April 29, 2024
StoneBridge Christian Church and International Disaster Emergency Service are teaming to help with recovery efforts in the Elkhorn, Neb., area. That Omaha suburb is one of many areas ravaged by tornadoes and severe storms in Oklahoma, Iowa, Nebraska, and other states over the weekend. . . .
In May, we conducted an informal survey about how COVID-19 affected the celebration of the Lord’s Supper in corporate church services.
December 22, 2019
(This essay by John Greenlee appeared on p. 7 of the December 19, 1982, issue of Christian Standard. At that time, Greenlee served as minister with First Christian Church, Thousand Oaks, Calif.) A true story of Christmas . . . There was once a great king. His love for his people knew no limits. Although the kingdom was very large, the king knew every person by name. Everything the people of the kingdom had was a gift freely given by the loving king. So, to show their love and appreciation to the king for all he had done for them,
April 24, 2019
By Jerry Harris More than a year ago, I wrote a publisherâ™s column called âThe Tyranny of Numbers.â As a senior pastor, when I review reports of numbers representing baptisms and budgets, and especially attendance, it has a great personal effect on me. Affirming words are a primary love language for many pastors, and since attendance, on its surface, seems to be a measure of affirmation, numbers that represent attendance feel like a metric of worth. I think thatâ™s one reason some pastors choose not to report their churchâ™s attendance and baptism numbers (along with other statistics) for annual surveys
July 30, 2015
By Will Mancini Nearly 30 years ago, Joe Ellis wrote in The Church on Target: “Sometimes the voice of Jesus saying, “˜I will build my church,” can hardly be heard amid the babble of human voices affirming, “˜We will build the church. Our plans, our organizations, our resources will accomplish it, and we will have it the way we want it.”” More recently, “clarity evangelist” Will Mancini wrote similar words, describing 10 ways we often get in the way of God building his church, and what we can do about it. 1. Rely on God”s wisdom, not human wisdom by
May 12, 2015
By Mark A. Taylor Don”t tell a numbers guy you”re not interested in numbers! You may risk seeing the seething side of a fellow you thought was a mild-mannered researcher! Maybe I”m exaggerating, but it was quite clear to me from correspondence with Kent Fillinger, compiler of our annual “numbers” report, that he wasn”t happy. At issue was the decision by more than one Christian church or church of Christ not to participate in this year”s survey. Their stated reasons sound lofty. “We don”t want to compare ourselves with others.” “Our ministry is about so much more than numbers.” But
May 10, 2015
By Dave Ferguson Growing up in Chicago, I remember a couple famous scoreboards. There was a scoreboard at the old Comiskey Park where my White Sox played when I was a kid””I loved it! Every time someone hit a home run, the scoreboard would explode with fireworks. And then there is the scoreboard at Wrigley Field, home of the Cubs. It”s one of two remaining scoreboards that are still hand-turned. It was installed in 1937 and is still waiting for its first World Series win! Another scoreboard I remember is the one on the sanctuary wall of the little rural
May 7, 2015
By Jennifer Johnson A look at how some growing churches are growing in ways difficult to measure but vital to achieve. ____ Jason Yeatts Executive minister, adults The Creek, Indianapolis, Indiana In our movement, I think the habits of the early 19th century are ingrained””that discipleship means giving people the right material or sermon. At The Creek, we have made an intentional shift from “informational discipleship” to a relational model. Four years ago we started a series of four classes called “Life on Life.” The idea was you”d move through them””from Belong to Grow to Serve to Engage””and be ready
May 4, 2015
Our annual megachurch listing is one of CHRISTIAN STANDARD”s most popular features. This year 347 churches participated, including 64 megachurches (those with 2,000 or more in weekly attendance) and 70 emerging megachurches (1,000 to 1,999). This chart also includes listings for scores of large churches (with average attendance of 500 to 999) and medium churches (250-499) Click here to view and download the 2014 Charts, or click on them individually: “¢Â 2014 Megachurches “¢Â 2014 Emerging Megachurches “¢Â 2014 Large Churches “¢Â 2014 Medium Churches As a bonus, we have searched through the lists to determine the average size of megachurches and emerging megachurches in
May 3, 2015
By Mont Mitchell I turned my numbers in to CHRISTIAN STANDARD for the attendance list today. For the last bunch of years we have been on the emerging megachurch list . . . you know, churches with an average attendance more than 1,000 (but less than 2,000). However, for the last several years, our church has been going through some challenges and changes and transitions. (I”ll get to that in a bit.) The result: We”re bumped from the list. Westbrook Christian Church, Bolingbrook, Illinois, used to be an emerging megachurch. Today, we are just a large church. Now, don”t get
May 2, 2015
By Kent E. Fillinger Numbers evoke an array of emotions. How many readers, for example, regularly step on their bathroom scales with more than a bit of trepidation? But the Bible is full of numbers, and almost every healthy church is counting something. We believe the special report of church statistics published here each year is a great time to recognize the uniqueness of our tribe of churches and to capture and celebrate the historic work God is doing. A record 347 churches responded to the survey this year, and I hope we double or triple that number next year!
May 1, 2015
Here are some statistics gleaned from the 2014 CHRISTIAN STANDARD megachurch report. AVERAGE SIZEÂ Megachurches: 4,622 Emerging Megachurches: 1,354 Combined average weekly attendance: 390,436 GROWTH RATES Megachurches: 3.5 percent (down from 5.6 percent in 2013); overall, 68 percent of the megachurches grew (down from 73 percent in 2013). Emerging Megachurches: 5.4 percent (up from 2.4 percent in 2013); overall, 65 percent of emerging megachurches grew (up from 52 percent in 2013). Large churches: 4.9 percent (up from 4.7 percent in 2013). Medium churches: 3.1 percent (up from 0.9 percent in 2013). FASTEST-GROWING CHURCHES New City Church, Phoenix,
July 12, 2014
By Gayla Congdon (From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I’ve Ever Received.”) Some of our best advice came from the late, great Mike Yaconelli (Scott and I received this advice from him when he was a member of the Amor Ministries board): “Focus on quality and quantity will come.” Mike”s advice was based on his belief we were measuring our effectiveness based on the number of participants coming on trips. We took his advice and shifted our mind-set to creating a quality mission trip that was relationship-based versus numbers-based. The result was that growth came in significant numbers.Â
April 11, 2010
By Kent Fillinger What is “Average”? The 54 megachurches” average worship attendance: 4,314 The 60 emerging megachurches” average worship attendance: 1,400 All 114 churches” average attendance: 2,781 Fastest-Growing Churches One-Year Growth Rate: Real Life Christian, Clermont, FL, 65% Generations Christian, Trinity, FL, 51% Eastside Christian, Fullerton, CA, 39% Five-Year Total Growth Rate: Parkview Christian, Orland Park, IL, 127% Central Christian, Henderson, NV, 118% Real Life Ministries, Post Falls, ID, 93% Fastest-Growing Churches of the Decade: Savannah (GA) Christian, 286% Christ”s Church of the Valley, Peoria, AZ, 234% Southeast Christian, Parker, CO, 227% Fastest-Growing Since the First List in 1997: Christ”s
April 13, 2008
By Staff This year, CHRISTIAN STANDARD“s annual megachurch issue is bigger than ever. We offer you more pages, more information, more analysis, and a more complete picture of what”s happening in our megachurches. We include several indicators of how healthy our megachurches are as a whole. We review a book that dispels several myths about megachurches. And we interview the gatherer and analyzer of most of this information, Kent Fillinger. Kent, who serves as president of 3:STRANDS Consulting in Indianapolis, Indiana, compiled and wrote most of the articles in this issue, along with Ben Simms, research consultant with 3:STRANDS. They
April 13, 2008
By Kent Fillinger and Ben Simms WHAT IS “AVERAGE”? The 52 megachurches” average size: 4,019 The 61 emerging megachurches” average size: 1,441 All 113 churches average size: 2,628 Total attendance of all 113 churches on an average weekend: 296,926 Total attendance for Easter 2007: 486,677 Total baptisms for all of 2007: 19,107 STATE BY STATE Number of churches reported in each state: 17″”Indiana 11″”California, Ohio 8″”Arizona, Illinois, Kentucky 6″”Florida 5″”Colorado, Texas 4″”Missouri, Nevada 3″”Idaho, Kansas, North Carolina, Washington 2″”Georgia, Oregon, Wisconsin 1″”Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia 26 states have a megachurch listed FASTEST GROWING Fastest-Growing Churches
April 9, 2008
By Mark A. Taylor There”s much to feel good about in this year”s annual megachurch issue. Read through these reports carefully. Look at all the numbers in the small-print sidebars. The statistics indicate many victories won, many reasons to celebrate what these churches are accomplishing. There”s Hillside Christian Church, Amarillo, Texas, for example, the fastest growing church (62 percent in one year!) reported here. Or Christ”s Church of the Valley in Peoria, Arizona, whose growth rate since 1997 is a whopping 451 percent! With 700 baptisms in 2007, Christ”s Church of the Valley was one of five churches from our
By Rob Shoaff Christian leadership has become a hot topic among Evangelical professionals and congregations alike. From our bookstores to our pulpits, from our colleges and seminaries to our pulpit committees, Christian leadership is in the forefront of our minds. We ask many questions about leaders. Are we properly training future generations of Christian leaders? What type of leader does our congregation need? Do we have the right leader in place at this time? Ministers are constantly being evaluated for their leadership abilities and performance. Colleges are making leadership a major field of study. The local Christian bookstore has books
April 15, 2007
Download a PDF featuring statistical breakdowns of megachurches and emerging megachurches, including fastest-growing churches, most baptisms, services offered, and “greatest Easter multiple.”
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