Megachurch number grows exponentially

Protestant megachurches – those with weekly attendance exceeding 2,000 – may be far more prevalent than originally thought.

Researchers at the Connecticut-based Hartford Institute for Religion Research and the Dallas-based Leadership Network say they have discovered that the number of Protestant megachurches may be at least 1,200 rather than the 850 they have previously cited.

“It’s hard to believe we missed so many,” said Scott Thumma, a professor at Hartford Seminary, where the institute is housed.

“At one point, there were small (enough) numbers of megachurches that one person could kind of know them all. Now there’s become so many that it really takes some kind of team effort or sharing of information in order to keep up with the accuracy.”

He is collaborating with experts at Leadership Network, an organization that works with pastors of large churches, to further refine the numbers of churches that claim more than 2,000 in weekly worship attendance.

Increasing in number

“Our preliminary research for the major survey effort indicates there could very well be another 200 to 400 megachurches in addition to these,” said Warren Bird of Leadership Network in a statement about the conclusion that there are at least 1,200 megachurches. “We’ll have to see what information the questionnaires return to know for sure.”

Thumma said in an interview that megachurch critics who thought the large congregations were a baby boom phenomenon that would wane quickly seem to be incorrect.

“In fact, they’re increasing almost exponentially over the last 20 years,” he said. “We’ve found megachurches now in just about every state.”

Thumma said there are still vastly more small congregations, but the growth of the megachurch has implications for seminaries and denominations as they influence worship life and church programming.

While these churches represent a minuscule percentage of all congregations, “more and more people are clustering in the larger and larger congregations,” he said.

Although researchers must await results of surveys they will send to more than 1,700 large congregations in mid-May, they already have a sense of where the largest of some 1,200 megachurches are.

Texas has the most with 174 megachurches, followed by California with 169, Florida with 83 and Georgia with 64.

(RNS)