The Megachurch Phenomenon

The Hartford Institute for Religion Research and Leadership Network have issued a Megachurches Today 2005 survey, which they call “the most representative survey to date” of the megachurch phenomenon.  The term “megachurch” refers to the size of attendance, not the size of the facilities:

At latest count, there are 1,210 Protestant churches in the United States with weekly attendance over 2,000, nearly double the number that existed 5 years ago. . . . 

Megachurch pastors always dominate lists of most influential religious leaders in the country.  As but one example of their influence, during 2005 four megachurch pastors were on the New York Times bestseller lists — one of the books, with 26 million sales to date, has become the best-selling hardcover non-fiction book in U.S. history, according to Publishers Weekly (and has been translated into 309 languages).  Another megachurch pastor has sold 45 million copies of all his books.  The third, a first-time author, crossed the 3 million mark in a year and the church he pastors regularly draws 30,000 — currently the highest attendance church in the country.

The state with the largest concentration of megachurches is not a Southern state, but California.  Between 35% and 40% of the megachurches are nondenominational.  Almost all of them have incorporated electric guitar or bass and drums in their services and use audio-visual equipment.  Only 15% say their format or style of services have not changed in the past 5 years. 

The profile [of members] that emerges . . . is that [they] are quite likely to be under 60 years old and are often under 35 years old.  They are apt to be college graduates and are generally married and have young children. . . .  Quite a few participate in small groups and some, although less than many megachurches claim, are new converts to the faith. . . .  [T]he membership is often multi-racial and conservative both in terms of political and religious orientation.  The survey respondents estimated that on average 21% of the church’s members volunteer weekly for service in the community.

Even within the megachurches, there are varying rates of growth, but some common characteristics of the churches growing the fastest:

The largest worship service of the fastest growing churches is described as having higher scores of being informal, filled with a sense of God’s presence, joyful, exciting, inspirational and thought-provoking than other megachurches.   The faster growing a church is the more it is described as being more spiritually vital and alive, having a clear mission and vision, holding strong beliefs and values, meeting new challenges and welcoming innovation and change.   

It is a very interesting report.  There are many myths about the megachurches, and a lot in this report that synagogues might find worth reflection.

UPDATE: I should have noted that I found the megachurch report through Mark D. Tooley’s article (“The New Cathedrals?”) in the current issue of The Weekly Standard. In addition, there is an interesting post on this subject at OceanGuy’s excellent blog.