Posted on 11/22/2005 7:11:21 AM PST by nckerr
'Megachurches' draw big U.S. crowds
By Joyce Kelly and Michael Conlon
CHICAGO (Reuters) - On a recent Sunday at Willow Creek Community Church, a Christian rock band joined by dancing children powered up in the cavernous main hall, their images ablaze on several gigantic screens.
Thousands of worshipers from the main floor to the balcony and mezzanine levels were on their feet rocking to a powerful sound system. Outside cars filled a parking lot fit for a shopping mall. Inside some people drifted into small Bible study groups or a bookstore and Internet cafe for lattes, cappuccinos and seats by a fireplace.
This church near Chicago and others like it number their congregations in the thousands on any given Sunday in stadium-size sanctuaries; but in the end a major appeal of America's megachurches may be the chance to get small.
Institutions like California's Saddleback Church, Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois and Houston's Lakewood Church, each drawing 20,000 or more on a weekend, offer not just a vast, shared attraction but a path that tries to link individuals on a faith-sustaining one-to-one level beyond the crowd, observers and worshipers said.
Rick Warren, founder of California's Saddleback Church and author of the best-selling book "The Purpose-Driven Life," told a seminar held earlier this year by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life that about 20 churches in America have more than 10,000 in weekend attendance.
"These churches can do a ton of things that smaller churches can't," said Nancy Ammerman, professor of the sociology of religion at the Boston University School of Theology.
"They have the resources to produce a professional-quality production every weekend, with music (often specially composed for the occasion and backed by a professional ensemble) and video and lighting and computer graphics and a preacher who knows how to work a crowd," she said.
But they also support "dozens or even hundreds of specialized opportunities for people to get involved in doing things with a small group of others. If you want someone to talk to who really understands what it is like to parent an autistic child, you may find a whole support group in a megachurch," she added.
MORE CHOICE
"Or if you really love stock car racing, but hate being surrounded by drunken rowdies, you can go with a busload of your church friends. I wouldn't say that there are fewer rules in most of these churches. Most of them really expect people to get involved in ways that can have a profound impact on their lives. It's just that there are so many paths into involvement that a smaller church just can't match," Ammerman said.
That's part of what Richard and Nancy Sauser of Schaumburg, Ill., said they found at Willow Creek where they have been members for more than 10 years. They attend regularly with their daughters, ages 5 and 7. The 30-year-old church draws 20,000 weekend worshipers.
"Anything they put their minds to, they can pretty much do," he said, marveling at the power inherent in size. But he added, "Willow Creek has the resources to effectively execute on multiple facets of church life," through more than 100 different ministries.
Sauser said he does not attend Willow Creek for its size but for the teaching and the ministry.
When the thousands at Willow Creek break into smaller groups for Bible study, the men's ministry, the special needs ministry and the adult ministry, a lot of life change occurs. "In the small groups, that is where it really gets good," Sauser said.
When the crowds head for Willow Creek's parking lot, attendants in orange vests direct processions of cars into smoothly paved parking lots ahead of the 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. services. Inside, the throng moves through the hallways and up and down escalators and stairs, welcomed by smiling greeters.
Some drop off children at Sunday school.
On the first floor Danielle Jackola of Hoffman Estates, Illinois, a mother of two who recently moved to the area from California, has come in search of a church. After listening to dynamic lead pastor Gene Appel speak on family and passing the baton of faith from one generation to the next, she liked the message -- and the entertainment.
"I had never been to something like that. I think that is one of the ways of getting your numbers up ... to get the message across but to keep it fun and upbeat. And more contemporary to get more young families involved," she said a few days later -- after deciding to join the church.
SEARCH FOR MEANING
Scott Thuma, a sociologist of religion at Hartford Seminary in Connecticut, said his research indicates there are at least 1,200 U.S. Protestant churches which claim more than 2,000 weekly attendees.
Megachurches are addressing the needs of Americans who are disinterested in "traditional church" yet want to deepen a sense of meaning in their lives. Classes and volunteer ministry opportunities lead to a deeper commitment, he said.
"They have opened worship to the seeker and the unsaved rather than reserving Sunday worship for the saved and sanctified," Thuma added.
The three largest churches are Saddleback, Willow Creek and Houston's Lakewood. But Warren said the world has far larger churches, pointing to mammoth Christian congregations in Nigeria, South Korea and elsewhere.
Warren said U.S. Protestants have returned to the 19th century roots of the evangelical movement, emphasizing social issues such as caring for the sick, the poor and the powerless, and not just concentrating on personal salvation.
"The small group structure is the structure of renewal in every facet of Christianity, including Catholicism," Warren told the Pew forum. He said his church has 9,200 lay ministers leading more than 200 different ministries all over southern California with 2,600 small groups in 83 cities.
USE? Nobody uses me...
There is some stuff out there that is treacle to my ears, that others love.
Still, I love God, and I love a song that lets me say that. There is room for other songs that have other messages, but a song service isn't complete to me if they haven't included something that lets me say what my insides are crying out to say. Thats the whole reason I'm there. Others have other needs, and there are other songs that mean more to them. Thats why you choose a variety.
What is a christian.?...
What is a church.?...
We do lots of stuff like "God of Wonders" which is a way of expressing our awe of God.
But at the same time, we do an arrangement of "Peaceful, Easy Feeling" where the verses are the verses to "Amazing Grace", and the chorus is "Peaceful, Easy Feeling". We've also done, "How Sweet it is (To be Loved By You)".
I just want to stop - and thank you, Jesus!
That IS worship.
You are dead wrong! For many this is God's greeting, as well as an embrace that many (having experienced it) will never want to shrug off.
"but no where will you see a Cross..."
Wouldn't that be "churchy", old-fashioned and divisive?
(To be fair...I do think that Lakewood is truly in a category of its own....it is not fair to lump it in with other megachurches....I think you could argue that Lakewood is effectively post-Christian....the other megachurches aren't post-Christian, they have just given too much over to consumerism culture...that is my opinion anyway, but I would be interested in anyone's opinion who has deep knowledge of LW AND others)
But at the same time, we do an arrangement of "Peaceful, Easy Feeling" where the verses are the verses to "Amazing Grace", and the chorus is "Peaceful, Easy Feeling". We've also done, "How Sweet it is (To be Loved By You)".
Are you joking?
They also sing, "I don't care if it rains or freezes..." /jk
I wasn't condescending, damn it. If I deign to condescend, trust me........you'll know it.
Youth groups are about association, pure and simple. Christian kids hanging with Christian kids. They aren't meant to replace Sunday services or parental teachings...merely to supplement them.
It has been said by people far wiser than you and me that who and what you'll be in ten years depends on two things: A) the books you read, and B) the people you associate with. My teen sons attend youth group (one is a bass player in their worship band) and they love it. They 'hang' with great kids and hear good words, too (youth pastor is a VERY mature late-20-something; the head pastor's son, and one terriic preacher in his own right).
Too many try to look at Christianity FAR too hard. There is nothing wrong with Christian kids associating with other Christian kids and hearing uplifting music and scriptural messages. As a dad of seven, I'm all too aware of the alternatives available to teens now days. No, I'll take an evangelical Youth Group that is well-run, well-structured, and well-led any day.
I feel like I'm watching MAD TV!!
"You are dead wrong!"
What, precisely, are you referring to?
But what's the motive?
1) To worship God and give Him the reverence and awe He is due?
or
2) To have catchy, easy-listening tunes that appeal to man?
Worship is about Him, not us.
Nope. Is there some biblical list of forbidden styles of music, or an injunction that only songs with "thee" and "thou" are acceptible?
I would guess that you wouldn't approve because we are not reverent enough (that's usually the objection to praise and worship services)
I can tell you, one does not need a pipe organ to be reverent.
"For where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them."
Matthew 18:20
There are lots of things Dude doesnt know....he just wont entertain that notion. Put Dude on your prayer list, he's going on mine...I just feel sorry for him; he doesnt know the God of the Bible.
Number 1.
When we sing "I just want to stop and thank you Jesus" - we mean it.
I'm beginning to think that what we're dealing with here is a deep-rooted aversion to drums and jeans in church.
"I would guess that you wouldn't approve because we are not reverent enough"
BINGO.
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