Outreach 100: Learning From America’s Largest and Fastest-Growing Churches

Editor’s Note: In each issue of Outreach, we share the ideas, insights and stories of churches of all types and sizes. However, in the five years that we’ve published the magazine, we’ve occasionally received criticism for focusing on larger churches. To be sure, we understand that the average church in America has an estimated 90 attendees. Throughout the year in each feature article and in every department, we make a deliberate effort to report on churches of every size, including organic house churches, church plants and churches as small as 15 or 25 congregants.

Once each year, however, we present a special issue in which we intentionally focus on the largest and fastest-growing churches in the United States. Today, an estimated 1,300 U.S. churches can be classified as “mega” (2,000-plus attendees), according to the Hartford Institute for Religious Research; that’s only .4% of all U.S. Protestant churches. And while you may not fully relate to the experience of these churches, we believe that God’s Kingdom work is worthy of celebration in churches of all sizes, including megachurches. There are learnings here for all of us, and as you read—especially the profiles of the fastest-growing U.S. churches we’ve chosen to highlight this year—we believe you will see and celebrate those learnings for yourself.

For this year’s issue, Outreach is pleased to partner for the first time with Dr. Ed Stetzer, director of research and missiologist in residence for LifeWay Research, as well as the author or co-author of numerous books including 11 Innovations in the Local Church (Regal), Comeback Churches (B&H) and Breaking the Missional Code (B&H).

Before you dive into this year’s Outreach 100 lists, we want to tell you about a new methodology we used to calculate the Outreach 100 Fastest-Growing U.S. Churches list—a change that increases the list’s utility and meaning. While numerical growth in large churches is an important factor, percentage growth in attendees is also critical. This year, the list ranking is an amalgamated number, factoring in both numerical and percentage growth in attendees. We, along with Dr. Stetzer, believe this figure provides a more accurate picture of a church’s attendance growth than numerical or percentage growth alone.

Finally, it’s important to remember that the data in the Outreach 100 Largest and Fastest-Growing U.S. Churches lists is self-reported. While every effort is made to verify the provided data, and to solicit data from every church (more than 20,000 were contacted), in the end it’s up to each church to participate (or not) in our survey and to provide accurate data.

With confidence, we present the 2007 Outreach 100, and hope that it will offer valuable fodder for discussion, learning and advancement of the Kingdom in your own church and community. It is to this end that we publish this annual report.

By Dr. Ed Stetzer

Throughout the world, organizations define and measure “success” differently, yet one commonality stands out—every organization regardless of its purpose, location or leadership wants to be successful. And churches are no exception to this rule—they just define success in different ways. Most churches I’ve researched or worked with are compelled to make an impact.

It’s that desire for impact which fuels interest in research-driven lists like the Outreach 100. However, when lists and numbers become our focus, we miss out on what they hopefully represent—biblically faithful churches serving God within their context and growing believers in faith.

Success can also become a goal without a reason and a celebration without a purpose. So what can we glean from the 2007 Outreach 100?

As we talked with churches, many remarkable stories of missional congregations emerged. We also noted the new issues, trends and principles represented by the churches on both lists. As the megachurch phenomenon morphs and transitions, we continue to see how these churches are pioneering and implementing new approaches to engage the unchurched—and how attendance growth is often a by-product of that innovation.

At a time when an estimated 70% to 80% of U.S. churches are either in plateau or decline, I am encouraged to discover a number of healthy congregations on the Outreach 100 lists that are bucking the negative tendencies prevalent in so many U.S. churches.

Today’s giant congregations and their leaders are growing and thriving through a variety of ways: new innovation in multi-site; diverse political voices; a greater focus on ethnic diversity; and an increasing presence in their communities. We hope each church and the following analysis of today’s top trends will challenge you to renew your commitment to contextualize the Gospel for your unique community in fresh and relevant ways.

Growth and Plateau. Contrary to what some may believe, our research reveals that the number of megachurches in America is growing at an increasingly rapid rate. Currently, 36 U.S. churches on the Largest list draw 10,000-plus people each week, putting them in a new category we call “gigachurches.” Some 35 churches on this year’s Largest list draw more than 10,000, while 65 report a weekly attendance of 6,000-plus.

In spite of the increasing multiplication of mega-churches, the attendance ceiling for the U.S. Church currently hovers around 20,000, with only five churches on the Largest list reporting attendance at or above that mark. However more churches are finding themselves limited by their building size or location. That’s one reason why the multi-site model has become so attractive. 

Multi-site Is the New Normal. By now, multi-site worship can’t even be considered a trend. Over the last five to 10 years, it has emerged from obscurity as one of the most popular tools a church can use to expand its outreach. Check out the telling statistics below:

   • In 1990, only 10 multi-site Protestant churches existed in the United States. Today, 16% of all Protestant churches in the United States are seriously considering adding a site within the next two years (LifeWay Research).
   • In 2000, only 5% of all U.S. megachurches had multiple locations. Today, 25% of all megachurches have more than one site, and experts are predicting that by 2010, 50% of all megachurches will be multi-site (multisitechurchrevolution.com).
   • Currently, seven of the top 10 fastest-growing U.S. churches on the Outreach 100 are multi-site churches. Seven of the top 10 U.S. churches on the Outreach 100 Largest list are multi-site churches.
   • 60% of multi-site churches today are likely to launch additional sites in the next year (Leadership Network).
  

New Multi-Site Expressions. Yet the idea of one church in many locations is finding new forms of expression, as some of the largest churches in North America aggressively use their resources and experience to take multi-site to a new level.

Located in suburban Washington D.C., McLean Bible Church (No. 27 Largest), with a weekly attendance of 13,000 people and a $93 million campus, has announced plans to expand to nine different campuses in the Beltway area. And Saddleback Community Church recently announced its plans to launch significantly into multi-site waters. In Senior Pastor Rick Warren’s recent message, “Multiplying the Impact of Your Life,” he unveiled the Lake Forest, Calif., church’s newest vision that calls for adding 10 new sites before 2010. 

But today, more megachurches are not only adding campuses near their home site, they’re also taking the Gospel into other places like the inner city, nearby states and even beyond national borders. For example, LifeChurch.tv (No. 40 Fastest-Growing), whose main campus is in Edmond, Okla., has launched sites in Arizona, Texas, Florida and New York, as well as online. As a result, the church is reaching people groups outside its original sphere of influence.

And by using multiple sites as a tool to create diverse worship experiences via video venues, some megachurches are intentionally engaging different cultural segments, including those who prefer a specific worship style or smaller congregations. For example, video venue trail-blazer North Coast Church in Vista, Calif., offers a range of worship experiences—from traditional (pews, hymns and an organ) to postmodern (sub-woofers, painted black walls and candles)—to reach different generations. Senior Pastor Larry Osborne tries to plant sites that are what he describes as “geographically and demographically dissimilar.” Moreover, some megachurches are launching satellite locations that offer worship services of only 200 people, providing the smaller, more intimate faith community many people seek today.

Downsizing even more, on the multi-site horizon is a “Church-to-Go” concept that allows members to plant house churches using a big screen and DVD of that week’s sermon, ultimately shrinking the congregation size to fit in a home, yet still providing excellent teaching.

Other multi-site ideas currently in discussion revolve around community transformation. Leaders of multi-site megachurches are imagining what it would look like for a church to enter a community, establish a consistent presence there and transform it before launching a site and holding worship services. Some leaders are calling the concept the “next generation of multi-site.”

Political Action in New Ways. Over the last 30 years, megachurches have been no strangers to politics. One of the most well-known examples of church politicking is megachurch pastor Jerry Falwell, who in 1979 organized the conservative political lobbying group the Moral Majority, soon dubbed the “Religious Right.” And other U.S. megachurches are involved in similar ways. Some analysts even believe that in the last presidential election Rod Parsley, pastor of World Harvest Church in Columbus, Ohio, helped Bush win Ohio and thus the election. Parsley’s Center for Moral Clarity has placed him as a rising star of the Religious Right.

However, it would be a mistake to see megachurches as monolithically right wing. Today, more of them are using their platform to tackle issues not historically connected with those of the Religious Right.

For example, last November, Joel C. Hunter, senior pastor of Northland, A Church Distributed in suburban Orlando, Fla. (No. 64 Fastest-Growing), was offered the presidency of the Christian Coalition. He declined, instead founding Christian Citizen to inform and empower Christians as voters and active participants in their government. Many see Hunter as the new face of evangelical politics. With his book not-so-subtly entitled, Right Wing, Wrong Bird (Distributed Press), Hunter represents a new vision of holistic social justice, including abortion and traditional family issues, as well as the challenges of poverty and creation care.

While there is a growing timidity among predom- inantly Anglo megachurches to even casually affiliate with particular causes, candidates or parties, the Hispanic megachurch has consistently entered the political arena. But visibility reached an all-time high in 2006 as Hispanic churches nationwide stood on the frontlines of the immigration reform battle. During a September 2006 prayer service at Hispanic megachurch Iglesia Cristiana Misericordia in Laredo, Texas, the Rev. Mark Gonzalez of the Hispanic Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform told worshippers: “If we just pray only and leave this place just doing that, it’s not going to make the greatest difference, because in this country that God has given us, the United States of America, the way to make our voice heard is at the ballot box.”

Aggressively working to reach and impact its community, the predominantly black Salem Baptist Church of Chicago (No. 24 Fastest-Growing) also sounds a loud and clear voice in its community. The church’s biblical vision leads to its efforts toward social action. Under the leadership of Rev. James T. Meeks, who in 2002 was elected as a state senator for Illinois’ 15th district, the congregation has effectively transformed its surrounding community through strategic programs targeting specific social ills including illiteracy, poverty and substance abuse. A few years ago, the church distributed more than 30,000 Bibles with the goal of giving one to every home in its 60628 zip code. The church also provided more than 27,000 New Testaments to every prisoner in Illinois. Moreover, Salem Baptist successfully mobilized its local community to vote 3:1 to become a “dry” community. Despite death threats and public criticism, the church saw 30 liquor stores close up shop and leave the area.

Mega Diversity. With an increasingly diverse American population, the number of non-English-speaking megachurches continues to increase. Though few met the threshold for the Outreach 100 Largest list, several appear on the Fastest-Growing list, with many others coming in just below the cut-off. Check out the No. 1 Fastest-Growing U.S. church: Iglesia Cristiana Segadores de Vida in Hollywood, Fla., led by Ruddy and Maria Gracia.

A quick glance at population stats offers a corre-lation between Segadores’ growth and an exploding U.S. Hispanic population. In less than two years, the U.S. Census Bureau projects that one out of every six Americans will be of Hispanic descent. By 2025, Latinos will total roughly 102.6 million people or 24% of the U.S. population.

Most of the Latino immigrants that come to Segadores de Vida have left behind family and friends to earn money in a sometimes unfriendly United States. Segadores de Vida reaches out to them, in ways that say, “You have a home here.” The church understands that family connections are highly valued among Hispanics.

Nationwide, many Hispanic megachurches are offering the same message, coming alongside Hispanics in their communities to equip them with life management skills and working to bridge generation gaps—one of the most critical issues facing today’s immigrant churches. Like Segadores de Vida, these churches and their leaders are raising the standards for growth in the Hispanic Church and are reminding fledgling congregations of their potential.

In the same way that Hispanic churches are growing, due in part to a growing Hispanic population, we can also look for more Asian congregations to appear on the Outreach 100 in the future. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that Asians will be the fastest-growing population in every region from 1995 to 2025 with the greatest gains in the West (an increase of 7 million persons) and in the Northeast (an increase of 2 million).

Our research indicates that churches don’t like to identify themselves by ethnicity, so it’s difficult to determine an accurate number of ethnic or multi-ethnic churches on both Outreach 100 lists. However, we do know that many megachurches are intentionally focused on reaching more cultures and ethnicities. And according to Leadership Network’s 2005 Megachurches Today study, slightly more than half of the megachurches surveyed said they were making efforts to become intentionally multi-ethnic.

Mega Discipling. Our research also found that many megachurches today are recalibrating their core purpose—returning to the foundational ethic of multiplication through discipleship rather than emphasis on personal self-help and church growth methods.

Community Church of Joy led by Senior Pastor Walt Kallestad illustrates this awakening. When Kallestad joined the staff in 1978, the church rolls totaled 200. Some 20 years later, under his leadership the Glendale, Ariz., congregation of 10,000 moved into a new state-of-the-art facility. However, in 2002 after surviving a massive heart attack, Kallestad experienced the equivalent of a ministerial rebirth. He realized that despite successfully leading the growth of a huge congregation, the church was failing to transform its community. As he began to pray, seek counsel and study churches that were actually impacting their communities, Kallestad realized that his ministry emphasis had been on “bigger and more” rather than “smaller and deeper.” Since then, he has led the church through a shift in priorities and attitudes emphasizing relationships, and has implemented small group participation and leadership development. He and several staff members have started Joy Lifeshapes Leadership Center as a resource for other pastors and churches that would like to return to a relational and discipleship ministry.

Interestingly, the leadership of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Ill. (No. 41 Fastest-Growing) recently announced to the congregation of 23,500 that they had failed to deliver on their promise of discipleship and personal spiritual transformation. The announcement served as not just an admission of failure but a call for change. Spiritual formation is not easy. Megachurches are not alone in the challenge, but they are often singled out as bad examples—sometimes for good reason. Some do well; others don’t. Megachurches that experience true spiritual transformation view discipleship as more than an item on a “to-do” list. They know it is central to their mission.

Wither the Mega? While people continue to predict the demise of the megachurch, current trends based on our research point to more, not less, megachurches in the Third Millennium. This increase, perhaps, should not surprise us as megachurches exist (in much larger iterations) around the globe. (Weekly church attendance in megachurches in Asian and Latin countries can exceed 50,000 or even 100,000 attendees.)

Clearly, there are questions that need to be asked about why people attend megachurches. But the question I hear from the leaders who pastor these congregations are more important: What do we do now? These pastors are seeking new ways to reach and transform their communities for Christ. And if that is their focus, the megachurch won’t wither—it will continue to grow in fresh ways, in new places and through new attendees who meet their Savior there.

The Outreach 100 lists were compiled by Dr. Ed Stetzer in association with LifeWay Research and include only Protestant churches—as defined by the American Religious Data Archive—that opted to participate in the study. To dialogue with Dr. Stetzer about this research, go to his LifeWay Research blog at Edstetzer.com.

If you have any comments on this report or suggestions to improve next year’s Outreach 100 lists, e-mail us at editor@outreach.com. To tell us about churches for list consideration, e-mail research@lifeway.com.

-Excerpted from Outreach magazine, "Features," 2007 Outreach 100

 

©2007 Outreach Publishing. All rights Reserved. Usage and reprint permissions.