Luanne Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 The thread about Joel Osteen got me to thinking about mega churches in general. I am not saying they are ALL bad because I don't honestly know. I did attend a church here however that had about 200 people attending there when I started attending there 19 years ago. We stopped attending there about 6 years ago after they had built a new building and the attendance was about 2500. I have no idea how many people attend there now. I have heard it is much more than the 2500. One of the main reasons we left is because everything had changed so much that they were no longer preaching the gospel. It all seemed to be a show to see how many people they could get to attend there. I would guess that the majority of people who attend there now don't even know what the church believed prior to all the changes. Even the head pastor (whom I never thought I would think badly of) seemed to be seeing how close to the world he (and his family) could live and still be Christians. I just don't get it. I don't see how someone (in this case MANY someones) could get SO far off track and not even realize it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladydusk Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 Francine Rivers' book And the Shofar Blew is a challenging book that deals with these issues. It is a novel about a pastor who incrementally gives up preaching the gospel and living for Christ and how the Lord calls to repentance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy in MD Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 The thread about Joel Osteen got me to thinking about mega churches in general. I am not saying they are ALL bad because I don't honestly know. I did attend a church here however that had about 200 people attending there when I started attending there 19 years ago. We stopped attending there about 6 years ago after they had built a new building and the attendance was about 2500. I have no idea how many people attend there now. I have heard it is much more than the 2500. One of the main reasons we left is because everything had changed so much that they were no longer preaching the gospel. It all seemed to be a show to see how many people they could get to attend there. I would guess that the majority of people who attend there now don't even know what the church believed prior to all the changes. Even the head pastor (whom I never thought I would think badly of) seemed to be seeing how close to the world he (and his family) could live and still be Christians. I just don't get it. I don't see how someone (in this case MANY someones) could get SO far off track and not even realize it. I'm not too fond of the mega churches because there are just too many people!!!!! I understand many develop sub-groups for fellowship, but I prefer splitting the congregation up and starting a new congregation. It's not nearly as intimidating for newbies to join and become involved. A problem with mega churches that probably most don't think of is how will the congregation keep paying for the facilities if the ubber popular minister retires and his replacement can't keep the attendance up. The mega church close to where I used to live now has that problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fivetails Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 I can't imagine 2500 people - that must be one HUGE church! :001_huh: When we moved here before Christmas, one of the churches that we checked out had about 400 - I was amazed by THAT! (and the size of the building!)...the one we're at now is a bit smaller... 2500... yikes. I bet it would be hard to get to know people...you'd need a building as big as a hockey rink to fit them all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in Neverland Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 the church we left had 12,000 people. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmac Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 I am getting ready to attend Fellowship church in Grapevine. To call it a mega church might be an understatement. It used to bother me but then me and my little church (we have about 2500) started using the curriculum they write produce and film nearly all themselves called Elevate. It is an amazing curriculum and our kids (we have about 200 in our childrens ministry not including preschool and youth) absolutly love it. I realize that if they wern't a mega church and wern't pulling in the income that they are, there is no way they could put out half the resources that they do. They are building people up and training them to send them out and start new churchs and at the same time they put on amazing conferences and develop so many helpful materials. I think small churchs have their place and so do mega churchs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN Mama Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 I grew up in a small town and in a very small, very traditional, Methodist Church. For years after I moved I couldn't seem to find a place where I felt I fit. I spent many years away from church, not from my faith, but from the place of church. When my husband and I were married we discussed trying to find a church home, a place where we would like to bring up our children. Dh grew up in a tiny Baptist church, so we attended many churches in our area including Baptist, Methodist and Non-Denominational, trying to find a good fit. The one church we hadn't tried was the 3000+ member Methodist church. I didn't want to be a number so we kept avoiding attending, but driving by on a regular basis as it is so near our home. Finally we'd tried every church and still hadn't found a fit. I don't know about y'all, but I don't like going to new churches. I would feel intimidated and unsure about nursery policies, what people expected us to wear, etc. When we arrived at this church I had none of those anxieties. We checked out the nursery and our oldest walked right in like she owned the place. During the sermon, the pastor mentioned how his father was a Baptist preacher which made dh raise his brow. I didn't intend to write a long story here, but this church I speak of has been our church home for 6+ years. It never felt like a "mega" church even though I've heard it is one of the largest in attendance in the denomination. I think often (certainly not always) you hold the reigns about how big or small a church feels. I was able to get involved and have never felt like a little fish in a big sea. And I think back to how stubborn I was about visiting the church in the first place and just laugh. No matter big or small it just feels good when you find your place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheBrink Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 The church I attended in San Diego has 6 services every weekend and has about 6500 in attendance. On Easter, it's around 10K. It's crazy, but if you got into a small group, it was easier to make friends and connect people. The church I attend now has about 375 and I like it much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmac Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 No matter big or small it just feels good when you find your place. Isn't that the truth. When you find the home God wants you in, it just feels like home. I always say you can know your Church home when you pull into the parking lot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mazakaal Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 Our last church in the US had around 15,000 people when we left 8 years ago. From what I've heard, they estimate an attendance of 18,000 now. When I started going to the church 18 years ago (has it been that long?!) it had 'only' about 800. I loved the church when it was that size, and even in the first few years of growth when it only had a few thousand. But it's gotten so big now, that I do struggle with the size when we go back for a visit. The pastor, who is a wonderful man, has been really faithful to preach the Word, not watered down, so I don't have a problem with where the church has gone in that sense. But it's just really hard going to a church with so many people. Anyway, all that to say, that not every mega-church has strayed from the truth to atract people. But mega-churches are certainly not everyone's cup of tea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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