Kelli, an unmarried middle-aged woman, says she chose her large suburban church so she could hide in the crowd. “I could come into this big auditorium and never see the same people every week,” she says.
She’s in good company. Many megachurches like hers are growing–while the majority of the churches around them are not.
“We’ve been seeing the Wal-Martization of the church. Wal-Mart moves in and the local merchants die,” professor and author Leonard Sweet said at the recent Future of the Church summit.
So, is this the emanating future of the American church? Will large churches continue to gobble up members from smaller, struggling churches–leaving fewer but larger churches? Will a few nationally-known eloquent preachers preside over the country on big high-definition screens in multi-site locations coast to coast?
Sweet, who often writes and speaks on trends that shape the future, doubts that the current growth in megachurches will continue. “They’ve preserved singles’ ministry, but that’s about it,” he said. “The megachurch has not understood the shift from performance to participation.”
Baby Boomers, like Kelli, were attracted to performance-oriented large churches. Megachurch pastors referred to such Boomers as “seekers.” But is the “seeker-sensitive” approach the winning formula for the future? Maybe not. Fewer people, particularly Millennials, are actively out seeking a churchy place to sit. More are disconnecting from any religious affiliation.
But they remain quite interested in spiritual things. “Spiritual, but not religious,” they like to say. So, I no longer use the term “seeker.” I think “spiritually open” is a more definitive term. They’re not out seeking. But they’re open to engaging in a real conversation about God. And that means, as Sweet indicated, participation. They want dialog, interaction, a safe place to ask questions and express doubts. And they rarely find that in the current large-church model.
The anonymity that Kelli sought is losing its appeal. Increasingly, people want to know and be known. Even Kelli recently wanted to know her pastor. Actually, she simply wanted to meet him, beyond seeing him in the spotlight on the stage. Her requests to meet the pastor were repeatedly rejected by the vigilant and protective church staff. So, she found a way to beat the system. She heard the pastor was planning to make a “personal appearance” to sign his latest book after church. So, she bought two copies and stood in line to meet her pastor and receive his autograph.
So, is bigness the salvation of the American church? I suspect large churches will continue to occupy a place on the American landscape. But smaller congregations will more easily and naturally be able to provide the authentic, participative, intimate community that people increasingly crave.
Does size matter? Maybe not in the way you’d think. Saddleback Church pastor Rick Warren talks about church size in the new film When God Left the Building. Take a look at this brief clip from the film.
Great article, Thom. More and more I am understanding that ‘health’ is more important than size. I personally believe the ‘mega-church’ model is unsustainable. Yet, the small church is also on the ropes. It is not until thechurch shifts from ‘form’ to ‘faith’, and from a few performing to all participating that our impact in the earth with be felt (Genesis 1:28; Matthew 28:19; Ephesians 3:10). The problem, as I see it is that the church is built on a business model rather than the purposes of God. I was recently in Atlanta, and was amazed at the number of billboards promoting the many mega-churches in the city. it dawned on me that well-tuned marketing has replaced biblical evangelism. We have become professionals at selling our brand of Christianity. We claim that Jesus Christ is head of His Church, but we are guilty of reducing Him to a product of our religious belief system. Does size matter? Yes, it seems to me that Jesus had it right. “When two or three are gathered…”
Blessings!
@Tim Kurtz ….Excellent!
I agree with both the article and the reply by Tim Kurtz. I pastored from 1978 -2001. The church closed as people left to join the contemporary model. I was 61 so presumed I had passed my use by date. My wife and I minister in to a few of our own age Sundays and Wednesdays. We minister the Covenant of Grace starting at the book of Romans which is good news to many who have lived under the Mosaic Law. We sometimes watch a TV preacher like Creflo Dollar or Andrew Womack but their lives are so different from the average pew sitter if they deviate from scripture they lose relativity. When 25# of the population are below the poverty line five star hotels and intercontinental private jets have little relevance. I just don’t know what is going to happen to congregational relationships with the so called ‘Done’ generation.
Two words: church planting! When a church gets so big you need to hire more staff than a major sports team has, you need to plant.
Yea, when Wallmart moved in, it hurt smaller businesses. Then Amazon.com came and hurt both Wallmart and the smaller businesses. The Internet, like Amazon has us linked to the same church product but instantly. And we can have it any time of the day, 7 days a week. I don’t need either the mega or a small church. I did my ‘group’ time here at the Holy Soup site today. Like having Netflix or Amazon prime video, I’m not stuck to a scheduled time or place as I have read and posted here at work during lunch.
Ryan, you know I basically agree with you. However, do you ever have an opportunity to interact with other believers personally? There’s nothing like live contact (and you don’t have to be assembled at a church to do this – it could very well be running into other believers at Wal-mart or in the market place and just discussing and encouraging one another). I love the internet – and I love meeting real people too 🙂 !!!!
This is an interesting side question (that may in fact turn out to be the main question). I recently started an online “Bible study” for my church where there is not a great tradition of personal Bible reading. What it really is, is a community of women in a “secret” group on Facebook, reading the same passage as each other each day, following a same monthly theme. So…daily “devotions,” more or less, except that there’s interaction (as desired and needed) over each day’s reading.
Do these women see this as a replacement for weekly church attendance? I don’t think so, and I actually really hope not, but when we tried to have an in-person weekly Bible study we just couldn’t nail down a time that worked for everyone, and this way, people are actually reading MORE and covering more ground than we probably would’ve in person once a week. Also, because it’s on-line and not nailed down to time and location, women from other churches and states have joined.
It’s a new enough experiment I know I haven’t seen all the pros and cons yet, or the effects on “local church” (I would hope it would galvanise us all to be more proactive in our local churches, but I don’t know yet if that’s the case), but so far it seems to be positive and healthy and I think we’re growing in our faith.
Whaaaat! Don’t you think I’m real? (looking down at my hands). Just because I don’t have a face on the left of my name… yea and I didn’t even use a fake name on this site either. I’ve grown accustom to instant messaging at work with peers, program managers, people from our Detroit team and Mexico plant. I instant message with Google from work with my wife at home also. This has gotten to be just a normal part of interaction and communicating like talking face to face or on the phone. For short little things this works great but more complex things, face to face or phone is better. I’m a Gen X’er who is now beginning to fall behind the millennials, technologically speaking, as my boomer parents did with me. This interaction through texting & instant messaging in our upcoming generation may be a much better and more effective way to communicate than meeting and talking verbally. I do a lot of communicating at work through email to people I’ve never met or spoken to verbally. This is often because I am working with people in Mexico, China and Germany. This sort of thing like we are doing here in discussing these topics with faceless people who I will never physically meet has gotten to be a norm with me. This is just how I communicate out in the real business world. As a social introvert who doesn’t function well in a group but does very well one-on-one with people, this discussing topics on blog sites is perfect for someone like me. I love this.
Ok, I get ya now Ryan! I’m very extroverted (I’m an early Gen-X myself), but your last comment explains it. I’m known to converse between generations (boomers/busters-X/and Y’s) pretty well! I can understand with the popularity of texting, IM’s, and the like – email is outdated for the younger generation and they just communicate differently.
I went to a megachurch for years. It was great, because it was really composed of a bunch of smaller “churches” (small groups, friendship groups) for support and friendship. I moved away, and I still watch that church on TV. I’ve been trying to re-integrate, but it’s not so easy to do.
The problem with small churches is that there are no alternatives if you can’t get along with a particular individual or family, and one “difficult family” can make church very problematic, especially if they are in power in leadership.
In addition, even medium-size churches now have money troubles, because there is little spare money with which to fund ministries.
I also know that there are many folks, not really disillusioned, but tired of the constant rounds of the same sermons & other “infotainment” (how many times have YOU heard about the little boy who shared his lunch? Or Jesus stilling the wind and the waves? I heard this in my church two years in a row, no less at “Bible Conference.”). The age of thoughtful sermons seems to have passed away with Middle Earth. Everyone says the same things, so it really doesn’t make a lot of difference where we go, or if we go (it’s on TV, after all, or on the internet). After 50+ years of listening to the “same stuff–and by this I mean exactly the same sermons, I have to say I’m also a bit tired of it. On the other hand, I never tire of the Bible, which I read daily.
Churches magnify personalities, not the Scriptures;
They magnify “doctrine,” not the present experience we have with God (I phrased this so that both pentecostals and non-pentecostals might also relate to it); We do have a living faith, you know.
They magnify “evangelism” by telling us to invite people to church, but not showing/encouraging friendship (important, since the last several people I led to Christ were at church, and I talked to them after the service because I had made friends over coffee there).
They magnify centralization rather than encouraging development into small groups of friends;
And somehow, the church has become enamored of “power,” meaning not spiritual power, but “leadership power,” or political power. What happened to Mark 10:45?
These things do not make a person want to go there, much less become a member. I well remember how a friend of years ago loved her church until she went on staff as a volunteer, and found that the church staff/leadership were, shall we say, less than Christian in their treatment of other folks? It ruined her relationship with her church. Closeness to the leaders ought to make things better, not worse.
Of course, Christians are people, too, and they all have their issues. Some are shy, others have a powerful ego, etc. But isn’t that what the Holy Spirit is for?? To change us and make our weaknesses into strengths??
I agree strongly with both the original post and the first commenter as well.
Great reflexion Steve….May I translate into spanish??? I’m from Buenos Aires, Argentina. And I see like you write here…
I was watching the video clip and of course, the whole focus of church leaders is on church, the place where you go to worship. With that focus in mind, then we talk about what church suits a persons needs, keeping focus on that place of worship. This is an inside the box mentality, not only is church being impressed on the listener (me and you) but is also being pushed as the place where I am expected to find my needs met (as though there are no other options). An owner of a bar could say the same thing about bar size and alcoholic beverages to meet the needs of customers as though bars are ‘thee’ place to have those needs met. Like pastors, every bar owner would like a big bar continually full of people. There is no mention of going to a store to buy your own beer to take home or as one guy I work with does, makes his own beer. To me, this is a selective speech designed to keep the focus on church and church as the place spiritual needs are to be met, whether big or small. It’s always about church. When your objective is to push a product, you don’t dare even mention any form of competition else people may consider that option. If other options are either cheaper or free and they are brought up, your going to defend your product and try to talk people out of those other options as being wrong or not as good as what your selling or pushing. The clip give the impression of the church as a business that his selling a product to meet people needs, wants and desires.
Excellent comment, Ryan!!!
Remember, the title of the film is “When God LEFT the Building”. I think God is leaving many of our buildings to be out in the world serving the needs of the people. Yes, fellowship with other Christians is still important, but church is to be about more than place. It is tobe about purpose.
I have to add on to this…It seems like the movement is to re-create a new business model for the church, which will open new revenue for the church, and sustain its business practices…albeit with “new clothes”. Many of us so called “Done’s” aren’t looking for a place to huddle and centralize our activity – we want to look at all believers as the Church, and enjoy one another without the hierarchy and agendas. I feel ya Ryan!
I relate to the phrase “without the hieracrchy and agendas” . It is too much about the leaders ‘vision’ and his calling. The huge building programs; all debt free , which is great, but its coming from from thousands that are still paying their mortgage for the next thirty years; if they can keep their jobs. “For I do not mean that other men be eased and ye burdened” (2 Cor. 8:13). I believe in giving even as one who has lost a life’s savings and living on the age pension, and I know a lot are self centred, but i am a bit fed up with give, give, give. In 1 Timothy 5:8 it says one who does not care for his own is worse than an infidel. Our kids are always our kids and need us. My 50 y.o. son just had a divorce. His church leadership rejected him and isolated him from friends in the congregation. At his age trying to find a new job is not easy. Lets love in practice as John says “Love one another as I have loved you.” Remembering Christ has forgiven his followers of every sin.
As Sweet says our culture has shifted from performance to participation and the church is lagging behind. Perhaps it is time for church to open up to 1 Corinthians 14:26 and allow anyone present to share from her/his heart as led by the Spirit.
I’ve observed a common thread between the thriving and growing churches I’ve been to that has nothing to do with size. It is that the lead pastor has been involved in a major church upheaval earlier in their career and they ended up being the one out on the street. It was very painful and they aren’t afraid to talk about it and how nasty things can get within a church.
What they’ve learned through it and their “never again will we get into a situation like that” attitude seems to make them do things a lot better when God opens a new opportunity. That insight for church governance, resolving issues before they get out of control, dealing with the people who think they know it all and want to call the shots, dealing with controversial topics in a biblical way, making decisions in a Godly manner, and avoiding the normal traps of attendance/buildings/cash etc helps make that possible.
They will share some of the why’s and how’s of how the church operates too during their messages. When a church has to pull out Robert’s Rules of Order to deal with conflicts, you know they are in deep trouble.
These pastors are able to give excellent messages, partly because they’ve lived the pain that many church members have experienced and can relate well to it. These pastors also stay out in the entry area before and after church for awhile to be accessible to those who want to talk to them. With permission of course, those conversations are sometimes shared in future messages when they apply to the topic being preached on.
Has anyone else seen this too?
We joined a mega church and left it 2 months later. The fundraising asked us to dump college accounts, take out loans on home equity, empty retirement accounts. Our pastor held a charade of group meetings orchestrated to avoid questions about debt service. The projects costs were underestimated by 60% (I’m real good at money math), and they broke ground before taking it to the congregation! It was a happy fun place to worship. Like a commune I suppose.
So I learned that basically mega churches are really real estate development companies. Our CMA has vast real estate holding in luxury condos and investment vehicles for the leadership that are in special relationships with the banksters who have been attracted by the smell of money.
We still haven’t recovered from the shock. But,…..duh…….. All Ponzi schemes require perpetual growth to pay the bills. (Not having increased $7m debt in 15 years was a selling point. Aren’t we supposed to be paying that down? These are big operations and worship and community are window dressing.
Post liberation, I don’t much feel like supporting another pipe organ either. Or being talked at from a stool. Or dealing with any pastor who doesn’t know my name.
That sounds like a mega church that should be shut down. I have heard of pastors putting church assets in their names though, but your example is way beyond that.
Church size only matters in that a church should AT LEAST be 300 members so as to be able to ensure that it is financially viable to continue it’s existence as a church, as that’s the number that statistically is the “breaking point” on average. Anything less than that, & the church will always exist “at risk”. Apart from that, genuine fellowship & discipleship can take place at churches of all sizes. I know of small country churches who fail in every area of genuine fellowship, & other that are social clubs, but lack any real discipleship. I also know of mega-churches where people just disappear into the woodwork, & never connect & never grow, but I know a GREAT MANY others who’ve implemented the 3DM model (or WDA’s model, which also works great), & are actively forging strong, committed, discipleship communities across every area of ministry in their church. In none of those situations, is size the issue – it’s TEACHING & practice.