My pastor went to one of Warren’s church growth conferences. Our pastor said he had this vision of buying 100 acres and building a mega campus. This is what we did during the real estate boom. Now the planned community that this campus was supposed to be built around is bankrupt, our congregation went from 3,000 to 1,500 and we have debt out to our eyeballs.
Thanks Rick for making your impact felt all around the world.
Yours is a revealing insight into the boom bust consequences of the economy on churches around the country. I saw for myself these mega churches sprouting up around my area and I was happy for the Christian Church it was happening. Many times, though, Christians would leave their smaller churches and go the the large churches because of the improved services offered. I didn’t see a church as a place for human services. For me it was a place for fellowship and spiritual growth. However, if a church was providing human services in the community, what better place for it? So, the big churches fulfilled a good thing if their efforts also helped grow the body of Christ.
It is my observation that some of these mega churches were all glitter and little glory. They were a place to get lost in the numbers without the accountability you would get from the small church body. Unfortunately they attracted members of the small churches who wanted hide in a mega church merely to fulfill their carnal natures. I eventually saw the mega church as a place for Christians to backslide in their faith. My pastor of a tiny church said that there were too many preachers who wanted to please the ears of the congregation rather than be pleasing to God. We called it “name it and claim it religion.” He could tell which churches were not keeping with God’s word by the size of their congregation.
Rick Warren’s religion was the classic name it and claim it religion. It is not God’s word and it is a shame that Christians are taken in with it and not on track with their Christian walk.
Don’t blame Rick Warren for your pastor’s stupidity. Does your church not have a board of elders, or advisers, who would have stopped this silly plan?