Megachurch

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A megachurch is a church with an unusually large membership that also offers a variety of educational and social activities, usually Protestant or Evangelical.[1] The Hartford Institute for Religion Research defines a megachurch as any Protestant Christian church having 2,000 or more people in average weekend attendance.[2][3][4][5]

The concept originated in the mid 19th century, continued onward into the mid 20th century and expanded rapidly through the 1980s and 1990s; in present days it is widely seen across America in the early 21st century.

History[]

Baptist Metropolitan Tabernacle, in London

The origins of the megachurch movement, with many local congregants who return on a weekly basis, can be traced to the 1800s.[6][7] There were large churches earlier, but they were considerably rarer. The first evangelical megachurch, the Metropolitan Tabernacle with a 6000-seat auditorium, was inaugurated in 1861 in London by Charles Spurgeon.[8] In the United States, in 1923, the Angelus Temple was inaugurated in 1923 with a 5,300-seat auditorium in Los Angeles by Aimee Semple McPherson.[9] A study by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research published in 2020 found that 70 percent of American megachurches had a multi-site network and an average of 7.6 services per weekend.[10] The study also found that the majority of US megachurches are located in Florida, Texas, California and Georgia.[11]

Current conditions and statistics[]

Worship service at Faith Tabernacle, with seating for 50,400, affiliated to the Living Faith Church Worldwide, in 2005, in Lagos, Nigeria
Show on the life of Jesus at Igreja da Cidade, affiliated to the Brazilian Baptist Convention, in São José dos Campos, Brazil, 2017
Glory Dome, affiliated with Dunamis International Gospel Center, with 100,000 seats, in Abuja, Nigeria

In 2010, the Hartford Institute's database listed more than 1,300 such Protestant churches in the United States; according to that data, approximately 50 churches on the list had average attendance exceeding 10,000, with the highest recorded at 47,000 in average attendance.[12] On one weekend in November 2015, around one in ten Protestant churchgoers in the US, or about 5 million people, attended service in a megachurch.[13] 3,000 individual Catholic parishes have 2,000 or more attendants for an average Sunday Mass, but they are not called megachurches as that is a specifically Protestant term.[5]

Globally, these large congregations are a significant development in Protestant Christianity.[14] In the United States, the phenomenon has more than quadrupled in the past two decades.[15] It has since spread worldwide. In 2007, five of the ten largest Protestant churches were in South Korea.[16] The largest megachurch in the world by attendance is South Korea's Yoido Full Gospel Church, an Assemblies of God church, with more than 830,000 members as of 2007.[16][17] The largest church auditorium, Glory Dome, was inaugurated in 2018 with 100,000 seats, in Abuja, Nigeria.[18]

Criticism[]

In 2005, Baptist Pastor Al Sharpton criticized megachurches for focusing on "bedroom morals", statements against same-sex marriage and abortion, by ignoring issues of social justice, such as the immorality of war and the erosion of affirmative action.[19]

In 2018, American professor Scot McKnight of Northern Baptist Theological Seminary criticized nondenominational megachurches for the weak external accountability relationship of their leaders, by not being members of a Christian denomination, further exposing them to abuse of power.[20] However, a study by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research published in 2020 found that 60% of American megachurches were members of a Christian denomination.[21]

Some megachurches and their pastors have been accused by critics of promoting a "prosperity gospel", where the poor and vulnerable are encouraged to donate their money to the church rather than saving it, in the hopes that God will bless them with wealth.[22][23][24] This in turn increases the wealth of the pastors, with some revealed to wear designer clothing during sermons and own luxury vehicles.[25][26][27]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "megachurch". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  2. ^ "Church Sizes". www.USAChurches.org. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  3. ^ Biard, Julia (February 23, 2006). "The good and bad of religion-lite". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved November 5, 2006.
  4. ^ Bryan S. Turner, The New Blackwell Companion to the Sociology of Religion, John Wiley & Sons, USA, 2010, p. 251
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b "Megachurch Definition". Hartford Institute for Religion Research. Archived from the original on 2016-05-14. Retrieved February 6, 2010.
  6. ^ Anne C. Loveland, Otis B. Wheeler, From Meetinghouse to Megachurch: A Material and Cultural History, University of Missouri Press, USA, 2003, p. 35
  7. ^ "Exploring the Megachurch Phenomena: Their characteristics and cultural context". Hirr.HartSem.edu. Archived from the original on 2015-11-01. Retrieved February 6, 2010.
  8. ^ Stephen J. Hunt, Handbook of Megachurches, Brill, Netherlands, 2019, p. 50
  9. ^ George Thomas Kurian, Mark A. Lamport, Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States, Volume 5, Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2016, p. 1471
  10. ^ Maria Baer, US Megachurches Are Getting Bigger and Thinking Smaller, christianitytoday.com, USA, November 19, 2020
  11. ^ Allen Kim (27 April 2019). "What is a megachurch?". CNN. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
  12. ^ "Hartford Institute for Religion Research, database of Megachurches". Hirr.HartSem.edu. Retrieved February 6, 2010.
  13. ^ "The megachurch boom rolls on, but big concerns are rising too". Religion News Service. December 2, 2015. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
  14. ^ Anne C. Loveland, Otis B. Wheeler, From Meetinghouse to Megachurch: A Material and Cultural History, University of Missouri Press, USA, 2003, p. 3
  15. ^ "Redirect". www.SecularHumanism.org. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  16. ^ Jump up to: a b "O come all ye faithful". Special Report on Religion and Public Life. The Economist. November 3, 2007. p. 6. Retrieved November 5, 2007.
  17. ^ "In Pictures: America's 10 Biggest Megachurches". Forbes. June 26, 2009.
  18. ^ Taylor Berglund, World's Largest Church Auditorium Dedicated in Nigeria, charismanews.com, December 7, 2018
  19. ^ Associated Press, Megachurches have wrong focus, black leaders say, chron.com, USA, 2 juillet 2006
  20. ^ James Wellman Jr., Katie Corcoran, Kate Stockly, Éloi Ficquet, High on God: How Megachurches Won the Heart of America, Oxford University Press, UK, 2020, p. 212
  21. ^ Warren Bird, Scott Thumma, Megachurch 2020 : The Changing Reality in America’s Largest Churches, hirr.hartsem.edu, USA, 2020
  22. ^ Biema, David Van (2008-10-03). Time. ISSN 0040-781X http://content.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1847053,00.html. Retrieved 2021-03-30. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  23. ^ "How Megachurches Blurred the Line Between Religion and Riches". HowStuffWorks. 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
  24. ^ "The Worst Ideas of the Decade (washingtonpost.com)". www.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
  25. ^ Niemietz, Brian. "Megachurch preacher buys wife a $200,000 Lamborghini, tells parishioners 'Don't confuse what I do with who I am'". nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
  26. ^ Rojas, Rick (2019-04-17). "Let He Who Is Without Yeezys Cast the First Stone". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
  27. ^ Stevens, Alexis; Journal-Constitution, The Atlanta. "Creflo Dollar's ministry says he will get his $65 million jet". ajc. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
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