM RATIOS PER 100—MEGACHURCHES
Compass Christian Church, Chandler, AZ, 14.5
Pantano Christian Church, Tucson, AZ, 13.8
Christ’s Church of the Valley, Phoenix, AZ, 13.7

HIGHEST BAPTISM RATIO PER 100—EMERGING MEGACHURCHES
Salty Church, Ormond Beach, FL, 15.0
Community Christian Church, Hemet, CA, 12.4
Pikes Peak Christian Church, Colorado Springs, CO, 11.3

GIVING
Average weekly per-person giving (based on general fund only):
Megachurches: $32.28 (up from $29.46 in 2016)
Emerging Megachurches: $30.84 (up from $28.81 in 2016)

OUTREACH GIVING
Percentage of total budget spent on ministry “outside the walls”:
Megachurches and Emerging Megachurches: 13%

BUDGETED FOR STAFFS
Percentage of total budget invested on ministry staff:
Megachurches: 49%
Emerging Megachurches: 48%

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