America: Mega-church and Mega-decline

There are two major trends facing the American church today. The first is the rise of the mega-church. In recent years, research has shown that the larger the church is, the faster it grows. Churches with more than 1,000 members are the fastest growing churches in the country. Churches with less than 100 members are growing approximately 45% slower. The simple fact is that small churches are not growing numerically while large churches are.

The second trend is an overall decrease in church attendance, baptism, and overall effectiveness. In the past decade over 300 million people have become new believers in Christ from around the globe. 10 million of those, just over 3%, are from North America and Europe (The other 290 million, almost 97%, are from South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia). Of the top 25 denominations in America, with combined members equaling about 146 million people, only 6 have seen growth in the past 10 years (and this growth is very minimal). About 50% of the mega-churches in the world are in the United States. Every year in America, 4,000 churches close their doors for good while only 1,000 open new doors. While larger churches are growing larger and smaller churches are growing smaller and closing their doors, the overall effectiveness in the American church is dying. With more resources, more money, and more freedom than any other nation in the world, somehow we have managed to botch church. Yes there are both small and large congregations that are sharing the Gospel, preaching the word, and providing fellowship and community. Not all churches are ineffective. There are many churches that are doing great things for the kingdom – both small and large.

What are we to make of these to trends? Are large churches the future? Are big buildings, multiple sites, powerful speakers, and superstar worship leaders necessary for church growth in America? The trend tends to support this statement. Churches with fewer resources, smaller buildings, and less money are dying and dying quickly. So what are we supposed to think? No one, even members of growing churches, can deny that the overall growth of Christianity in America is negative. When it boils down to it, fewer people every year are attending church, fewer people every year are getting baptized, and fewer people every year are coming to know Jesus in the United States. While around the world, churches are exploding exponentially. There is no money. There is no big building (many times there is no building at all). There are no superstar worship leaders. There are no budgets. There is no staff to be paid. And millions and millions of new people are saved and baptized as a result.

Are we missing something in America? Yes. Are we increasingly becoming an unreached nation? Yes. Do these trends of mega-church and mega-decline directly correlate? All that matters is the spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ; whether small churches or large churches are the ones doing that effectively. In America, very few churches of any size are doing that effectively. Around the world, house church movements are leading to rapid growth (of people, not churches). The 20 largest and fastest growing churches around the world are house church networks. Maybe we need to change our strategy and start learning from the rest of the world…