The lights dim as soft music begins to play. The stage is empty, save for a painted city street scene. You hush the kids, ready for the drama to begin.
A 2011 survey by the Harvard Institute of Religion Research found that six million people — about 10 percent of those surveyed — attended churches with more than 2,000 attendees.
You look at the audience around you — there must be thousands of people.
You smile at an usher, who is showing a young couple to their seats.
So what are we talking about here — have you scored tickets to “Hamilton” on Broadway or some other hit show? Nope. You’re at a typical Sunday worship service at your nearest megachurch.
Megachurches offer an array of programs for every age level, as well as multi-tiered communications strategies that include daily social media reach-outs, podcasts and videos, DVD sales of sermons, and professionally designed newsletters directing members to high-tech websites. They also offer plays and skits with production values the Great White Way would envy, and musical acts so polished they could grace any Nashville stage. These giant churches have large and multi-level childcare and child education programs due to their enormous size.
A hallmark of a megachurch is the presentation of themes on giant screens, aided by sophisticated sound systems, that allow all congregants to see and hear the same message at the same time.
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“Coffee and donut Sundays, contemporary music, ‘state of the art’ architecture, big screens, welcoming committees — these can all be helpful, but is Christ being lost in the process?” Fr. Michael Sliney, a Catholic priest and pastoral leader in New York City, asked. “There is a risk of focusing more on entertaining than on feeding the flock with the Word of God. Well-prepared homilies coupled with small group discussions on scripture need to be at the heart of all Christian churches, so our souls can truly learn the ‘science of Christ.'”
Is size important in the faith instruction of children? LifeZette went straight to the experts: two Boston-area kids, both age 17.
“It doesn’t matter where you go. It’s the words the priest says that are important. In the Catholic Church, the same message is delivered around the world [each Sunday] — so in that sense, it doesn’t matter,” one 17-year-old boy told LifeZette. “My grandparents used to go to a huge church and they watched a bunch of skits for at least part of the time every Sunday. The pastor was a rock star to the audience, you could tell!”
His friend, a 17-year-old girl, said, “My dad is the one who attends in our family. He will go anywhere — big church, small church — he doesn’t care, as long as he’s there in the pew. So I don’t think it matters. It’s what is said inside.”
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The number of megachurches in America has grown significantly. In 1970 there were approximately 50 megachurches in America, and by 1980, that number had increased to 150. The growth has been exponential, and now there are about 1,600 megachurches in the U.S., according to The Christian Post. In 2011, a survey by Harvard Institute of Religion Research found that six million people — about 10 percent of those surveyed — attended churches that have more than 2,000 attendees.
“I had never been in a church with a lobby, welcome desk, café, people at tables having snacks and soft drinks, and a staff of friendly team members smiling and opening doors,” Maryann Gogniat Eidemiller wrote for faithstreet.com of her experience at a megachurch. “It felt like opening night at the movies. The dim sanctuary doesn’t even have an altar, but rather a stage with two large projection screens flanking the band. The rows of pews were the only thing that came close to suggesting ‘church.'”
One church proclaims on its website, “Dadfest is here! Attend this weekend celebration of dads, featuring a car show, games, fun, and a fireworks show on Saturday night. Don’t miss this great opportunity!”
Some megachurch programs seem to actually have little to do with worship, and more to do with fellowship.
Willow Creek Community Church in Great Barrington, Illinois, has 22,500 members. It proclaims on its website, “Dadfest is here! Attend this weekend celebration of dads, featuring a car show, games, fun, and a fireworks show on Saturday night. Don’t miss this great opportunity to connect with your family and celebrate your dad!”
Second Baptist Church in Houston, Texas, has 23,659 members. It offers a Chinese American Exposure Program, telling parishioners on its website, “Each year, the Second Family hosts students and teachers from China. The students and teachers enhance their English and learn the values of American culture through daily interaction with their host families, trips to many Houston-area landmarks, and classes on American customs and traditions.”
Both sound like fun, and an excellent opportunity for fellowship. But where is the word “God” — or “Christ”? Megachurches must work hard to keep their focus Christ-centered, and ask themselves if they would bring the same intimate message of humanity’s redemption through Jesus Christ on the cross if the congregation were comprised of merely 20 members — and not 20,000.
“Ignorance of scripture is ignorance of Christ,” said Fr. Sliney. “My last act of the day from the age of 12 through college was to open up my New Testament Bible and prayerfully read a passage from the Gospels. I let Jesus speak to my heart — and little by little, he helped form my inner criteria of judgment. In the words of C.S. Lewis, ‘Every Christian is to become a little Christ. The whole purpose of becoming a Christian is simply nothing else.'”
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He added, “The Gospels are the handbook for walking in Christ’s footsteps and our kids need to hear this message from the pulpit, from their parents, and from personal reflection. Keep Jesus at the center.”
Pastor Tim Suttle of the Redemption Church in Kansas shared these challenges of megachurches in a recent piece in The Huffington Post:
1.) The size may insulate the body from the natural pains and tensions that keep it healthy. “Pain is good, even in the church. Pain forces a community and its leaders to grow deeper and more mature. For instance, if two families leave a small church, that fact cannot be ignored.”
2.) Megachurch size inhibits diversity. “Pastors flock to megachurch conferences, attempting to copy the latest leadership techniques and strategies,” said Pastor Suttle. “I have been part of an entire generation of pastors who have attended conferences at Saddleback, Willow Cree,k and Northpoint churches in order to become the next Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, or Andy Stanley — instead of simply being ourselves.”
3.) Megachurch size exploits the megachurch pastor. “The megachurch pastor becomes like the liver of an alcoholic body. The anxiety, pressure, and stress generated by the megachurch is not shared by the typical member, but is focused primarily upon the pastor.”
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