Megachurches Set the Standard for Spiritual Practice

By Mark Hoerrner

While most people would consider a state like California hedonistic at the very least, it has shown the highest growth of any state for the presence of "megachurches," churches that regularly have more than 2000 worshippers per week darken their doors. Perhaps the best-known church is Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., where Christian celebrity author Rick Warren is pastor. Saddleback sees an attendance of more than 15,000 weekly.

Yet as large as some of these churches are, they represent less than one percent of the total churches in any one denomination (including non-denominational churches). The teachings at these churches, however, such as the proliferation of specific additions of technology, life groups, and other worship avenues are generally regarded as the measuring stick in church operations.

Certainly, Warren’s book, "The Purpose-Driven Life," has altered the landscape of church services and provided pastors across America with thousands of Sunday Service ideas, even if only to speak out against Warren’s liberal use of doctrine. A companion book, "The Purpose-Driven Church," has also been used to create the foundation for what an optimal church organization should look like.

One of the consistent themes among the large churches seems to be the inclusion of electronic components such as recorded music, video projection, dance or drama sequences and electronic instruments.

A study by the Faith Communities of Today (FACT) Project found that these churches often avoid subjects like the End Times or stewardship of time and money, but tend to focus on sermons involving God’s love, advice for daily living and personal spiritual growth. Apparently, the subject of money is one of the things that turns worshippers away from churches despite the fact that the Bible refers to the stewardship of finances more than 2,500 times and is one of the top three subjects on which Jesus preached.

Demographics show that the majority of these churches have a membership that is college-educated, married and generally are under 60 years of age. They are also predominantly Caucasian memberships.

Church programming is also a big issue and many of the megachurches offer a variety of both traditional (senior activities) and non-traditional (substance abuse counseling) programs:

• Bible studies 78%
  
• Prayer groups 83%
  
• Youth/teen activities 94%
  
• Men's/women's ministries 86%
  
• Spiritual Retreats 34%
  
• Young Adult activities 83%
  
• Choirs 85%
  
• Community Service programs 65%
  
• Parenting/marriage classes 52%
  
• Senior Adult activities 82%
  
• Self-help groups 57%
  
• Sports/Fitness teams 59%
  
• National Parachurch programs 53%

The sample comes from more than 150 megachurches that responded to the FACT survey.

The churches also set the standard for community involvement. Almost every church in the survey had some sort of food-related donation program. Other community impact programs included:

• Cash or vouchers given to families or individuals 91%
  
• Programs for youth and teens 99%
  
• Counseling services or support groups 95%
  
• Hospitals & nursing homes 80%
  
• Prison ministries 91%
  
• Thrift store or thrift store donations 78%
  
• Temporary or permanent housing/shelter 78%
  
• Senior citizen programs 84%
  
• Substance abuse & 12 step programs 85%

The study also found that about 300 members, on average, gave about five hours per week in volunteer service to the community through the church.