Sep 30 2008
Congregants find mega churches offer more personal worship and sense of community than smaller churches
Congregants find megachurches offer more personal worship and sense of community than smaller churches, according to a study released yesterday that challenges the conventional wisdom that some large churches are too big to offer a spiritual experience.
Researchers at the Institute for Studies of Religion, who defined megachurches as those with more than 1,000 worshipers, found that their members were twice as likely to have friends in the congregation than members of small churches. They also displayed a higher level of personal commitment to the church — attending services and tithing more often than small-church members.
Megachurches are often criticized for having “all sorts of flaws,” said Rodney Stark, co-director of the institute, based at Baylor University. “They’re big . . . they’re kind of cold, they have kind of like theater audiences — all wrong.”
The findings come on the heels of a survey released last week that found that megachurches’ three-decade expansion shows no signs of abating. That study, of churches with weekend worship attendance of 2,000 or more, found that the average megachurch’s attendance grew 50 percent in the past five years.
Read more here.
[From me]
I guess bigger is better according to this survey. Although I read just last week that many of the mega churches are shrinking. So which survey do you believe? I guess if I had my choice I’d rather be in a larger setting than smaller. Most of the mega churches that I’ve observed up close seemed to have a keen sense of ownership in doing the ministry of the church than smaller ones. But I’m sure that is not true everywhere.
What do you think?
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6 responses so far
I’ll bet Les is going to disagree…
Art Rogers’s last blog post..The Church, Preaching, Politics and Christiandom
With the true meaning of worship being “an audience of One” it can be hard when in a small church and everyone knows everyone else and everyone else’s business. I can see how this study can be true. But big or small worship still must come from the heart.
Bill(cycleguy)’s last blog post..Must See TV (Okay blog)
Wayul Kevin,
It’s like this: I’ve been part of larger congregations and I’ve also been part of small church plants that eventually grew into something considerably large.
I’ve also been part of the “in-betweens.”
Quite honestly, I’d rather be part of a large congregation:
1) More opportunities to serve
2) Less ‘cat fighting’
3) Less jealously-guarded turf
4) More opportunities to “avoid” all the stuff that can go with the small church, if not carefully controlled.
I have far more friends at The Moody Church than I did at the Chicago Tabernacle–and I was there almost from the beginning with CT, and it was almost 500 people when I left 3 years later. I don’t have to deal with all the “personality quirks” that sap the emotional strength out of me anymore.
Yep, I prefer the larger church.
Phil Hoover’s last blog post..Five Wounds Men Must Face
Brother Kevin,
The key is being intentional in building relationships. Being the church happens in much smaller groups than any megachurch boasts on a Sunday morning. Whether the congregation one attends is large or small is really irrelevant… community must be sought out. Personally, I’m not looking for programs but relationships.
His peace be yours in abundance,
From the Middle East
from the middle east’s last blog post..being available
There is certainly more freedom in a mega church. If I want to take my shoes off in worship, then I should be able to do that without worry about what others 8 rows away will say. I never have to answer questions about the emotional state of my face when I’ve been in a large corporate worship…I have been asked if I was able to be free in a smaller setting.
Mega churches tend to do a better job of helping people to belong. They try to help people belong to something that fits the individual and not a certain limited grouping. It isn’t about the programs and socials. they help people understand it is about the connections to others and to God.
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