As we dive into the world of megachurches and decide if they are healthy for Christians or not we should first ask ourselves what is a megachurch? Where do they come from? From there we will look at the statistics; what denominations are usually involved with mega churches, are mega churches growing? We will also see what deems as pros and cons of megachurches, including personal experiences of Flat Irons Church from Lafayette, Colorado.
What can be considered a megachurch? According to the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, megachurches can be defined as “Any Protestant congregation with a sustained average weekly attendance of 2,000 persons or more in its worship services.” In the history of the United States we have had Churches
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built that could hold 2,000 plus persons before, some of these Churches were even built back in the 1700s. However through time we have seen ups and downs with attendance making most of our old mega churches close their doors. The oldest one to still be up and running is The Moody Church of Chicago which was built back in 1876 and could hold over 2,000 people then and still to this day. However the actual word megachurch wasn’t used until the 1980s. It first appeared in the Miami Herald during the week of Easter in 1983. The article was describing the estimated 12,000 people to attend the 3,400 seat Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Ft. Lauderdale, FL and soon after that magazines and newspapers were coining the word megachurch to describe the huge attendance capacity/facilities of these churches. Other than size being the obvious characteristic of what makes up a Protestant megachurch, most megachurches share the same conservative theology, including the churches with mainline denominations. According to the Hartford Institute a large percentage of megachurches are nondenominational, however the majority of these megachurches ordain with some type of denomination. From a study done by the Hartford Institute, 80% of all mega churches consist of 40% Nondenominational, 16% Southern Baptist, 7% Baptist unspecified, 6% Assemblies of God, 5% Christian, 4% Calvary Chapel, and 2% United Methodist. It doesn’t seem to take megachurches too long to reach their massive size. It is estimated that it takes roughly 10 years for megachurch to reach their massive capacity. Some researchers have stated that the reign of megachurches is nearing an end, but the Harford Institute indicated that “the total number has increased from 350 in 1990 to over 600 in 2000 and there are now nearly 1600 megachurches in the US.” So it appears that megachurches are gaining speed rather than slowing down. A survey of 25,000 done by Scott Thumma and Warren Bird concluded that “what first attracted attenders were the worship style, the senior pastor and the church’s reputation, in that order,” and with this it helped maintain long-term attendance. The question when looking at the pros and cons of megachurches is whether or not we are looking at it through a Christians perspective or from an outside Christian belief perspective.
Looking at it through Christian eyes, one could see that the following quote from gotquestions.org could be considered a pro for megachurches; (referring to the people of megachurches)”...Study the Scriptures on their own, and believe in the importance of sharing their faith. Megachurches also tend to be the most multi-ethnic of all congregations.” One could also say that the opportunity to pick and choose your own ministries and small groups to be a part of would be considered a pro as well. Another pro would be that megachurches deliver recovery and addiction groups for people, licensed counselors for individual and marital issues for couples as well as preschools for the children. Having all of these programs and helping hands megachurches tend to attract younger families as well as younger singles, and with this, one could believe that this is a huge pro bringing in the young new era of Christians. According to christianpost.com 55% of the people that attend megachurches volunteer at church while the percentage of volunteers at smaller churches is much lower. However what could be considered a con is that not everyone decides to join the provided small groups and communities outside of Church. So their tends to be some difficulty establishing friendship and family if one just goes to the service with the 3,000 person attendance compared to a small church where you are more likely to be able to establish friendship and family from going to service with an attendance of 200
people. When looking at a megachurch through a business perspective you get pros and cons on either side of the argument. According to gotquestions.org, the attendance and financial support of megachurches has been increasing while smaller or “traditional-sized” churches continue to decline. So in other words megachurches are putting small churches out of business. Even though the megachurches continue to be on the rise there does seem to be a decrease in individual contributions through teething. More business mindset on megachurches will be covered in greater detail later while discussing personal experiences of Flatirons Church. According to George Barna, he states that “conservatives tend to define success by numbers, and people with higher education and income would naturally take more ownership in what is perceived as successful organization.” If what George Barna believes is correct than this seems like reasonable evidence to why there seems to be such success of megachurches over the past years. Contributing to their success megachurches control their growth by expanding outside the main facility to other areas and locations. Which leads me to personal experiences of Flatirons Church. Located in Lafayette, Colorado Flatirons Church is the largest megachurch in Colorado. The Church has a weekly attendance of 18,500. Starting off with the only real negative thing that I have noticed is that with their continuing growth and inevitable need to expand geographically they are buying out small businesses across the street from where Flatirons is located. Which is harming Lafayette’s economy, harming the small businesses of Lafayette and honestly giving a black eye to the Christian faith. With the monopolization of this Church it could push people away from Flatirons in general as well as push people away from the Christian faith as whole. However, the positive things that I take out of Flatirons Church consist of personal experiences of their smaller ministries group as well as their counseling offices. I felt that the experience was great, the people in charge were professional and knowledgeable. There was definitely a sense of community and belonging. Personally, I have no children but I have two nephews that go to the daycare area during service and I have never seen such an organized and professional church daycare. The kids have fun and also are taught a daily lesson on the Bible, or Jesus, etc. Attending the actual service is always an experience to remember. They have a very talented band that rocks as loud as any major concert out in town. I have even been witness to Flatirons hosting a music rapper to play a couple songs during service. To me and the youth this is considered the turning of the tide of a new era of spreading the word it truly helps bring in young Christians. However to others, such as our elderly it pushes them away with the style of music as well as how loud it gets. But a few weeks ago the senior minister stated “The method changes but the message always stays the same,” in reference to their music style, and style of teaching. For example hundreds of years ago the organ instrument that is so well known to be used in churches was actually first popularized at pubs and bars. The Church decided to bring the organ in to help bring in more people. The only problem that I have noticed is that with their continuing growth and inevitable need to expand geographically they are buying out small businesses across the street from where Flatirons is located. Which is harming Lafayette’s economy, harming the small businesses of Lafayette and honestly giving a black eye to the Christian faith. With the monopolization of this Church it could push people away from Flatirons in general as well as push people away from the Christian faith as whole. So in conclusion, I believe the pros outweigh the cons, there seems to be real positive qualities of megachurches including their daycare program, counseling program and small group/ministry groups. However their monopolization and effect on small town business is a serious problem and I hope that megachurches are at least aware of the harm that takes place on these towns.
Although the history of Haslett Community Church may not be as long and storied as other churches, it is nevertheless a rich history. The roots of our community church began to grow on March 23, 1954 when several persons met at the home of Conrad and Rose Haney to discuss the need for a new church in Haslett. An open meeting was held at the Township Hall on March 31, 1954 to plan for a church. At that meeting, forty-nine people elected a steering committee and planned for services. One month and two days later on April 25, 1954, and one week after Easter, one hundred forty five people attended the first worship service and Sunday school above the old Township Hall and fire station on the northeast corner of Haslett and Okemos Roads. For the first year or so, guest ministers provided most of the sermons. Occasionally there would be a fire call and the siren would blow, interrupting the service. This always delighted the young children.
Southland Christian Church, one of several worship centers in the United States that has earned the moniker “Six Flags over Jesus,” is Lexington’s largest megachurch. With a weekly attendance of 8,000 people and an operating budget that supports a staff of over eighty members, Southland far exceeds most U.S. congregations in terms of financial resources and social clout. In recent years, popular and scholarly studies have attempted to situate the megachurch movement within a broad cultural context. Although the majority of these analyses dispute the precise definition of a megachurch, most distinguish these multiplex sanctuaries from smaller worship communities by using the same criteria—i.e. weekly attendance, campus acreage, annual budget, etc.—that megachurches themselves draw on to represent their own success. [2] However, the essence of a megachurch is not its large buildings, but rather the theology of consumption that informs its programming.[3] In this way, a megachurch ethos has infiltrated even the smallest congregations in the United States and has helped to solidify Christianity’s inextricable connection to consumer capitalism. To those who see megachurches as symptomatic of a flawed Christianity, market-minded church growth confounds one of the faith’s oldest dualities, the contradiction of living in the world without conforming to its ways, as Paul puts it in Romans 12. Megachurches at once reject “the world” and participate in it by seeking to win the lost and wow the consumer at the same time.
When choosing a religious service I was very limited on my choices so I was intrigued to go back to my roots and try the Catholic denomination. This denomination is the one that is most prevalent in my community and also in my social circle as well. Since I have actually been to a Catholic church as a child I thought I knew what to expect but I was shocked at how naive I was to the subject. My preconceived ideas and thoughts were that there would be a lot of getting down on your knees then back up again then saying your Hail Mary’s with not much depth to a service. Also growing up with a social group that was full of Catholics you would always hear of confession so that was something I was particularly dreading for the fact that I did not quite understand the concept and believe in it. This did not take place however which was a sigh of relief on my part cause I was not ready for that big of a leap from my own comfort zone.
In my paper I will talk about my visit to The Community Church at Murphy's Landing (CCML). I have chosen this particular Church because it is a family church type and my neighbor goes there and she encouraged me to go with her. I went there with my neighbor on April 6, 2014.This church is an appropriate for this assignment because the people there are welcoming me with an open heart and they are willing to help and provide me with information. When I visit the Church’s site I read these words “We know visiting a new church can be intimidating. But, we want to help you to be as comfortable as possible when and if you join us”. The people gather in the church weekly to glorify God in joyful worship. The expressions of worship on CCML take many forms a prayer, a hymn of reverent awe, a guitar ringing with a chorus of praise, or a warm handshake and a welcoming smile. Their weekly services begin at 9:30 each Sunday at church. Also, they have weekly podcast if anyone wants to listen online. They have many types of services for parents, kids and students. People at CCML were so friendly; they gather around me and start welcoming me, one by one. People there introducing themselves to me, one after another and provide me with their contact information and help. Then we start talking about the church services and Christianity in particular. The mission of CCML was knowing, growing and loving. They seek to live out our mission by worshipping together as a local community of believers, growing in spiritual maturity through discipleship, education, and small groups, caring for one another within the context of the larger church body and small groups, and Communicating the love of Christ to our world, both through local outreach and global mis...
For many years, cult leaders always had a psychological hold on their followers' minds. Whether it was to kill other people or to kill themselves, they did it without question. Some cult leaders used fear, violence and guilt as a means of a weapon to control the minds of their followers. Other cult leaders used persuasive and spiritual speeches that made their followers believe they were doing good and fulfilling God's plan. Because cult leaders are powerful through psychological offenses, the people that belong to their cults are brainwashed into doing things they wouldn't normally do in their right state of mind.
...urgical calendar the weekly estimated attendance of churchgoers can range from around 1,500-2,000. Out of those numbers there are currently about 1,200 registered parishioners.
Cult are generally accepted to be a “small religious group that is not part of a larger and more accepted religion and that has beliefs regarded by many people as extreme or dangerous”. Everyone is taught to fear cults because they’re “dangerous”. Most members of a cult, however, are not deranged, mindless, mentally handicapped people. Most members of a cult are regular people that are attracted to the organization’s message or “religion”. One religious cut that attracted mainstream society was the People’s Temple. The People’s Temple cult drastically changed over the course of its lifetime, when it started out as a church with good intentions, like providing for the sick and needy. Eventually the cult changed under the leadership of Jim Jones, where he went from a kindhearted man to a drugged-obsessed, power crazy monster that committed heinous, unspeakable acts in his journey for dominance. In his quest for power, he isolated his followers in a prison camp known as Jonestown and took the lives of 918 men, women, and children, before taking his own life.
It is apparent that the issues are similar at Willow Creek and New Hope, as both have experienced great growth. They are addressing these issues by adding additional services and by assignment of small groups or small ministries to meet their congregation's needs. They have been successful in addressing the issue based on each church's individual needs. Willow Creek has added services to accommodate the service seekers or the un-churched. New Hope attempts to match congregation member's needs through joining auxiliaries or other ministries of the church.
In the book The New Guidebook for Pastors, James W. Bryant and Mac Brunson do a magnificent job of identifying and explaining the practical nuts and bolts that make a successful pastorate and a fruitful church.
Not as a firm guide, but as thought-provoking advice on how corporate worship can impact an ever-changing culture. I think any worship leader would be impacted by Dawn's questions: • Is God the subject of your corporate worship? • Does your worship build the Christian character of the individual and invite them into the community of Christianity? • Are you dumbing down your content to reach out? • How will you reach out in the midst of a market-driven, television age?
Jim Jones could finally start his own church with all of the followers he had gained in 2 years. The first church was opened in Indianapolis in 1956 which he called the “peoples temple”. Jim thought that there was a bad balance in the world that the rich were way to rich and the poor were working way too hard for the little that they got. So the people’s temple helped get homes for the mentally ill and the elderly and also helped people find jobs. The temple grew larger and larger as the days went by, in 1966 Jim Jones decided ...
A corporate experience would be much the same as the group experience but on a much larger scale. When people choose to enter into worship and see breakthroughs and miracles happening in their lives, they encourage people around them. This can have and should have a ripple effect in the community and/or nations which would bring more brothers and sisters into the kingdom of
Richardson, William E., and Dave Kidd. “Articles.” Pentecostal Evangel. General Council of the Assemblies of God. Web. 13 Nov. 2011.
The pastor is the business owner who oversees all activities of the church while his followers or congregation are the consumer. The way a church provides what the people need within a period of time determines how successful your church will be. What is a church brand? Branding is the visual