Tuesday September 30, 2008 ~
3 Comments
We're moving through Megachurch Week here at the blog and I wanted to draw your attention to the article I wrote for Outreach Magazine called, Learning from America's Largest and Fastest Growing Churches.
As we talked with churches and gathered the information for the OUTREACH 100 Largest and Fastest-Growing Churches in America, we saw several dichotomies, including the one developing between small and large churches. If current trends continue, the number of medium-sized churches will continue to decrease, and the bulk of U.S. churches will tend to be very large or very small. While most churches have always been small, large churches getting larger...
While churches are getting larger, attendees are often not unified in one location as more megachurches add satellite sites...
While last year we highlighted a growing interest in churches on the lists becoming multicultural, this year we found a heightened interest in churches becoming multigenerational. As Baby Boomers age and the number of senior adults in America reaches record highs, leaders are recognizing the need to be a church for all ages...
Regardless of your church's size or shape, Christ calls each of us to seek out fresh ways to contextualize the Gospel for a dying world.
You can read the whole article at Sermon Central.
The folks at Outreach Magazine have created helpful landing pages which provide access to more information about the churches on the lists: FASTEST / LARGEST
Posted on September 30, 2008 at 8:17 PM ~ 3 Comments
Tagged with: 100, churches, growth, multisite, outreach
Ed,
Great articles.. is there any analysis or breakdown of Reformed churches in these lists?
Earlier today I acessed and read the 100 largest churches article by clicking on it, and now it is $4.95 to view it by downloading a pdf. To me that is cheap commercialism. You offer people to see it, then when lots come looking you think "Oh, I could make a buck on this," and start charging.
Bob,
My article is still there, free, just like it always was.
The lists are still there, linked at the bottom of my article, free like they always were.
But, it is true. You have caught them trying to sell content that it cost them money to produce. If you click through and want to get a reprint of the actual magazine list (sent to their subscribers), you have to pay for it.
Of course, that is what magazines do. They write things that people buy. I am just not sure what that has to do with my post of observation and links to the information I linked to that they provide for free.
Let me encourage you to click on the links and learn what God is doing through these churches.
And, if you want to comment here at my blog, please be cautious with your accusations.
Thanks,
Ed