Those Darn Megachurches!
- Posted by: Todd
- Posted on: Tue, February 27, 2007
- Viewed 142
- (46) comments so far
“As the pastor of a church, I read with great interest the pair of front-page articles about megachurches recently inThe Courier-Journal. The articles provided a powerful reminder of the tremendous impact megachurches are having upon our society.
As megachurches increasingly influence both the religious and political agenda of our country, they are redefining what it means to be Christian and a church member in America, and there are some troubling implications to consider.
One of those implications is the damage suffered by all of the smaller churches that serve as the source of members for megachurches. The sheer size of megachurches creates an illusion of church growth that is not entirely accurate.
Though one of the articles quoted a researcher as saying growth in megachurches is occurring as many smaller congregations are dwindling, there was a failure to note the connection between the growth of the megachurches and the corresponding decrease of many other congregations.
A large portion of the growth of megachurches—perhaps the majority—comes as a direct result of people moving from smaller to larger congregations. A survey of churches in the Louisville region would probably find that most congregations have lost some members to one or more of the megachurches in the area.
The result of this shift has been the decimation of countless smaller churches and the decline of community-based congregations. Just as more and more businesses succumb to the “big box” retailers, increasing numbers of small churches are losing members to the “big box” churches. And just as the loss of local businesses hurts neighborhoods, so does the decline of local churches that serve the communities in which they are based.
A less obvious, but perhaps more troubling implication of the rise of megachurches, is the creation of the “religious consumer.” A religious consumer mentality, encouraged by the sheer range of options and activities at megachurches, is reshaping the mission and function of churches as prospective members “shop” for a church the same as they would shop for a place to get their hair cut or buy their groceries.
As the religious consumer shops for a congregation that will offer the widest range of choices for his family, he is asking, essentially, what will the church do for me?
This consumerism fuels the rise in coffee bars, “family life centers” that are basically religious health clubs, and a full schedule of activities to keep every member of the family busy.
While effective in attracting members, these may have little to do with the central mission of the church, which is to encourage people to be followers of Jesus and his way of life. Jesus said he who has lost his life for my sake shall find it (Matthew 10:39), reflecting an attitude in direct opposition to the spiritual consumer mentality that asks, “How will I be served?”—rather than, “How can I serve others?”
This religious consumerism would certainly be alien to the persecuted early church followers, who worshipped in secret among the decaying flesh of Rome’s catacombs. Such difficult conditions, rather than being an impediment to growth, fueled the explosive growth in the early centuries of the church.
Perhaps the church in modern America would do well to consider the lesson from the early church: that it is challenge and the giving away of one’s self, and not comfort or activities, that ultimately grows churches.
Bigger, while helpful in attracting media attention and members, is not always better.
Finally, one could question whether the paucity of articles about small churches is indicative of a belief at The Courier that nothing newsworthy happens in such congregations. As media attention is often equated with significance, it is important to note that countless numbers of small churches faithfully serve their communities every day, gaining no attention except from those they serve.
While that service may not make headlines, it certainly makes an incalculable difference in the lives of millions of people.”
David Charlton is pastor of the First Baptist Church of New Castle, Ky.
FOR DISCUSSION: Is this a fair treatise of the ‘megachurch’? Or is it a public whine session from the pastor of a smaller church? Since most of the readers of MMI come from small to medium size churches… what do you think? And maybe more importantly, what should pastors like David do in response? Does writing to the local paper on this type of thing really help, or does it read like sour grapes?
What’s your take?
There's always been a kind of 'rub' between smaller churches and larger churches. Some view it like the 'haves' and the 'have nots'; the 'rich' and the 'poor'. Megachurches have been accused of being sheep stealers (see below), shallow teachers, and more. Some ask how the smaller church can compete. Here's an interesting response from a pastor from Kentucky that was printed in the Courier-Journal. Read it and see what you think. Can you sympathize? Do you agree? Let's hear from people involved in both sides of this issue... those leading large churches, and those leading very small ones. It should make for some interesting discussion. Pastor David Charlton writes...
Comments
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kent on Wed, February 28, 2007
BTW, consumer religion was not birthed by the megachurch. It is a virus that has infected us all and it was present in our congregations prior to the depart ure of anyone from any of our churches. If they didn’t have it, they wouldn’t have left. You can make the argument that it is the small church that give rise to the consumeristic tendencies.
Leonard on Wed, February 28, 2007
Consumerism goes back to human nature not the mega-church. Jesus had consumers, John the Baptist had consumers, every church, every culture has consumers. The article does sound a bit whiny to me as well. As for people leaving churches for another, that is not a mega-church trend, little churches do this all the time. We had several Southern Baptist churches in town and every time one got a new pastor (which was often) the rotation would begin. None of these churches were over 150, but sure enough at the drop of a pin they would go to hear the word how it should be preached, music how it should be sung…
Small church, big church, large church, mega-church… Why don’t we do this as pastors. God will you give me a God sized, compelling vision for this community and the people who live within 15 minutes of my church? Will you break my heart with this vision and then give me the COURAGE to lead? Help me leave the results up to you. Help me to not wrestle with flesh and blood as people and other churches no matter their size are not the enemy. This might be a start.
kent on Wed, February 28, 2007
You go Leonard, right on the money!
Brian on Wed, February 28, 2007
Amen, Leonard.
Lord, help us to take our eyes off ourselves and those in the kingdom we see as “competition” and see the lost and hurting in our area. Help us to make disciples as best WE can, and help us to pray that Your church will be built and Your kingdom will grow through us and the other churches in our area who call on Your name.
Brian
Noel on Wed, February 28, 2007
I pastor at a church that just barely qualifies as a mega-church by the common definition (2000+ per weekend). A couple things jumped out at me as I read through this post and the comments.
First off, we never asked God for a big church nor did we really want one. You could ask any of the pastors here and you’d get the same answer. We went from 200 to 2000 in roughy five years. If you had asked me in 2001 how many people would be coming around in 2007, I would have said we were praying for 500. I say this because I wonder how many megachurches set out to be mega and how many (like us) just became megachurch despite themselves.
Secondly, we do an annual survey of our congregation and one thing we have learned is that about half of the people who attend our church had no church home before our church. While that means that 1000 or so people are brand new, it also means 1000 have come from other churches. It’s kinda the two faces of a fast growing church.
Thirdly, we don’t offer a whole lot more than most churches I know of. We also don’t have “vast resources.”
Oh, and I hope no one throws any rocks at me for this one, but I’ll close with the words of Spurgeon:
“It has been noted that those who object to numbers are often bretheren whose unsatisfactory reports should somewhat humble them.”
David Charlton on Wed, February 28, 2007
As the author of the OpEd piece on megachurches, I want to reply to some of the comments, as I think some background would be helpful. Late last November, the Louisville Courier-Journal ran a pair of front page articles about megachurches. Noting the paper’s lack of coverage of anything to do with small churches, I decided to write an OpEd piece about megachurches and some of their implications.
This was not a case of whining in public as a small church pastor, nor was it a case of sour grapes. My point was to raise what I believe to be some significant issues related to the megachurch movement. Do I think small churches do not struggle with the same issues? No. But when you take the same issues - such as spiritual consumerism - and view them in a megachurch the implications are much larger because of the impact of megachurches. Does my church struggle with spiritual consumerism? Yes. While I’m not miminizing the problem of spiritual consumerism in my own church, when you see it on a scale of a church that draws 10,000 to 20,000 the difference in impact is significant.
A further point is about megachurches drawing away members from small churches. I live and minister two counties away from one of the largest churches in the country. When people drive across several counties to attend that church it has an impact on the communities the people leave. If enough people leave the smaller churches in their own communities it will definitely affect the ministry and witness of the smaller churches. Do I blame the megachurches for this? Not totally. People are buying into a consumer mindset and are ultimately responsible for the corresponding results, but the megachurches - in my opinion - are not saying much about this kind of faulty theology.
It’s also important to note that the sheer size of a megachurch means that its teaching and theology will gain a great deal of attention, both in the religious and secular arenas. If a megachurch is propogating bad theology, it needs to be challenged. This is one reason why I wrote the original piece for publication in the secular press. I believe some of these issues need to be discussed in that arena.
Lastly, our church will continue to do what it has always done, and that is loving and serving our witness because that is what we are called to do as Jesus.
I welcome your further comments on this site or to me personally at [removed]
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Leonard on Wed, February 28, 2007
Consumerism in a small church looks differently than a large church but it is still consumerism. When someone says; I go here because I don’t like the parking at the big church down the street… or I go here because I want to feel like I know the pastor… or I go here because you sing hymns… I go here because you preach expository messages… I go here because it was too impersonal there, you talk less about money here, you work with kids better or worse. We let people off the hook at the small church when they consume because they can make the reasons sound more spiritual. It might be time to quite the “ big church feeds consumerism” and admit all churches feed consumerism.
I have worked on staff at different size churches and the reality is that people go where they can feel significant or that something significant is happening. People are drawn to experiences that matter.
Studies have shown that the number one reason any person attends church is at the invitation of a friend or someone significant. Why is it that small churches people do not invite others to their church. My experience of 25+ years of ministry is that smaller churches program and speak mainly to believers while focusing on growing people deep in the faith. (I am not saying this is wrong) Fast growing churches speak the language of the culture and develop ministries designed to reach people.
Gotta go now, LOST is on.
Noel on Thu, March 01, 2007
Very well put, Leonard.
James on Fri, March 02, 2007
I am currently serving in a small church (approx. 150-200). The article did sound a little like public whining to me as well. I attended a “mega-church” before coming to serve here and that church was very deep spiritually and actively tried to dissuade people who were coming from other local churches to not attend there, but to go back to their home church and work for change there. Not all mega-churches are bad.
Jan on Fri, March 02, 2007
We’ve served in both mega and small churches and are presently in a small re-start. None of the people that left this church in the past, left because of mega churches.
They left because they couldn’t get along.
First off, I think churches both small and large have unique things to offer. Small churches have what large churches are always trying to create… community.
And large church have what small churches lack, for us, primarily resources, in man power, finances, buildings, etc.
Get in the Spirit just about everything you said hits the nail on the head for me.
And my first thought in reading this piece was that consumerism isn’t a product of the mega-church. Mega-churches are just tapping into that to reach people. Consumerism is rapant in American society. And unfortunately there are Christians who buy into that mentality and church shop.
I say, go right on ahead. As a small church leader I want the consumers to go, so we can get down to the real work of God, reaching our community for Christ and making disciples.
There shouldn’t be a spirit of competition in the kingdom. There are plenty of unreached people to go around. And if a mega-church entertains those who seek entertaining, while still reaching those we would not reach, praise God.
We can let go of those would be mal-contents and focus our efforts in reaching those we can be most effective in reaching.
Leonard on Fri, March 02, 2007
Jan, forgive me if I seem confrontational, I hope not but you stuck a nerve in me. My response is in GENERALITIES. “The small church has what the mega-church does not - Community.” I disagree. This is a myth I believe simply because we do not understand what true community produces. True community produces good deeds everywhere that fosters good will in the hearts of the lost and the found which opens the door to the good news. Acts 2 reminds us that no one had needs – Good deeds. The favor of all people was on them – Good will. God added daily – good news.
Small churches, for the most part, are small not because they offer community but because they are closed systems of relationships, opportunity and feed a more spiritual sounding consumeristic need.
The small church has no more community than the large church has, in fact it would be my experience as a pastor that the small church lacks community simply because it lacks what true community produces. Small churches do not offer more intimate relationships they simple offer smaller environments in which people consume. Small churches do not have dynamic small group ministries where people share life together. They do not have higher service ministry ratios, they do not have higher giving ratios, they do not possess the things that true community produces such as a passion for the lost, a hunger to see God’s work done.
“As a small group church leader I want the consumers to go…” As any church leader we should want the consumer to consume the very things that would change them from a reservoir to a river. The problem is not that people consume, it is what they consume. Jesus knew this when he said come to me a drink, come to me and consume could be read there. Are we as church leaders willing to quit looking at the size of our churches from the large, small, mega perspective and grab a hold of a God sized, compelling vision that cannot be resisted. May it be in a positive way Turkish Delight to our souls in that the more we eat the more we want.
Finally, here is my thinking about consumers and shoppers. I cannot control what people want to eat. My son did not like eggs until dad fixed them his own special way. Now he says to me, “Dad, can you make me some special eggs?” He did not like rice until dad fixed the rice in a flavor he truly enjoyed. What I have control over is how the meal is prepared and how the meal is served. I believe many people shop and hop because we have not figured out how to prepare a meal that is seasoned with God’s grace and truth. We have not figured how to present such a meal in an appealing or appetizing way. I actually don’t think about the consumer as much as I think about the meal. The meal is our vision of who God is and what he created us to do. If this is crystal clear, people will still consume it and the result will be kingdom impact and God’s glory.
Jan, I know that this is more than likely what you were saying and if not once again I apologize for my abruptness. God bless all of you today.
Dan Moore on Fri, March 02, 2007
Big always comes across as better and successful in the American culture. With a growing nation, there are going to be growing churches. Do big churches grow at the expense of small churches? Some do and some don’t. Are some small churches “stuck on small?” Yes. Can you find community in big and small churches. Yes. I have been a member of a church of 2,000 and a church of 12.
One thing mega-churches do well is that they become “hiding places” for people who are hurting and leave a small church. This is not always the small church’s fault. I have known couples who were experiencing the process of divorce quiety leave their small church of many years and go their separate ways to mega-churches. Just one example. There are more dynamics in play that this article attempts to describe.
Jan on Sat, March 03, 2007
Good points Leonard.
I guess what I meant to say is that the advantage of a small church is that they can more easily offer community.
We can easily incorporate our youth for example into our services, and spontaneously go out for coffee as a large church percentage. And if a small church takes advantage of that, they can tap into the community at large’s desire for community and real relationships.
We go out to eat just about every Sunday after worship. And over half of our congregation comes with us and hangs out for several hours. I don’t think any mega church could say that. There may be groups of people who hang out, but inter-generational spontaneous community takes work for a big group. It takes time to organize people and advertise and make phone calls. 10 minutes and the whole congregation knows we’ve decided to go for something.
I can remember sitting at meetings and trying to come up with a plan for our large church to break out of their little groups. Here, we’ve got Grandpa teasing the little kids, going out to eat with them, playing games on Friday night with them. Along with grandpa and a couple of kids are a high schooler, a junior higher or two and two Busters. We don’t see youth sitting as a separate church under the balcony together. They are taking offering, standing up to read scripture, etc. They are sitting in leadership planning sessions, out witnessing with adults and coming up with strategies to reach our neighborhood for Christ.
Last week a high school girl came and told me that our church was the most exciting place to be and she couldnt’ wait to get there. We have NO youth group. She attends the women’s Bible Study. But she’s excited about her faith and growing the kingdom and can’t wait to come. There’s no clever programming here to win the youth over. It’s pure community in my opinion, plus passion for Christ.
And you are right, it’s not ALL the consumers that I want to see go. It’s the long time Christian consumers who intend to leave anyway when they find something better. But meanwhile, they are intent on demanding their pet program and keeping things the way they’ve always been.
The I will never be happy, even if I get my way, but I do enjoy being a pain person.
I’ve seen this type of Christian consumer leave, and sit in a big church and not have the forum to cause trouble and be demanding. Unfortunately, usually this type of person returns to the small congregation where they can wield their influence to their heart’s content.
We’ve just lost these types after a 4 year struggle. PRAISE God! We are seeing individuals making life decisions for Christ weekly now.
And hey Leonard, a good confrontation is healthy once in awhile! No offense taken here at all.
Dan Moore on Sat, March 03, 2007
Leonard, I know you are speaking in generalities. I guess I did not attend those churches that fit your “generalities” as my experience was different. You do make one solid point - we cannot control the desires and wants of the “consumer” - but we can control what we do. Jan’s take on small churches fits my experiences. We don’t have youth programs or singles programs or much more than worship and Sunday School. We our best to engage the singles, youths, and seniors in creative ways. We were losing children in our Awana program when they reached the age of ten so we surveyed our children. We had a very successful VBS and decided to ask what they liked about VBS. We took their ideas, scrapped the Awana program, and now have a children’s ministry that keeps children up through junior high. All without compromising the Bible teaching necessary for their growth. As a result we have added a couple of new families each year because we care to listen and engage the children. Being a small church has helped because our culture now is able to be flexible and adjust to meeting changing ministry needs.
Jan on Sat, March 03, 2007
Dan, we are getting rid of our Awana program for exactly the same reason, and that any older kids involved are all kids from other churches. At 10 we lose all kids who come from the community.
Sorry for the off topic!
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