Twenty years ago, megachurches might have rated an asterisk in a journalistic overview of U.S. Christianity. Today, an estimated 12 million Americans consider one of these mammoth congregations to be their church home, making the megachurch phenomenon one of the most important for religion in modern times.

Moreover, some of the most prominent pastors in the U.S. today are megachurch clergy, including Rick Warren and Joel Osteen. Their profiles and messages — through best-selling books, speaking tours and television broadcasts — have a visibility and audience beyond the large congregations they preach to every weekend.

What’s behind the accelerated growth of these churches? What are the implications for congregations – and in some cases denominations – that are left behind? How might megachurches shape the Christianity of tomorrow? Too often, misconceptions affect Americans’ understanding of these matters and more. ReligionLink offers sources and background for exploring the questions.

Why it matters

It’s been estimated that megachurches represent just one-half of 1 percent of all U.S. religious congregations but that they account for roughly 10 percent of churchgoing Protestants. As a result, megachurches are reshaping the religious landscape – and in some cases their surrounding secular communities, as well. In addition, the megachurch story is a global story, as the explosive growth of Christianity in Asia and Africa has been accompanied by a rise in huge congregations.

The basics

Just what is a megachurch? Academics apply the term to Protestant congregations averaging at least 2,000 worshippers at weekly services. There are at least 1,200 megachurches in the U.S., according to the Hartford Institute for Religion Research. More than 43,000 people a week attend the biggest one, Lakewood Church in Houston, according to Forbes magazine – but the Hartford Institute says even Lakewood is dwarfed by some megachurches elsewhere in the world, particularly South Korea.

Story angles

Story possibilities involving megachurches are nearly as vast as the churches themselves. Here are just a few:

Going off-label? The 2007 book Beyond Megachurch Myths: What We Can Learn From America’s Largest Churches details a number of misconceptions about megachurches. One of the most common is that they’re all nondenominational; in reality, about two-thirds are affiliated with a national denomination, with Southern Baptists claiming the largest share (16 percent), say the book’s co-authors, Scott Thumma and Dave Travis. Even so, megachurches often downplay the denominational connection, and their very size tends to foster a sense of independence. Many don’t rely on denominations, for example, for educational resources or mission trips – they simply create their own. (See this September 2008 article from Travis’ organization, Leadership Network, a church networking group.) How does this functional independence affect denominations? What tensions or possible benefits result from it? What is the relationship between megachurches and denominations in your area?

Different schools of thought? Megachurches also tend to be less dependent than other churches on seminaries. The largest churches often cultivate and train their own leaders from within; some pastors – most famously, Joel Osteen – are not seminary graduates. Meanwhile, the recession has left some seminaries struggling. (See a July 14, 2009, story in The Christian Century.) What does the megachurch model mean for the future of seminaries, especially in light of the difficult economy? What are the challenges for seminaries in preparing students for very large as well as very small congregational environments? How does a lack of formal seminary training affect pastoral leadership and ultimately congregants’ spiritual growth?

The elephant in the neighborhood? Multisite campuses are becoming common for megachurches. Advantages can include convenience for outlying members and less impact on the main campus’s neighbors than expansion of the central site would cause. The arrangement can have downsides, too, though. How do megachurches in your area see it? Has rapid membership growth brought conflict with other property owners over land use and traffic? Do neighborhood associations and municipalities prefer the satellite approach rather than one supersize campus? What are multisite churches doing to encourage a sense of unity among their campuses?

What next? Megachurches are known for embracing new ways of doing things, from worship and music styles to social networking. What trends and tools are they experimenting with in your area? Is virtual/online worship being tried? If so, what’s been the response?

Extra-large help for extra-large needs? For some churchgoers, size can mean important programs and services that might not be possible at a smaller church. Parents of children with autism or other disabilities, for example, may find that megachurches are better-equipped to meet their needs because there are multiple families in the congregation with similar situations. Check with local churches, parents and advocacy groups to see if this is the case in your city.

Competition or cooperation? What kinds of relationships have developed between your community’s megachurches and nearby congregations? Are they collegial, strained or something in between? Some megachurches offer conferences and coaching to leaders of smaller churches. What’s happening in your town?

Growing pains? In 2008, one of the nation’s biggest churches, Willow Creek Community Church in suburban Chicago, began shifting away from “seeker-centered” services in order to better meet the needs of more spiritually mature believers. The decision came after a study found that many of those members felt stalled or dissatisfied with the church. Have other seeker-oriented churches followed suit? What are megachurches in your area doing to accommodate the spectrum of members’ spiritual maturity levels?

Economic stimulant, or unfair advantage? Some megachurches have shown an entrepreneurial streak, with cafes, bookstores, athletic facilities and even retail and residential developments. Advocates say these activities provide jobs and other benefits, but critics suggest that they might also unfairly compete with private business – and cause people of other faiths to feel excluded from community gathering spots. Has this been an issue in your city?

Resources and background

The Hartford Institute for Religion Research offers a wealth of resources on megachurches, including:

• An explanation of the academic definition for megachurches and information about their denominational and theological affiliations. The page also explains why the institute’s lists and studies of megachurches don’t include large Catholic congregations.
• A megachurch database that can be sorted by state, denomination and other variables.
• Links to the latest research on the subject.
• Links to articles and a bibliography of other writings on the topic.

The Web site goodnewsline.com posts videos of sermons from dozens of megachurches.

ReligionLink’s Sept. 8, 2004, issue focuses on black megachurches.

ARTICLES AND OTHER MEDIA

• Read a Nov. 8, 2009, Politics Daily column about land-use conflicts between megachurches and communities.
• Read a Sept. 25, 2009, Crosswalk.com article about the trend toward multisite megachurches.
• Outreach magazine’s September 2009 issue features a special report on America’s 100 biggest and/or fastest-growing Protestant churches. The findings were gathered jointly by the publication and LifeWay Research.
• Read an Aug. 12, 2009, Christianity Today article about megachurches training future pastors themselves rather than drawing from established seminaries.
• The Barna Group, a Christian research company, released a report in 2009 that found links between congregational size and the members’ theological beliefs, religious behaviors and demographic characteristics, including political leanings. The report says, for example, that those who attend megachurches are more likely to be Republicans. A leading scholar on megachurches concurred with some of the findings but disagreed on others, according to this Aug. 12, 2009, Newsweek/Washington Post On Faith blog post.
• Read an Aug. 6, 2009, Christianity Today editorial that asks whether megachurches — and smaller ones, too — ought to pay more attention to cultivating a “gospel culture” and less attention to cultivating growth.
• Read a June 26, 2009, Forbes magazine article on megachurches. It includes descriptions and photos of the nation’s 10 biggest ones and a Q-and-A with Joel Osteen, pastor of Houston’s Lakewood Church.
• Read a March 10, 2009, blog post by Duke University professor Mark Chaves about how congregational size is changing America’s religious landscape.
• Read a May 15, 2008, Christianity Today article about a shift by one of the best-known megachurches, Willow Creek Community Church in suburban Chicago, away from “seeker-centered” services in order to better meet the needs of more spiritually mature believers.
• Read a Nov. 23, 2007, New York Times article about megachurches’ entrepreneurial activities and the perceived benefits and drawbacks for the wider community.
• Read a Feb. 21, 2007, Associated Press story (posted by The Christian Post) about multiethnic and multiracial megachurches.
• Read “The Missional Megachurch,” a 2007 essay by LifeWay Research president Ed Stetzer. It’s posted by Outreach magazine.
• Read a Nov. 15, 2006, article about product placement and other marketing strategies targeting megachurches. The article is posted at the University of Pennsylvania’s Knowledge@Wharton site.
• Read a June 29, 2006, Associated Press story (on the Web site of The Christian Post) about accusations by some black leaders that megachurches emphasize self-help and the prosperity gospel at the expense of social-justice issues.
• Read a Feb. 6, 2006, Christian Science Monitor article about the rise of megachurches.
• Read the transcript of a May 23, 2005, discussion by Rick Warren and journalist David Brooks about “megachurch myths.” The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life hosted the event.
• Read a Sept. 17, 2003, Forbes magazine article on entrepreneurial and marketing activities of megachurches.
• Read a 2001 article by the former pastor of a small Illinois church about his experience ministering in the shadow of a megachurch. It ran in the Enrichment Journal, a publication of the Assemblies of God.

National sources

• Warren Bird is research director for Leadership Network, a nonprofit organization that works to foster Christian leadership, innovation and church growth. He has studied and profiled many of the nation’s biggest and fastest-growing churches and is a co-author of A Multi-Site Church Road Trip: Exploring the New Normal (October 2009). Bird’s dissertation in 2007 examined whether megachurches foster “spectator religion”; he concluded that they don’t. Bird lives near New York City. Contact 845-368-4379, WarrenBird@aol.com.
• Stephen Ellingson is an associate professor of sociology at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. He wrote The Megachurch and the Mainline: Remaking Religious Tradition in the Twenty-first Century, which won the 2007 Distinguished Book Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. Contact 315-859-4876, sellings@hamilton.edu.
• Roger Finke is a professor of sociology and religious studies at Pennsylvania State University and director of the Association of Religion Data Archives. He co-authored The Churching of America, 1776-2005: Winners and Losers in Our Religious Economy and can discuss the role of megachurches in the competitive religious marketplace. Contact 814-867-1427, rfinke@psu.edu.
• Gerardo Marti is L. Richardson King assistant professor of sociology at Davidson College in North Carolina and a former megachurch pastor. He is the author of A Mosaic of Believers: Diversity and Innovation in a Multiethnic Church (about his former church) and Hollywood Faith: Holiness, Prosperity and Ambition in a Los Angeles Church (about a multiracial megachurch that attracts many from the entertainment industry). In October 2009, Marti made a presentation to the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion on “The Three People in Every Megachurch.” Contact 704-894-2481, gemarti@davidson.edu.
• Donald E. Miller is Firestone Professor of Religion at the University of Southern California and executive director of the university’s Center for Religion and Civic Culture. His book Reinventing American Protestantism: Christianity in the New Millennium looked at “new paradigm” churches, in particular three megachurches that began in Southern California; he says they and others like them represent a kind of second reformation for Christianity. Contact 213-740-0278, demiller@usc.edu.
• Ed Stetzer is president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s LifeWay Research, which is based in Nashville, Tenn. He is also a columnist for Outreach magazine, which partners with LifeWay to produce an annual report on the nation’s biggest and/or fastest-growing churches. The magazine’s Web site includes Stetzer’s responses to some common criticisms of large churches. He also posts regularly about megachurches on his blog. Contact 615-251-2320, ed.stetzer@lifeway.com.
• Scott Thumma is a professor of sociology of religion at Hartford Seminary in Connecticut and a researcher at the Hartford Institute for Religion Research. He has studied megachurches for more than 20 years and is considered the leading scholar in the field. Thumma is a co-author of Beyond Megachurch Myths: What We Can Learn From America’s Largest Churches (2007). Contact 860-509-9571, sthumma@hartsem.edu.
• Elmer Towns is co-founder of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., and dean of its School of Religion. Towns is a longtime church-growth expert; he provided one of the earliest tallies of super-large churches, determining in 1969 that there were 16 congregations with 2,000-plus weekly worshippers. Contact 434-582-2169, eltowns@liberty.edu.
• Dave Travis is managing director of Leadership Network, a Dallas-based nonprofit organization that works to foster Christian leadership, innovation and church growth. Travis has advised pastors and other leaders of large churches throughout the U.S. and Canada. He is a co-author of Beyond Megachurch Myths: What We Can Learn From America’s Largest Churches (2007). Contact dave.travis@leadnet.org.
• John Vaughan is the founder of Church Growth Today, a research and consulting organization based in Bolivar, Mo. Its Megachurch Research Center has been studying U.S. and global megachurches since 1985. His books include Megachurches & America’s Cities: How Churches Grow. Contact 417-326-3212, jv@churchgrowthtoday.org.
• James K. Wellman Jr. is an associate professor in the comparative religion program at the University of Washington in Seattle and a former director of young adult education at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago. He wrote about the church’s outreach to Chicago’s Cabrini-Green public housing project in The Gold Coast Church and the Ghetto: Christ and Culture in Mainline Protestantism. Wellman is also the author of Evangelical vs. Liberal: The Clash of Christian Cultures in the Pacific Northwest (2008) and is an expert on the nation’s liberal megachurches. Contact 206-543-0339, jwellman@u.washington.edu.

Regional sources

The Hispanic Mega Church Association posts names and contact information for its regional leaders online.

IN THE NORTHEAST

• Irwin L. Morris is a professor in the department of government and politics at the University of Maryland at College Park. He co-authored an article titled “A Mighty Fortress: The Social and Economic Foundations of the American Megachurch Movement.” Contact 301-405-8633, imorris@gvpt.umd.edu.
• Robert Putnam is a professor of public policy at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., who has studied megachurches as part of his research on civic connectedness, social capital, and religion and public life. He is co-author of Better Together: Restoring the American Community, which includes a chapter on Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church. Putnam is on leave from Harvard for fall 2009. Contact 617-495-1148, robert_putnam@harvard.edu.
• Tamelyn Tucker-Worgs, assistant professor of political science and African American studies at Hood College in Frederick, Md., wrote her doctoral dissertation on black megachurches and their role in community development. In addition to researching megachurches, she teaches African-American religions, the politics of the black church and black liberation theology. Contact 301-696-3686, tuckerworgs@hood.edu.

IN THE EAST

• Tom Flynn is executive director of the Council for Secular Humanism in Amherst, N.Y., and editor of its quarterly magazine, Free Inquiry. He has written that megachurches can be cultlike in that they offer so many services — from sports leagues to job-search assistance — that members’ entire lives can revolve around the congregation. Contact 716-636-7571, tflynn@centerforinquiry.net.
• Kimon Sargeant is vice president of human sciences at the John Templeton Foundation in West Conshohocken, Pa. Sargeant likens megachurches to shopping malls in his book Seeker Churches: Promoting Traditional Religion in a Nontraditional Way. Contact through the foundation.
• James M. Shopshire is professor of the sociology of religion at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C., and has conducted research on black megachurches. Contact 202-885-8616, jshopshire@wesleyseminary.edu or jshopshire@aol.com.

IN THE SOUTHEAST

• Mark Chaves is a professor of sociology, religion and divinity at Duke University and director of the National Congregations Study. His book Congregations in America notes that half of the nation’s churchgoers go to the very largest churches — those in the top 10 percentile of size. Contact 919-660-5783, mark.a.chaves@duke.edu or mac58@soc.duke.edu.
• Carl George is a church-growth consultant and coach who lives in Taylors, S.C. Contact 864-230-9607, carlgeorge@metachurch.com.
• Os Guinness is an author and social critic who lives in McLean, Va. His books include Dining With the Devil: The Megachurch Movement Flirts With Modernity. Contact him through the EastWest Institute in New York City (where he is a senior fellow), 212-824-4100.
• R. Drew Smith is director of the Public Influences of African-American Churches Project and scholar-in-residence at the Leadership Center at Morehouse College in Atlanta. He is a Baptist minister and political scientist who has studied and written about black megachurches. Contact 404-614-8565, rsmith@morehouse.edu.

IN THE SOUTH

• Sandra Barnes is a professor of human and organizational development at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., whose research interests include the sociology of religion. She is the author of The Black Mega Church: Framing and Addressing HIV/AIDS and Poverty in the Age of Health and Wealth Theology (forthcoming). Contact 615-322-8714, sandra.l.barnes@vanderbilt.edu.
• Lizette Beard is project manager for LifeWay Research, where she has coordinated projects about megachurches and multisite churches. LifeWay is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention and is based in Nashville, Tenn. Contact 615-251-2228, lizette.beard@lifeway.com.
• Bill Day is a professor at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and associate director of its Leavell Center for Evangelism and Church Health. His areas of specialization include evangelism and church growth. Contact 504-816-8820, bday@nobts.edu.
• Wilmer E. MacNair is a retired associate professor of sociology at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. He takes a critical look at megachurches in his 2009 book Unraveling the Mega-Church: True Faith or False Promises? Contact through Praeger Publishers, 805-968-1911.

IN THE MIDWEST

• Joseph P. Daniels is an economics professor at Marquette University in Milwaukee. He co-authored a paper that presented an economic model of “religious investment” to explain how seeker-oriented megachurches attract and keep members. Contact 414-288-3368, joseph.daniels@marquette.edu.
• Sheila Strobel Smith at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minn., has done extensive research on megachurch pastors, including on the challenges of leadership transition. Contact s3smith@comcast.net.
• Marc von der Ruhr is an associate professor of economics at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wis. He is interested in the economics of religion, and megachurches are the focus of several of his research projects. Contact 920-403-3522, marc.von-der-ruhr@snc.edu.

IN THE SOUTHWEST

• Kevin Dougherty is an assistant professor of sociology at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. His research specialty is congregations, including megachurches, and he made a presentation on megachurch leadership at the 2009 annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. Contact 254-710-6232, kevin_dougherty@baylor.edu.
• Bill Easum is president of 21st Century Strategies, a church consulting firm in Port Aransas, Texas. In a 2007 essay, Easum acknowledged that he previously erred in predicting an imminent decline in megachurches; instead, he said, the trend has snowballed. Easum’s books include (as co-author) Go Big: Lead Your Church to Explosive Growth (2006). Contact 573-234-4374, easum@churchconsultations.com.
• Michael Emerson is a Rice University sociology professor and director of Rice’s Center on Race, Religion and Urban Life. Emerson can discuss racial diversity in megachurches. Contact 713-348-4448, moe@rice.edu.
• Carson Mencken is a sociology professor at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and one of the authors of the Baylor Religion Survey released in 2008. He can discuss its findings on megachurches. Contact 254-710-4863, carson_mencken@baylor.edu.
• Rodney Stark is Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and co-director of its Institute for Studies of Religion. He included a chapter on megachurches in his book What Americans Really Believe (2008). In addition, he co-authored The Churching of America, 1776-2005: Winners and Losers in Our Religious Economy and can discuss the role of megachurches in the competitive religious marketplace. Contact 505-890-5271, rs@rodneystark.com.

IN THE WEST/NORTHWEST

• Edmund Gibbs is senior professor of church growth at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif. His 2009 book, ChurchMorph: How Megatrends Are Reshaping Christian Communities, includes a chapter on megachurches. Contact 626-794-6393, eddgibbs@sbcglobal.net.
• Milmon F. Harrison is an associate professor in the African-American and African studies program at the University of California, Davis, and an expert on black churches. He is the author of Righteous Riches: The Word of Faith Movement in Contemporary African American Religion. Contact 530-754-6622, mfharrison@ucdavis.edu.
• Nancy Martin is an assistant professor of sociology at California State University, Long Beach. Her dissertation examined how small groups function within megachurches. Contact 562-985-9381, nmartin@csulb.edu.
• Gary McIntosh is professor of Christian ministry and leadership at Biola University in La Mirada, Calif. He is also a consultant and the author of 13 books on church growth. Contact 951-506-3086, cgnet@earthlink.net.
• Jennifer McKinney is an associate professor of sociology at Seattle Pacific University. At the 2009 annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, she made a presentation titled “Real Men Don’t Wear Sweater Vests: Masculinity in an Evangelical Megachurch.” Contact 206-281-2595, mckinj@spu.edu.