Below is an excerpt from my column in the latest issue from Outreach Magazine on the research we did for the 100 Largest & Fastest Growing Churches. It's always a list that generates a lot of discussion-- some of it gets heated. This article (co-written with Lizette Beard from our LifeWay Research team) seeks to address some of the concerns people raise about the list.

I had the chance to interview some of the pastors of the churches on this list and will be posting them in the coming days. For now, check out the article (reproduced in part here), and feel free to dialog in the comment section here at the blog.

AS I SEE IT: ED STETZER

Is It All About Ego?
And Other Common Misconceptions

My team has a love-hate relationship with this project of researching the 100 Largest and 100 Fastest-Growing U.S. Churches. They love "discovering" growing churches and learning from the churches whose commitment to reach people lands them on the lists year after year. Their favorite part is interviewing church leaders, hearing the stories of transformed communities and individual life change. They can't get enough of that stuff.

Then there are the rough days when they can't get past the gatekeepers, whose job it is to protect pastors from research companies wanting to conduct surveys. Or when they can't find out who in the church actually knows the attendance numbers. Or they can't seem to get someone to grasp the criteria of attendance not membership, weekend not weekly. And then there is the rare but very rude staff member. Fortunately, my team is familiar with what it takes to handle a sometimes difficult personality, so they have strategies in place.

But what bothers them the most is the lack of understanding about what this project is--a couple of lists that are simply meant to tell the story of how churches throughout the country are reaching people.

As you read this issue, we ask you not to miss the stories behind the lists because the real-life examples of what God is doing in and through the local church are the best part (see Page 60). We believe pastors and leaders of churches of all sizes can learn from these churches. We have. Their examples of innovation, creativity and risk taking--all to reach people and then give God the glory--have inspired each of us personally.

As we take a look at some of these churches, we're also sharing some of the more common criticisms and comparing them to what we've heard from these churches. Unfortunately, we know telling the stories won't dissuade all the critics. But we've learned that criticism actually does our research team and Outreach a favor by driving up the buzz and keeping us on our toes.

What about conversion growth?

Aren't these megachurches just swapping sheep and drawing in church hoppers?

I can honestly say that most of the pastors we talked to in this study are strategically focused on reaching out to those disconnected from faith and church and helping them learn about God. They seek to connect them to the community of believers....

Mike Bodine, senior leader at Central Christian Church (No. 11 Largest, No. 31 Fastest-Growing), describes what God is doing through the personal relationships Central Christian attendees are building in Las Vegas.

"It's a term we call one life--that every person at Central should have at least one life they're praying for and building an intentional relationship with," he explains. "And then they should be prepared to journey with that person and invite them to come hear a life-changing message of radical grace."

Las Vegas is experiencing a renewed spiritual hunger, Bodine says. In one weekend, Central Christian baptized 1,200 people.

"These are real stories of real people pulling back from the brink of suicide. Marriages are being restored, families being put back together, and people are becoming productive in society."

What about mobilization for service?

Aren't people at these churches just sitting and soaking?

On the contrary, some of the churches we talked to have made weekends of service an annual or twice-a-year activity. We heard stories of churches cleaning up foreclosed neighborhoods, sponsoring health clinics and stocking community food pantries. As a result, communities are seeing no-strings-attached compassion--the Church being the Church. (See PutYourFaithInAction.com for more information.) And many, perhaps most, of these churches are strategically and tangibly demonstrating the love of Christ to people with needs and hurts.

Christ's Church of the Valley in Covina, Calif. ( No. 57 Fastest-Growing, see Page 69) learned that the largest homeless population in Los Angeles County is single moms and started an after-school program

"We take these single moms who are trying to work two or three jobs just to make ends meet, and we go in with our teams to local schools," Senior Pastor Jeff Vines says. "Our goal was to have an after-school program in every elementary school in San Gabriel Valley."

"So while people have made a commitment to the ministry, at the same time there is a renewed passion for service," Vines says. "They come in to use their gifts, their talents and their abilities to make a difference in the world."

What about the churches that will never make the list?

Isn't it true that many healthy, growing churches will never qualify to be listed on some Largest or Fastest-Growing list?

Of course. I have been to some incredible churches and know great pastors who will never be on these lists. Not because they aren't reaching the lost, seeing life transformation or reaching out to their communities. I know churches that plant several churches a year. Since they give away people to the new plants, they barely "break even." Others are growing at a pace that eclipses (by percentage) those on these lists, but they don't yet meet the qualification for the Fastest-Growing list of at least 1,000 attendees. Still others are seeing steady growth, but they are in a geographic location or demographic situation where it's just harder and slower--but the ministry is still good, and it is blessed. There is nothing about these lists or this report that is ever meant to diminish or take away from the great work so many of these churches are doing. If a church doesn't make the list, I have to ask, "So what?"

Head over to Outreach Magazine to read the entire article. Feel free to give your thoughts in the comment section.

The Barna Group released the findings of a new study that showed "congregational size is related to the nature of a congregation's religious beliefs, religious behavior and demographic profile."

Specifically the study showed "statistically significant differences between churches of 100 or fewer adult attenders and churches of 1000 or more adult attenders." In fact, the only issue covered where no real difference existed was whether the person had prayed during the previous week. Here is some of the information from the article at Barna.org.

On all 9 of the belief statements tested, attenders of large churches were more likely than those engaged in a small or mid-sized congregation to give an orthodox biblical response - e.g., the Bible is totally accurate in all the principles it teaches, Satan is not merely symbolic but exists, Jesus led a sinless life, God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe, etc.

On seven of the eight behavioral measures, attenders of large churches were substantially more likely than those of small churches to be active. (These included behaviors such as attending church in the past week, reading the Bible in the past week, volunteering at their church in the past week, etc.) The average difference related to these seven behaviors was 17 percentage points.

It was also shown that larger churches were more likely to have college graduates, wealthy attenders, and attenders/members with children under 18. Adults in these Protestant mega-churches were also more likely to vote Republican.

Another interesting point was that House Churches were not following the trend of other small congregations.

The religious beliefs and behaviors of people who attend house churches, which average about 20 adults in attendance, are more similar to the results for large conventional churches (i.e., more than 500 adults) than they are to the outcomes among those who attend small conventional churches (i.e., less than 50 adults).

So head over to the Barna Group, read the report and come back here to discuss.

Megachurches are growing both in the number of churches qualifying as megachurches, and in the size of megachurches themselves. Back in 1992, if your attendance was 3,315 or higher, you got put in the "100 largest" list of churches in America. We just compiled the list for 2009 to be published this fall by Outreach Magazine, and the the cutoff for the "100 largest" was about double what it was in 1992.

So, when most people think of megachurches they not only think of mega-numbers, but also mega-sanctuaries. But you'd be surprised. While megachurch size (in number) has increased, sanctuaries have not grown in size. According to a national study co-authored by Warren Bird of Leadership Network, "Changes in American Megachurches", (see page 6), attendance in megachurches is growing but sanctuary size is the same. In fact, the average main sanctuary seating capacity in the typical American megachurch is only 1,400 (median), according to Warren's report.

That means only a few dozen churches can seat more than 5,000. Warren listed all the churches he knows of with a seating capacity of 5,000 or more, and if you're curious, that list-in-progress can be downloaded here. Do you know of any U.S. church that got left out? Please take a look and add a comment if you know of a church that's missing.

So, who would you know that needs to be on this list. Let us know and we can check and follow up.

My friends at Leadership Network surveyed 232 pastors of churches with an average weekend worship attendance of at least 2,000. Here are 10 things you might not know about megachurch pastors. Read the whole thing here, with some explanation, and then come back to discuss.

1. They think of themselves more as teachers and directional leaders than as pastors.
2. Preaching tops the list of things they do best.
3. They haven't always worked in churches.
4. Being an extrovert isn't mandatory.
5. Family stays at the top of mind when it comes to prayers.
6. They usually like the people they work with.
7. They believe their top gift is leadership.
8. They are actively involved in sports.
9. They find worship at their church helpful for personal spiritual growth.
10. They're not thinking about quitting.

Surprised? Concerned? Pleased?

I find that many people who are not currently in a mega church have certain ideas about the "kind" of people in such churches. An interesting new study by Warren Bird and Scott Thumma has been released via The Hartford Institute for Religious Research titled, Not Who You Think They Are: A Profile of The People Who Attend America's Megachurches. Below are the bullet points of the more prominent findings:

• Young and single adults are more likely to be in megachurches than in smaller churches.
• Nearly two-thirds of attenders have been at these churches 5 years or less.
• Many attenders come from other churches, but nearly a quarter haven't been in any church for a long time before coming to a megachurch.
• Attenders report a considerable increase in their involvement in church, in their spiritual growth, and in their needs being met.
• Forty-five percent of megachurch attenders never volunteer at the church.
• New people almost always come to the megachurch because family, friends or co-workers invited them.
• What first attracted attenders were the worship style, the senior pastor and the church's reputation.
• These same factors also influenced long-term attendance, as did the music/arts, social and community outreach and adult-oriented programs.
• Attenders can craft unique, customized spiritual experiences through the multitude of ministry choices and diverse avenues for involvement that megachurches offer.

This is a large document, and you would do well to download the entire report as a PDF.

Check it out and come back to discuss. Are you surprised about the findings? What are you experiencing in your church?

Here is a picture of our team looking for your attendance numbers for the Outreach Magazine/LifeWay Research Special Report that will be published in Fall 2009. If you are a church currently running over 1000 on weekend worship, please fill out this form and fax it to our offices (FAX # is on the form). We would love to hear from you!

The "Missional Tribe" is a new collaboration of friends with a passion for all things missional. They have quite a list of contributors and are focusing on grass roots idea sharing around the missional turn.

While in Chicago, Imbi Medri and Bill Kinnon (two of the co-founders of Missional Tribe) got David Fitch and me together to have a discussion about the missional church.

David is a professor at Nothern Seminary, a co-pastor / church planter at Life on the Vine, and the author of The Great Giveaway.

I was there teaching at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and we got together on a cold day in Chicago.

Check out the Missional Tribe site here and enjoy the video below:

Ed Stetzer & David Fitch - a missional conversation from Missional Tribe on Vimeo.

Last night at Gabe Lyons house, I had the chance to visit with Joe Vacanti, Director of High School ministries at The Chapel at CrossPoint. I have followed The Chapel for a couple of decades (see their history here). Their founding pastor (James Andrews) was an encourager and friend when I was a twenty-one-year-old church planter in Buffalo, NY. It was great to hear from Joe about some of the great things taking place in their church and the church plant they recently launched in Buffalo.

Just recently, The Chapel at CrossPoint planted a church near my old church in Buffalo. I was blessed to give some advice to Brek Cockrell and Jerry Gillis related to the planting of The Church at Elmwood. I keep up via the Internet and saw how they bought an old Catholic church in a neighborhood I have walked a hundred times while planting there two decades ago.

The Chapel is a non-denominational, multi-site church in Buffalo, New York that sees about 4,000 people gathering together on Sundays. The Chapel is currently meeting at two different campuses: CrossPoint in Getzville, NY, north of the city of Buffalo, and a second campus inside Regal Cinemas on Elmwood Ave in the city of Buffalo. LifeWay Research had a conversation with Daryl Largis, executive pastor at The Chapel to talk about their strategy that has led the church through a significant transition. You'll benefit from reading it.

LifeWay Research: Tell us about The Chapel.

Continue reading Megachurch Interview: Daryl Largis.

Have you ever wondered about the terminology of megachurch and gigachurch? I did-- and I asked around.

The first term that was widely used was actually "Superchurch." Elmer Towns was the most common user and popularizer of that term and most early megachurch research used that term.

Thanks to Warren Bird, Director of Research at Leadership Network, who wrote his Ph.D. on the megachurch phenomenon, I know the origin of the word "megachurch."

meg•a•church n. A church averaging 2,000 or more people in attendance during weekly worship gatherings.

Frequent readers of this blog will know of my appreciation for Francis Dubose as the first person to use the word "missional" in the manner we do today. My "Meanings of Missional" series spends much time with Dubose.

Well, quite to my surprise, his is the first printed reference to the word "megachurch." You can find that in Francis DuBose, How Churches Grow in an Urban World, Nashville, TN, USA: Broadman Press, 1978.

But, it was megachurch uber-researcher John Vaughn who first used the term to refer to churches over 2000 in weekly attendance. (The 2000-mark is the standard today thanks to John's influence.) And, he is the first to use it in a book title, Megachurches and America's Cities: How Churches Grow (1993).

Also, in 1991, Prepare Your Church for the Future (by Carl George with Warren Bird, Revell, 1991) helped popularize the word megachurch. The book was based on some popular training Carl had done with pastors from America's largest churches for the 3 prior years. That book quickly sold over 100,000 copies, which no doubt helped popularize the word

What about gigachurch?

gig•a•church n. A church averaging 10,000 or more people in attendance during weekly worship gatherings.

Well, actually, I first saw the term used by Missouri Synod Lutheran and World Magazine editor Gene Edward Veith in an article here.

Veith expressed great enthusiasm for his newly coined word, explaining:

I realize that I have just coined a new word--the giga-church--deriving from a parallel with computer technology, in which megabytes of memory grew exponentially into gigabytes. The word "gigachurch" for metastasizing megachurches deserves wide currency. Use it and let's see if it catches on. If you hear the word elsewhere, please report, and remember that you saw it first on the Cranach blog.

But, in his comment section, one of his astute readers pointed out that it was Bill Easum who first used the word. I emailed Bill to be sure and it was the case, and he confirmed it.

The first mention I could find was in a Washington Post story that explained:

Where megachurch refers to congregations with an average of 2,000 or more worshipers every weekend, gigachurch refers to those with 10,000 or more, said Texas-based church consultant Bill Easum...

Special note: most researchers who use the word "megachurch" don't like the term "gigachurch."

Come back later today for one more megachurch interview.

(The graphic about is a Wordle of my first post of megachurch week.)

Megachurch week stretched to two weeks. Perhaps it needs a new name-- Supersized Megachurch Week.

Well, megachurch "week" is not quite done. I will have two more posts, one later today and one tomorrow. Here is what we have covered so far:

Megachurch Week-- Looking at Research
Interview with Kerry Shook
Megachurches in Outreach Magazine
Interview with Perry Noble
Who's Who in Megachurch Research
Megachurch Interview: Joel Hunter
Warren Bird's Megachurch Dissertation on Megachurches as Spectator Religion
Megachurch Interview with Brady Cooper

Enough on megachurches (for now, at least).

First, for the Church of God pastors and church planters I spent the day with on Monday, click here for the presentations I mentioned. Thanks so much for having me share with you.

On to Catalyst...

If my flight has made it (always a question when flying the Delta-owned ASA airlines), I'm at the Catalyst Conference for the next few days.

Today

I will be speaking at the Catalyst Start Lab Wednesday afternoon. I will be doing a live interview via the internet Wednesday afternoon at plantingchannel.com/catalyst. You may also want to check out the New Thing Network's Discover the Dream workshop on PlantingChannel starting at 8:45am eastern time.

Friday

My main stage session will be around 1:45pm on Friday. I will be talking about our new book, Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and Churches that Reach Them. A copy of the sampler will be in each of the registration bags.

Throughout the Week

Of course, I'll be Twittering throughout so you can follow my updates and observations from Catalyst as it all goes down.

Also, be sure to see the LifeWay and International Mission Board exhibits while you are there... I will be hanging around both of them at different times.

See you at Catalyst.

Brady Cooper is the pastor of New Vision in Murfreesboro, TN. Brady and I recently met at The Standard, a restaurant in downtown Nashville and had a little too much fun.

Last week I mentioned Warren Bird's dissertation on megachurches, and today on the blog you can download the whole thing. Those interested in what's really happening inside megachurches will benefit from his dissertation which explores the stereotype of whether most people are only spectators at really big churches. This is particularly helpful as it explores "free rider theory."

Free rider, a term coined in 1965 by Mancur Olson, is used for those who do not contribute in the provision of a public good, but enjoy these goods anyway. In churches, these are the individuals who come and benefit, but do not yet commit. So even if they do make substantial financial contributions, the average level of commitment in the church is lowered and the whole becomes less effective. In other words, if any organization has too many "free riders," churches included, the organization will fail.

Bird analyzed national surveys for churches of all sizes for group involvement -- as a way of sorting between "spectating" and "involvement." Bird explains,

The question of whether megachurches encourage spectator religion can be addressed from many perspectives. The approach of this dissertation will be: first, the proposal of an answer (namely that the data do not support the view of megachurches as spectator religion); secondly, the presentation of social theory that might support that answer; and third, the testing of the social theory presented through quantitative analysis supported by qualitative interviews. The outcome, if the hypotheses are well constructed, if they are reliably and validly tested, and then if the findings are cogently presented, might contribute to the increase of knowledge and ultimately to the sway of public opinion. (pg. 56)

Bird concludes that people's involvement is the same or better in larger churches than in smaller churches. These findings were later cited and expanded upon in the book Beyond Megachurch Myths (2007) by Scott Thumma and Dave Travis, and also validated in the megachurch chapter of What Americans Really Believe (2008) by Rodney Stark.

The rapid growth of megachurches, in both size and number, has surfaced several
issues of interest to sociologists. "Megachurches have exploded," Drucker says, "because
they asked, 'What is value?' to a nonchurchgoer and came up with answers the older
churches had neglected" (Drucker 1998:169-170). What value are megachurches supplying that other churches are not? "The greatest value to the thousands who now throng the megachurches--both weekdays and Sundays--is a spiritual experience rather
than a ritual."

Perhaps the most interesting sections are chapter 1, which gives a history of the development of megachurches, and the appendix, which gives photos and commentary on many U.S. megachurches. You can download Warren's dissertation below.

I could be wrong, but I am guessing that Joel Hunter and I have some unusual connections:

1. We just co-taught a doctoral seminar at Reformed Seminary.
2. We have done a funeral together (my father-in-law).
3. We both think my mother-in-law is a very nice person. (Very nice. Really.)
4. He prayed at the DNC and I, well, was near Barak Obama once.

OK, the last one probably is not really a connection.

Joel and I recently had lunch in the parlor of Reformed Seminary in Orlando (with our friend Steve Childers) and talked gospel, kingdom, politics, and a bit about my mother-in-law (grin). Later on, one of our research team members interviewed Joel.

Joel Hunter has served as the senior pastor of Northland since 1985. During his tenure the church has grown from 200 to 12,000. Northland is "A Church Distributed," meaning the church is arranged around the relationships of the congregation and partner ministries, rather than around a physical church building.

The people of the church worship at multiple sites throughout Central Florida and serve their unique, local communities. The sites are all connected during the worship experience through a two-way video connection that allows different parts of the services to be distributed among the sites and gives congregants opportunities to interact with one another in real time.

Worshipers also participate at 1,500 smaller sites worldwide via Northland's innovative Webstream application.

All of this makes Northland one of the most technologically savvy churches in America. LifeWay Research was able to talk with Pastor Joel about Northland's strategy for making disciples.

LifeWay Research: Tell us about some of the exciting things happening at Northland.

Pastor Joel Hunter: Northland is in a huge transition. We worship in a new building with all of its capabilities that was specifically built more for the people who would never come inside of a building than it was for those who would gather within this particular building. It has been a watershed moment in our history.

We have had the philosophy of being a "distributed church" for about 10 years now. And what that has meant for us is we have not only worshipped concurrently with several sites in town, but we have worshipped concurrently with people online. Now as that develops we are growing tremendously with those who are worshipping with us online. Some of the online participants signed in with all of their information while others just observe. This part of our ministry has grown tremendously. Because of this growth we are beginning to do everything and design every program so that we are not just a big church with inside programs, but so that any site of any size anywhere can be a part of our programs because we want to focus on those people who gather of any size, but especially for the worshipping point, the home church, the organic church, or whatever you want to call it.

LWR: So what does all of this mean for Northland?

Pastor Hunter: It means that these people gather together because they need some help or want to be connected to a larger group in the church to worship, but they are going to do their own pastoral care, their own education, their own community service, all of that kind of stuff where thy are. And that fellowship is important. So for us the development has really birthed a vision of being able to-- plant churches is probably too big a term for us because the term church has so much western baggage to it-- but we are enabling small congregations to do evangelism and discipleship and service and worship together all over the world. And so that's the course that we are on right now. That is where everything is pointed here in our church.

It has tremendous benefits to our people's maturity because when you come to a church and you are constantly reminded that you are just getting filled up for the people who are not there inside the church with you, and everything we do as a church is to make us witnesses and servants to those who are not regularly in church programming. It really does give you a better handle on how and what it means to love God and love your neighbor as yourself.

LWR: How would you respond to the critical comments of those that believe worshipping online is forsaking the gathering together of believers?

Pastor Hunter: First of all, the ideal of online worship is that you would gather others to worship with you where you are. So the singular worshipper that just doesn't want to go into a church, although they are still valid, is not really our target. That is why we have never been on TV. The observance of a worship experience is not the goal.

LWR: What should people do that wish to worship with Northland online?

Pastor Hunter: People just go to the website and sign in to whichever service. Online worshippers can see who is worshipping with them at that moment. And if they like they can chat with others that are signed in for that worship service as well over i-chat. They also have the option to speak with ministers on duty and they also can participate in the worship experience. Whenever the congregation is addressed and asked for their favorite scripture, for example, those online can respond. As the technology develops we will literally be able to see on the walls of our church many of those who are worshipping with us so those people will be literally in the same room. So if Denis is worshipping from South Korea or Thor from Iceland--those are two regulars we have--we will be able to see their images all in the same room. It's this kind of togetherness that goes way beyond what you would think for technology.

For people my generation, I am 60 years old, it is a little bit more difficult to imagine that this is not a very cold and artificial experience, one that is rather mechanical. But for the people who are my kids' generation, they have lived off this sort of technology.

I have three sons. They have lived online since they can remember. They do life online. And the kids just coming up now, for them there is nothing artificial about it. My generation grew up in a theater style worship or life. The coming generations will all grow up where the screen is a connection or a window to the world. The screen is some degree of intimacy although it never replaces and should actually generate geographically based togetherness. And so that is what we are trying to do. We are trying to use a virtual community to create a local community so that people have actual physical fellow Christian relationships where they live so that they can care for one another and encourage one another in ministry.

LWR: Northland is doing a great job with bringing different geographical locations together for worship through the internet, but have you developed a way in which to help your online viewers/communities to continue the worship experience after the service through things such as small groups etc? Are you going to develop leaders for those internet congregations that are growing and possibly becoming another site of Northland? If so what qualifications would you expect to see in such a leader?

Pastor Hunter: It is in development right now. Because of the philosophy that we have we are probably not going to emphasize those larger congregations that are multi sites. Once you get past a 100 people you need a certain leader with a certain skill set and a certain gift mix to develop that big a group. And that big a group also carries with it its own expense and it carries its own rate of failure (the failure of church plants in the nation). So what we are going to concentrate on are leaders of small congregations. That is, you know, a dozen, 20. That anybody can take responsibility for if they have the ongoing support and reference to people who have been trained as pastors and can support them in that in that way.

For a long time here we have done small group leadership. We have virtually ordained small group leaders. They do some of the baptisms in our church, funerals, and some of the marriages so that it all doesn't have to go back to a large church leader for those sacerdotal functions.

Ultimately what we want to do is to take any group anywhere that has three or more and somebody wants to take spiritual responsibility for this group we want to take that person and mentor them and to provide resources for them. I am not talking about money but about communication. If a person in our own congregation decides to take on that spiritual leadership for a small group, they become a spiritual leader in every sense. This has already happened in our history. So we know it works. We cannot form a church but we can equip those that are coming to Christ to bring their friends together to form and a church and we can appoint a spiritual leader where they are to guide them

So that's essentially what is in the works right now for us.

LWR: What does virtual worship look like for those inside the church walls?

Pastor Hunter: At the beginning our of services we read off a personal welcome to those that are worshipping with us online and to the rest of the world. People inside the church are excited by this. Even if your 80 years old this is still fascinating that they are worshipping with you.

But the point is, we do have people who go out in short term missions. And we have hundreds of them, that develop this heart to be linked in worship and service to people in other parts of the world. And so they really want to pour our leadership and our resources into a church that will benefit them as well as benefit those who worship in a facility at a particular address.

LWR: Do you feel that virtual worship has opened up a whole new mission opportunity?

Pastor Hunter: Oh, absolutely. For example we have a girl who has volunteered to go all over the United States to visit people who are worshipping with us online. She is taking a video camera with her and getting their story so that we can get to know them and figure out how we can serve them better. The same thing happens in different parts of the world. If we are having people who are worshipping with us online on a regular basis we are trying to create a relationship with them. We also hope that we will have people from our church interested in visiting with them in their country and getting their story. We are not just sending mission teams to countries because we have heard that there are poor people there. We are going and assisting those that worship with us. We are asking them their needs. We go to support a Christian already there who is doing ministry and support them in their ministry. So this is greatly expanding our missions program and our mission's mentality.

LWR: How has Northland successfully moved your congregation to follow along reaching different generations, because you obviously you feel that you are reaching younger generations with internet worship?

Pastor Hunter: We are not trying to get rid of our 80 year old members or to change their style of worship. If they want to come to church and go to Sunday School they can still do that. We have not leapfrogged the traditional church. We have expanded the traditional church. We have a larger vision of what being the church means and that includes people who don't walk through the door. Elders used to say that "we'll take care of and love everybody the best we can who walks through our doors". The distributed church says, "We will take care and love everybody the best we can who will never walk through our doors," also. We do not try to convince people that are really content and growing that they now need to try virtual worship.

LWR: Pastor Hunter it seems that Northland is expanding the vision of the traditional church. What is your definition of church?

Pastor Hunter:The church is Christians coming together to worship and serve in order to expand the kingdom of God.

LWR: What advice would you give to pastors in smaller churches or struggling churches about growth and reaching people?

Pastor Hunter: Well, first of all there is a ton of information on stuff about things such as discipleship, growth, or church programs. A great deal of resources can be found online and they are free. So I would encourage them to take this stuff and to use it. But here is what I would say to any pastor and any church no matter how small and struggling because I was a pastor of a church that was small and struggling. You do two things.

First of all, you love your people enough not only to minister to their hurts, but to make them ministers to other people's hurts because that is when the church really starts to grow. You can only grow from those that are not yet included if you are talking about numbers. Your attention has to be as much on those who are not yet in your congregation as those who are in your congregation. If you only pay attention to those that have been in the congregation a long time, most of them have relationships already established within that congregation. If you pay attention to the new people that come in and teach them how to minister to others they have a relationship with then most of their relationships are outside the congregation. So in your congregation minister to the hurts of people and love them where they are. But teach them to be ministers also.

And then, secondly, just get involved as a church outside the church walls. Do community service. Do short term missions, whatever it takes to give yourself away. Because that is exactly what Christ did. God came in bodily form out of a very safe environment and he just went to where the need was. And whether that is in your town or that is in another country, what will happen is the church will grow when you go literally, physically to where the need is. That is the way this church grew and that is the way that lots of churches grow.

Fascinating stuff from Joel Hunter. Feel free to give your thoughts below. And, don't mention my mother-in-law in the comments!

And, be sure to visit the other post from MegaChurchWeek at the blog:
Megachurch Week-- Looking at Research
Interview with Kerry Shook
Megachurches in Outreach Magazine
Interview with Perry Noble
Who's Who in Megachurch Research

One final note: It looks like megachurch week got too big for just one week. So, we will end it here for this week-- but post more for next week, including interviews with more pastors and more research information.

Ed

Just under a year ago, I received a phone call from Warren Bird at Leadership Network. Warren was having a party and I was invited to join the fun.

It has been a long time since I have been invited to "parties." This one involved flying to Dallas, staying overnight, and meeting some new friends.

Warren had just finished his Ph.D. dissertation and the folks at Leadership Network threw him a soirée. We had dinner with toasts by Bob Buford at a fancy restaurant. (I don't mean to sound like a yokel here, but it was VERY fancy.)

In honor of Warren's dissertation (which I will share later this week) they brought together a who's who of megachurch research, including:

o Elmer Towns
o John Vaughan
o Carl George
o Bill Easum
o Scott Thumma
o Mark Chaves
o Samuel Chand
o Gary McIntosh

In addition, the fine folks from Leadership Network (Bob, Dave Travis, Linda Stanley, and Greg Ligon) were there.

You probably recognize many of the names, but I want to point out three of them who are most active in megachurch research. To do that, a short history may be helpful.

The first person who started listing megachurches was probably Elmer Towns, which he did as a column in Christian Life magazine. The editor indicated it grabbed people attention. He would list the largest Sunday Schools (since they had larger attendance than churches until the mid-60s) and later the largest churches. Among his many books on themes of church growth were America's Largest Sunday Schools (1969) and America's Largest Churches (1972).

He turned that mantle over to John Vaughn. John has devoted his life to studying megachurches. He speaks and consults on the subject. His organization is called Chruch Growth Today, and the tagline puts it well, "America's Megachurch Research Center... since 1985." (It is important to note that he also does research on international megachurches.)

When you are in a megachurch, there is a very good chance John has already been there... and a pretty good chance he has consulted with the church. Megachurches are a labor of love for John-- and this is his specialty. Be sure to visit his site. You can't really know megachurches without some of the resources on John's site. See Church Growth Today.

Warren Bird and Scott Thumma are also frequently engaged in megachurch research. I mentioned them earlier this week related to research they just released.

They recently completed an in-depth 12 church study that includes questionnaires from 25,000 megachurch attendees which they will begin releasing in February 2009. This data parallels other broad national data so we will be able to compare small evangelical churches to the large evangelical megachurches. The study will also have considerable information about where mega attendees are coming from and the depth of their spiritual life and personal practices.

Warren jokes that he attends a support group for people who can't resist stopping anytime he spots a big church. He usually co-publishes with others, co-authoring 21 books to date, many of them with megachurch pastors. Warren works for Leadership Network, which works with many megachurches and releases a lot of research on megachurches, all for free download. Check out leadnet.org/megachurch and leadnet.org/salary. He wrote his dissertation on megachurches that I will share soon.

Scott's interest is more academic as a seminary professor and researcher at the Hartford Institute. Scott has a very helpful web page here and a searchable database here. He co-authored a book with Dave Travis, Megachurch Myths, which is one of the most comprehensive analyses of the phenomenon.

If you want to know megachurches, hearing from these three is important.

And, if you are a megachurch, I would encourage you to submit your data to John Vaughn and the Hartford Institute.

I have had the chance to be in a few green rooms with Perry and he is a pretty interesting guy. First, he admitted to owning parachute pants in the 1980s here at the blog. Second, I would like to think I contributed to his personal development by encouraging him to update those glasses (he told me he has updated them, so that is good news). Third, there are few churches that would actually point to YouTube videos criticizing them, but they did (and, full confession, I watched the video twice).

Perry Noble is the founding and senior pastor of NewSpring Church in Anderson and Greenville, South Carolina. At just eight years old the church averages over 8,000 people during weekend services and is launching another campus in Florence, South Carolina this year to reach more people. NewSpring is also launching an "internet campus" in 2009. Perry will tell you their growth is the fruit of God's work through the clear preaching of the gospel. Someone else might want to clam it's the satanic influence of Guitar Hero. Knowing Perry and NewSpring church - I believe it is their passion to see men and women reached for the gospel.

LifeWay Research had the opportunity to talk with Perry about what's happening at NewSpring.

LifeWay Research: Perry can you tell us why you think New Spring is growing?

Pastor Perry Noble: I think there are a couple of things that our church is doing but first of all let me just say this. I don't think we are the perfect church at all. And ultimately it is just by God's grace that we are growing. I really don't know, but if I had to guess, two things pop out in my mind.

Number one, our main focus is Jesus Christ. We focus on the gospel. I preach salvation. I don't have time to get caught up in political agendas or Christian boycotts or start campaigning for some sort of moral agenda. I am called by God to preach and teach the gospel because the gospel changes lives. So I don't allow myself to get side tracked on what I would consider to be either non essential issues or controversial issues that haven't been solved for like 500 or 1000 years and never will be solved this side of heaven. I just want to tell people about who Jesus is because back in 1990 I was pretty much on my way to hell and Jesus changed my life. And I just think he can do it for everybody and he is still changing me, even today. Even though I am a Christian, he is still continuing to shape me.

Secondly, we have fought really hard to keep things very simple. I don't think that success in the church means you have more to do. I believe it means you have less to do. And so we don't allow programs to dictate every night of the week or whatever. We keep things really simple. Dr. Rainer and his book Simple Church was just a huge confirmation that we have got that right. We want to be very simple in everything we do. We want to be very strategic in everything we do. And so we just keep things lean and focus on Jesus.

LWR: You have been sharing God's word in some very interesting ways through your sermon series such as the "You Asked For It" series. How did this series come about?

Noble: Honestly, I listen to a lot of podcasts. I listened to Mark Driscoll and he did this series. He said he was reading through the book of 1 Corinthians and he realized that the book of 1 and 2 Corinthians was basically brought on by the Church in Corinth writing Paul a letter asking him a bunch of questions. And so he was like, "Well, I want to do that for my church." And so he had his church submit questions. And they went on the website and they voted and they did all that stuff. He did like a nine to ten week series based on the results of the internet survey. And so I was like "Wow, We should try that."

Mark Driscoll is in Seattle and New Spring is in Anderson, so I knew the questions were going to be completely different. I was right. The questions were different. In April we allowed people to write in their questions or submit them online. After they were submitted we categorized them into 18 categories. We then put these 18 categories on the website and allowed people to vote on which ones they most wanted to address. This step happened over the course of a month and there were over 4000 votes. We then picked the top six and those were the subjects of my sermons.

LWR: Are you always thinking outside of the box? What are some other areas that you are looking for to make your messages relevant to your people?

Noble: I think one of the things I am trying to do is trying to figure out how to cut down my message time. I preach for like 50 minutes to an hour. I would really like to cut it down. You know, when you consider the average sitcom is 22 minutes [once commercials are removed]. In those 22 minutes they completely develop characters, a plot and bring resolution to a conflict. I don't think I'll ever preach 22 minutes, but I am trying to cut my message time down.

The other thing I am trying to do is to make my messages memorable with a stage prop or something like that. I don't do that all the time because I don't want the tail to ever wag the dog, and I believe the gospel should be the central part of every message. Everything done in the message or in the service should be done to enhance the gospel. I don't ever want to say, "Here is a cool illustration. How can we revolve the gospel around it?" I always want to go, "This is the gospel. What can we do to really drill this in to somebody's mind?"

LWR: In recent years the church trend has been to start multi-sites or to plant churches. I think now we beginning to see a new trend in the form of internet campuses. New Spring is beginning a virtual campus in 2009. Tell us a bit about that journey.

Noble: Well, I am very excited because I just think that one of the things that the Church is going to have to do is accept that technology is here to stay.

I heard Rick Warren say one time - "I don't think God allowed us to have the internet so pornography can become the giant in the world. I think God allowed us to have the internet so we could reach the world." I believe this with all my heart.

You know, when Jesus is talking about end times in Matthew 24 and again in the gospel of Luke he says one of the signs of the times coming to an end is the gospel will be preached all over the world. Well, through the internet I can share Jesus in countries where I am technically not allowed to go. I can't go in there as a missionary. I can't go in there as a pastor. But I can go in there online and people will watch. And so I am really excited because the internet campus opens up a huge, huge, huge audience that otherwise I wouldn't have the privilege of telling them about Jesus. That is why I am more excited because at heart I am just an evangelist. I think it takes evangelism to the next level.

LWR: Which church/churches did you study for the development of your internet campus? Is New Spring modeling their internet ministry after any other church?

Noble: We studied Life Church pretty closely and asked the a lot of questions. Craig and those guys do it just as good as anybody out there. Tony Morgan is actually over a lot of our internet stuff and the development of it.

LWR: What advice would you give to churches in America? What elements would you say are a must in any church?

Noble: I would say two things. Number one, you must keep your focus on Jesus. Don't lose sight of the gospel. Don't lose sight of the fact that people are dying and going to go to hell unless they know Jesus. If the church loses the centrality and the urgency of that message, I think the church dies. And I think the reason that churches all over America today are closing their doors and shutting down is because they forget the gospel. They have forgotten that Jesus Christ died on a cross not so we could have a holy huddle or a stained glass fortress or us four and no more. He died on a cross so that we could reach the world. They have got sin in their lives. And because of that they are separated from God. They go to hell. That is not necessary. Jesus died on the cross to make forgiveness and redemption completely possible.

Number two, don't try to be anything except who God called you to be. Maybe God didn't call you to go multi-site. Maybe God called you to one location. You need to be completely content with that. Maybe God called you to go plant churches instead of doing video venues. You need to do that. Maybe God told you to do video venues and plant churches. You need to do that. You don't ever, every need to feel pressure because another church somewhere else in America or somewhere else in the world is doing something to think, "Oh, wow, we have got do that." Our call as a church is to do exactly what God called us to do. In the book of Revelation chapter two and chapter three Jesus gives seven different messages to seven different churches. If he wanted every church to be the same he would have just said, "All right. Here is my message to every church and it is just the same." But he addressed seven churches specifically and said, "Here is what is going on with you. Here is what is going on with you. Here is what is going on with you." I just think that each church has a unique DNA that it needs to focus on. The gospel should be central, but the strategy and the structure of the church should be completely open to the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

Perry's blog, perrynoble.com, is in my Google reader and is always an interesting read.

Watch and pray for Perry as I believe his influence will continue to grow.

We're moving through Megachurch Week here at the blog and I wanted to draw your attention to the article I wrote for Outreach Magazine called, Learning from America's Largest and Fastest Growing Churches.

As we talked with churches and gathered the information for the OUTREACH 100 Largest and Fastest-Growing Churches in America, we saw several dichotomies, including the one developing between small and large churches. If current trends continue, the number of medium-sized churches will continue to decrease, and the bulk of U.S. churches will tend to be very large or very small. While most churches have always been small, large churches getting larger...

While churches are getting larger, attendees are often not unified in one location as more megachurches add satellite sites...

While last year we highlighted a growing interest in churches on the lists becoming multicultural, this year we found a heightened interest in churches becoming multigenerational. As Baby Boomers age and the number of senior adults in America reaches record highs, leaders are recognizing the need to be a church for all ages...

Regardless of your church's size or shape, Christ calls each of us to seek out fresh ways to contextualize the Gospel for a dying world.

You can read the whole article at Sermon Central.

The folks at Outreach Magazine have created helpful landing pages which provide access to more information about the churches on the lists: FASTEST / LARGEST

I first met Kerry about 8 years ago. We invited him in to Louisville to speak at a church planting conference and he did an amazing job. (I still have the evaluations on my computer and his marks were higher than mine... but who's counting.)

Kerry Shook and his wife planted Fellowship of the Woodlands in 1993, which is now one of the fastest growing churches in America. They average over 16,000 people at their their 3 campuses and operate with over 4,000 volunteers. They are looking to start additional sites in the future as they continue to grow. In the midst of all this extraordinary growth Kerry understands that what is happening at Fellowship is the result of God's activity among his people as he changes their lives. Lifeway Research interviewed him for the blog, and I think you'll find the discussion encouraging as he talks about the book he wrote with his wife, One Month to Live, and how God has used this emphasis in the life of his church.

LifeWay Research: Pastor Kerry, could you tell us a little about what's been happening at Fellowship of the Woodlands?

Pastor Kerry Shook: Last year we presented our staff with a challenge. I challenged them to live the next 30 days as if it was their last, not because they were going to die in a month, but, because, Lord willing, they were going to live many more years. I believe if you live the next month as if it is your last then you will really want to do something that makes a difference for eternity. You will want to leave a legacy. All of the stories that came out just from our staff team were amazing. Then my wife and I wrote this book and presented the whole campaign to our church in February and it was just amazing what it did. It really impacted the community.

I asked everyone in our church if they would ask their neighbors and friends to come over to their house and just experience this challenge with them. I said, "Just invite them over and, you know, maybe it is three or four of you or four or five of you and just talk about what you would do if you had one month to live. And throw out some refreshments." We gave them some DVDs and the books. It was amazing. We basically grew by 9000 in small groups just during that month. And then after the campaign ended we went down to about 7300 new people in small groups from the community. It was just crazy.

The end result was after our people really started inviting their friends to their house and then bringing them to church and really being a witness to them. We had 1500 people this summer who were baptized because of the study and we've never seen anything like that in our church over the last 15 years. This has really just sparked amazing life change and stories.

We had one woman in our church whose son had been murdered at college, and right as she took the challenge the young man who had committed the crime was convicted of the murder and she was able to speak to him in the sentencing phase because of victim's rights. And the judge warned her, "No cursing, no shouting, but you can say whatever you want to say." And this woman, Terry Lynn McDonough, stood up and read this beautiful letter of forgiveness. She said, "If I had one month to live I would want to forgive everyone including you, and I choose to forgive you for my sake because I see Jesus standing next to you begging me to forgive you. And if you become a saver of life instead of a destroyer of life then maybe my son's death won't have been in vain." She used the next 30 days to go visit him in prison. And he made a faith promise to Christ. He was baptized. And it is the kind of forgiveness that I can't even fathom.

LWR: Kerry you have talked about 1500 baptisms and the tremendous growth of your small groups. What did you have to do to realign your church to meet the needs of so many more people?

Shook: We are scrambling, but what is really exciting about it is that we have been praying and preparing for this for a long time. We knew it was going to be amazing when we started this campaign and that God was going to do some really great things because of it. It was a real passion on my heart but I didn't expect this to happen. And so once we had so many new people in small groups we have been scrambling to fill positions and we have also been raising up leaders and training leaders. But one thing this experience has done for our church, it has really called our people to a new level of leadership. We have also discovered that people want to be challenged.

You know, our people want to be challenged to make a difference in the world and they want me, as their pastor, to challenge them. And so I am constantly challenging people to step up to leadership. I have had hundreds of people come up to me and say "Thank you, Kerry, for challenging me. I am stepping up to lead and I am scared to death, but it is really rewarding." I love to hear that and so we constantly challenge.

We welcome the problems because they are just really opportunities. The cool thing is our staff sees it as that. We just celebrate the baptisms, the lives that are changed, and the spiritual growth that is taking place and all the missions trips. We had 200 students go on a mission trip this summer. I gather the whole staff together once a month and we just praise God. We celebrate and thank him for what he has done.

LWR: What was Fellowship at the Woodlands like before you began the "one month to live" campaign?

Shook: This church has been a wild ride since day one. We are only fifteen years old and we started with eight people. There have been a lot of exciting things that God has done, but there was just something about the one month to live campaign. I think one of the things we saw as a church was that it is not just about us. It is not just about church growth or what is happening in our church but it is about what God does in the community with lost people and it is also about what God does through other churches around the world. And this is one of the first things that we have done that has impacted a lot of other churches around the world to impact their communities.

So I think it was one of those things where we can never thank God enough for what he has done over this first 15 years, but this was just something really special and amazing and it really helped us move beyond just ourselves and God blessing our church to we have 1000 churches this fall who are doing the campaign. This is something that our people are just thrilled about because we are helping all these other churches.

LWR: How does it make you feel when USA Today and the Press Register compare the Next Thirty Days campaign to the secular mover The Bucket List.

Shook: We think that's great. You know there has been a lot of people who have thought about the idea of what would I do if I knew my time on earth was short. And so we just really took some time to formulate how a person could take that challenge in 30 days or how a church could take that challenge in 30 days with that central question, what would I do if I knew I had one month to live. I will tell you in the movie The Bucket List they did a lot of crazy things like skydiving and race car driving. But the thing that the character played by Jack Nicholson has the problem with is the toughest thing and that is reconciling a relationship. And that's what we have with so many people now who have taken the one month to live challenge is that it is in our relationships that we have our greatest regrets. And that is why I think that God has used it in churches because we have seen a lot of healing take place in churches and we have seen a lot of healing take place in families.

LWR: How important has this campaign been to the families of your church?

Shook: Very important. When I, personally, started living this one month to live challenge and this one month to live lifestyle, I started asking myself what I would do if I had one month to live. One of the first things I did was to go to my teenage sons and I said, "Guys, we got a great relationship, but I come home from work and you say, 'How was your day, dad?' And I say, 'Great.' And I say, 'How was your day, guys?' 'Great.' And that's about it. You know, we are guys and this is as deep as it got."

And I said, "I want to know your struggles and your stresses and your problems because I know you are going through stuff as teenagers." They replied "Well, dad, you never tell us your struggles and stresses. You just always say things are great." And I said, "Well, I didn't think you wanted me to dump all my stuff on you." And they said, "We can handle it." This conversation really took our relationship to a new level. I started every Thursday meeting them at their favorite restaurant and I would have the chili cheese fries on the table waiting for them when they got out of school. We would just meet and talk about stuff going on in their lives and in mine.

LWR: In our conversation you have briefly talked about how this campaign has changed the churches involvement in the community. I know that before the campaign your wife was involved in missions and women's ministry but what is different now about the church's involvement in the community and around the world?

Shook: Really the ultimate product of one month to live was that it has helped us want to leave a legacy. There are four principles we really taught: to live passionately, love completely, learn humbly and then lead boldly. The last principle is key. It's about doing something that is going to be here after you are gone and it really helped our whole church go to a new level and get excited about doing mission work and making a difference overseas and making a difference right here. For example in our community we did a huge feeding campaign where we gathered 20,000 pounds of food and filled up the local food pantries. We have really been focusing on Kenya and Malawi in Africa and Indonesia and Costa Rica and Sweden. Only one percent of the people go to church in Sweden. We have been partnering with churches to help them make some changes.

LWR: What would you say the "secret" is to your church's growth?

Shook: We always say that the secret to our church's growth is life change. When God changes someone's life, then they tell everyone and it is contagious. We use a lot of creativity and new technology, cutting edge things to use in our church, but really what it comes down to is God changing a life. And then, you know, they just want to tell everybody.

LWR: What's next, Kerry?

Shook: It seems like God is always up to something next. One of the things that we feel is real important for us is the satellites that we are starting. We are staring our third campus... and it is only about 25 minutes away from our main campus... We have a campus in East Houston where we had 1500 people come day one and we started that just last year. The influence that we have in Houston is totally from God but we have to step in and take advantage of it. Also the television ministry coming together to help us form these satellites is something that is real important to us because one of the things that God has given us a passion for is creative content and putting together creative campaigns for churches like a creative sermon series or other things that can really help churches and take them to the next level.

LWR: Pastor Kerry, what do you think is important for other pastors to know about your church or what encouragement/advice would you have for them?

Shook: I would encourage every pastor to ask this question. What would you do if you knew your church only had one month to live? How would you make decisions? Would you make them differently if you knew your church was only going to be here another month?

I think we would all take more risks to make a difference for the kingdom. We would all be in prayer more. We would all see the Lord more and his wisdom. We would want to do something that would be here after we are gone. I encourage pastors to make those one or two little changes that could make a huge difference.

Another thing I would say to other pastors is that only God can grow a church and there are principles that we need to follow to reach people for Christ from God's Word. But ultimately I will have to blame God for the growth of our church. There are churches that do the same things that we do but they have not experienced the growth that we have for whatever reason. Maybe they are in area where there is not as many people, but I do know that God will sort it out when we get to heaven. It is just being faithful that matters.

It's megachurch week here at the blog. To coincide with the release of the top 100 church lists in Outreach Magazine, we will be sharing megachurch info here at the blog.

The word "megachurch" tend to elicit strong reactions. Megachurches are churches that average over 2,000 for worship gatherings. While "megachurch" does not necessarily equal healthy church, it would also be wrong to assume a megachurch always equals an unhealthy, man-centered Christianity. In fact recent studies are giving a more favorable picture of the megachurch than some might have expected.

A new study by Rodney Stark of Baylor University, now available in book form here, is dispelling the popular caricature of the megachurch as spiritual entertainment for the quasi-Christian baby-boomer. What Americans Really Believe reveals that megachurch members tend to be younger, practice evangelism more frequently, and are bigger on volunteerism than those in smaller churches. Oops. There go the stereotypes. And they aren't abandoning the harder, counter-cultural doctrines of the Christian faith either.

Those who attend megachurches are more likely to affirm historic Christian doctrines like hell, the exclusivity of salvation through Jesus Christ and his literal return than those in smaller churches. The Washington Post summarized this part of the study saying, "Ninety-two percent of megachurch members believe that hell "absolutely exists," compared with just over three-quarters of small-church members, the survey found. And eight in 10 megachurch worshipers believe that the Rapture -- when followers of Jesus Christ believe they will be taken to heaven -- will "absolutely" take place, compared with less than half of those who attend small churches."

For more coverage check out The Washington Times and The Washington Post.

Another study by Scott Thumma of Hartford Institute for Religion Research and Warren Bird of Leadership Network trace the megachurch movement over the past eight years and have found both positive consistency and adaptability. Here's a summary of some of their findings:

Megachurches - Protestant congregations that draw 2,000 or more adults and children in a typical weekend (attendance not membership) - show considerable consistency over the past eight years. They continue to:

• Grow in size,
• Lead the way as America's most multi-ethnic class of church,
• Show a strong bias toward contemporary worship, and
• Remain minimally involved in politics.

However, they also are institutions in transition. They are now:

• Offering more worship services and expanding to multiple-locations,
• Shifting to playing a greater role in community service,
• Decreasing their use of radio and television, and
• Putting greater emphasis on the role of small groups.

You should download their study (PDF) here to read it in full for free.

While there certainly are examples of megachurches who do little more than put on a show for the curious and uncommitted, this does not appear to be the case in most evangelical megachurchs. For those who are one prone to criticize the megachurch phenomenon, I bet even you can think of one megachurch you respect. The Baylor and Hartford/Leadership Network publications seem to point out that there are many others who are doing it right as well.

I am an advocate for all churches who exalt the gospel and reach their communities for the glory of Christ. That means bigger churches and smaller churches. As I have said before, I think Christians can learn from one another. Throughout this week I will be posting a series of interviews with some of the pastors of the fastest growing and largest churches in America, not because bigger is better, but because these churches have found ways of bringing the gospel to bear on the lives of a great number of people in their cities.

So, it's megachurch week-- come by every day and you will read interviews with megachurch pastors, read analyses, and see more research and information about megachurches.

New Research from Barna on Green Evangelicals

Barna surveys evangelicals about their enviornmental views. Here are some excerpts:

One of the intriguing findings of the research is that millions of evangelicals - often perceived to be on the sidelines of the green movement - have become more environmentally conscious in the last year. Yet, evangelicals do so with some skepticism about the environmental movement, specifically the implications of climate change. Evangelicals are concerned about what they perceive to be media hype surrounding global warming, as well as skepticism about the role humans play in causing it. Moreover, evangelicals express strong concern that proposed environmental solutions would hurt the poor, particularly in developing nations...

What makes Americans skeptical about global warming? The survey explored five common objections and discovered that roughly half of Americans maintain some reluctance about climate change for each of the following reasons:

• 49% of Americans contend that some solutions proposed to help global warming would have a negative influence on the poor, especially in other countries
• 48% believe the earth has undergone climate change before and the current warming is not primarily caused by human activity
• 47% indicate the news media have made global warming a bigger story than it deserves
• 47% agree that the U.S. economy is not strong enough right now to take on the problem
• 46% say that if America leads the way tackling the problem other countries will not follow suit and it would hurt American businesses and workers

A majority of the Christian community, regardless of how it is defined, believes that global warming is happening. Still, only a minority of churchgoing Catholics (36%), non-mainline Protestants (36%), and mainline Protestants (45%) are very certain climate change is occurring...

Evangelicals are among the most skeptical population segments when it comes to global warming...

Click here for the full story.
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New Research from the Center for Latin American Studies, Univ. of California, Berkeley.

An important look at Global and U.S. Immigration: Patterns, Issues, and Outlook. Click here.
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New Megachurch (and other) Research from Baylor

Here are some excerpts:

American religion is remarkably stable and quite surprising in its diverse beliefs, practices and realities, according to the latest findings from the Baylor Religion Survey, one of the most extensive surveys ever conducted on American religious attitudes.

"None of the things we all believe about the megachurch is true," said Dr. Rodney Stark, Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences at Baylor and co-director of the ISR...

When compared to small congregations, the survey found that megachurch members display a higher level of personal commitment by attending services and a Bible study group and tithing. They also are more likely to accept that heaven "absolutely" exists and that God rewards the faithful with major successes, are more convinced of the reality of evil, are far more given to having religious and mystical experiences, are significantly younger in age and are remarkably active in volunteer work (as much or more so than tiny churches)...

During the past 63 years, several polls show the percentage of atheists has not changed at all, holding steady at only 4 percent of Americans who say they do not believe in God. Not only is atheism not growing in the United States, the majority of Europeans are not atheists (Ch. 14, "Atheism: The Godless Revolution That Never Happened"). Russia now claims 96 percent of its population believes in God, while a recent poll of China showed that atheists are outnumbered by those who believe in God(s)...

The survey found that 45 percent of Americans report having at least two religious encounters (Ch. 6, "Religious Experiences: God Told Me to Go to Church"). Denomination matters, too. Conservative Protestants are more likely than liberal Protestants, Catholics or Jews to report religious or mystical experiences. However, these experiences are not limited to conservative Protestants. They occur with considerable frequency in nearly all religious groups. The survey also showed that women, African Americans and Republicans are more apt to have religious and mystical experiences...

Among other interesting findings on paranormal or occult beliefs: People who have read The Purpose-Driven Life or any book in the Left Behind series are less likely to believe in the occult and paranormal, while those who have read any book on dianetics or The Da Vinci Code are more likely to believe.

Fascinating information.

Click here for their release.

Jacqui Salmon does a good job with the story in The Washington Post. Click here.
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Election Prayer Initiative

Check out the new prayer initiative called the 40/40 Prayer Vigil sponsored by the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and the North American Mission Board. From the website:

The 40/40 Prayer Vigil consists of 40 days of prayer from September 24 to November 2, 2008, culminating in 40 hours of around the clock intercession during the last 3 days of the Vigil. The Vigil focuses first on personal spiritual revival. It then covers an expanding circle of prayer concerns, from the church to the nation.

You can visit the website to sign up, get updates, and download a Prayer Guide.

This is an exciting political season, and we've all probably had solid discussions, heated arguments, or at least a few good laughs. Let's make sure we're praying as well.

This morning, I spent the day with the staff of three local churches, Living Hope, New Vision, and First Baptist churches. Our focus was on "the missional church" and how our churches might embrace such a vision.

There are many who think that large churches simply cannot be missional. To be fair, I think it is more difficult at a mega church. Large churches can and do struggle with the tendency to turn inward. Having "much" makes it harder to focus on the mission because it requires so much energy to maintain the system. In other words, the more you have, the more you must focus on keeping "it" going.

But, ultimately, I think the mission of God must not just be "owned" by the new or small church. It must also be owned by mega churches, contemporary churches, traditional churches, etc. It's a big mission and we need all hands on deck to join God in that mission.

So, I talked with about 60 staff members from three megachurches about how we might do that in churches such as ours. (And, a couple of church planters crashed the meeting too, so I guess that was 4 churches.)

The questions and discussion were very insightful and spoke well, I think, of the desire that these staffs have to not play church, but to truly join God in His mission.

You can listen to Jason Pettus, pastor of Living Hope, as he recently preached a series on the missional church. Click on graphic to see and listen to the series:

Last year, I wrote an article intended to encourage megas to be more missional. It was published in Outreach Magazine.

The article has an interesting history. After it was published in the magazine, the Presbyterian Global Fellowship, a reform group within the mainline PCUSA, sent the article out to their 8000 subscribers. I received some interesting feedback from mainline pastors-- probably the most feedback I have ever received from mainline pastors from a published article.

Anyway, you can read the article below: