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.
You're joking, right? That's why Rick Warren needed to use 19 different translations to get his point across? Be very careful endorsing Rick Warren teachings as "quite Biblical".
"Certainly a two parent family is the biblical ideal. And when divorce happens (for whatever the reason), yes it is more difficult to raise the children, obviously. However, in an abusive marriage, the children are so adversely affected, that it is better to divorce (assuming counseling has failed)not only for the children's sake but for the sake and safety of the mother. (assuming it's the man who is abusive). God never expects people to stay in a situation where they are being abused.
My pastor teaches God hates divorce very strongly, as he should, but he also has said that if you find yourself a single parent, beacuse of an abusive marriage, etc. God will cover for you and that I believe and can testify to.
Peace."
I don't think I can disagree with anything here, except perhaps the permance of the abuse/divorce situation as you hypothecate (see the Piper article I mentioned earlier). Separation is no doubt warranted and perhaps required.
That said, my only point in all this is simply to show that megachurches are so eager to meet the needs of the people, they end up not just compromising but negating the Biblical message.
I don't know what people need subjectively...I don't know anything about their personal situations, etc. That is why I don't purport to judge. I simply think that pastors should rigorously exegete Scripture and let the chips fall where they may.
No doubt that will result in a tremendous amount of offense. No doubt that if that happened in a megachurch, it would very very rapidly become a microchurch. Which is why I have a problem with the whole megachurch phenomenon.
Which translation(s) get the TommyDale seal of approval?
What did Jesus say about divorce?
You are making a lot of sense and excellent points in this thread. Keep it up!
"I actually meant those here who seem to be claiming that worship is only for the "elect" - that we shouldn't be letting the rabble in whilst we worship.
There are two previous posts in this thread that imply just that."
Just show me in Scripture where the non-believers "worship" and I'll be more than satisfied.
Thank you.
Again, if that is so then praise God. My limited experience with 'mega' churches is that they are more about the pastor than the savior. Especially those that the media drag out periodically.
I would avoid the Zondervan bunch. I think any version would be acceptable as long as the quoted text was referenced in context and not twisted and turned to get some justification of a heresy across to the reader. Unfortunately, Warren does that a lot. My actual preference is the King James, with commentaries by the proven scholars, not Rick Warren.
Hey wardaddy - in a previous post, I outlined the "graduation" of praise churches here in Nashville. Cornerstone was the one I meant that was the second rung on the ladder (above Bellevue Community Church) Most people, once they get tired of the empty calories at BCC, seem to move to Cornerstone.
It's one of the good ones.
Aside from the fact that non-believers can't worship, these pastors need to check out Romans 3:11 to see what the Bible says about "seekers."
i used to attend a smaller "megachurch" we only had 6000 or so in sunday morning's attendance. i was part of our orchestra, and the worship service was just awesome. it was quite dedicated, yet it was still was at the level of a performance. the opening worship service is as much to draw the faithful to worship, as it is to minister to those who are unsaved. those who have walked in off the street or those that have been invited, many are impressed with what they see as a performance. its nothing like the "boring hymns" they remember as a child. all that performance that makes the service "fun" often does more ministering than the sermon.
"What did Jesus say about divorce?"
For an excellent discussion of that, please see this article by John Piper (I posted this link earlier also):
http://www.desiringgod.org/library/topics/divorce_remarriage/dr_adultery.html
You are certainly asking the right question.
Not necessarily. You don't know my pastor. I don't guess you've been to every large church in American either. Your statements are very generalized. In many large churches, the reason they are so large is because Christ is being preached uncompromisingly which is the case where I am. We pull no punches here and the truth is not watered down.
Megachurches aren't my calling, but there's nothing wrong with a church whose primary mission is to evangelize. Check out Mark 12:35, John 7:28 and other verses. Jesus both taught and evangelized in the temple. Paul preached the gospel in the synagogues but he also preached the gospel on the streets.
People are being brought to Christ through megachurches, and that's a good thing.
Nice post.
For what its worth, I attend a church that is on the verge of becoming "mega". I would generally have the same reservations as anyone else, but what I observe here is something else.
What I see is a talented preacher, a good music service, and within a rather huge body of members a number of smaller grouped dedicated to a variety of purposes, teaching, a variety of missions and the like.
Each week it gets harder to find a place to park; if you're five minutes late you won't find a place to sit. I see this over and over, a guy with jail tattoos comes in, next week he's there with his wife, next week he's there with a long row of kids, next week they are dragging their friends in, and so on. I started going because the kids wanted to go, then they wouldn't fit in my car so I borrow a van, then thats not enough because their cousins and friends up and down the street want to go, so its taking two cars and sometimes three to get the kids to church...
This isn't the way I remember it when I was a kid, when you had to make kids go to church.
The preaching is verse by verse from the Bible, with each verse provoking almost a stream of consciousness riff that has people hanging on every word.
I hear the same kind of criticisms of this church from members of other churches that I hear here, but the reality is something else. There is a certain amount of cross-fertilization between this church and others, with people "graduating" from this church to go to others, people coming in from others because they simply like this one better, I know certain people who attend one church on Sundays and this one on Wednesdays...
Different churches have different personalities, different missions, (just as your body has different body parts for different purposes). Over the course of a believer's walk its my belief that God will lead you to the church where you need to be, either because it has something you need, or you have something it needs. And this may change over time as you and they grow. After a time, you are ready for something more, or at some point its time for you to become more active, and someplace you would not have thought of needs you more than the place you are presently attending... Its funny how it works sometimes.
"all that performance that makes the service "fun" often does more ministering than the sermon"
That about says it all for me.
At my church, we worship "in spirit and in truth" (imagine that) . The praise band really whips the "spirit" of the congregation up, and the preacher outlines the week's "truth", ALWAYS based on a verse from the Bible.
Jesus seemed to imply to the woman at the well that this was ideal. I know it's ideal for me and my family. But I believe God isn't so narrow that that's the ONLY way he wants us to worship. But we all want to put God in a box. We all try to remake God in our own image. Powerful, authoritarian Jesus. "Peace and Justice", hippy Jesus . Name it and Claim it Jesus. King James Only Jesus. Non-judgemental Jesus.
At times, Jesus showed EACH of these attributes, and more. I try to remember that he's bigger than the universe itself, perhaps there are infinite "correct" ways to worship him - and we'll spend eternity doing them all.
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