America's Largest, Fastest Growing Churches

Megachurches are growing in both size and number across America:

Megachurches (2,000-plus attendees) now number an estimated 1,300. While that's only 0.4 percent of all U.S. Protestant churches, megachurches are growing rapidly as they pioneer new approaches largely to engage the unchurched population.

Top 10 Largest U.S. Churches

1. Lakewood Church, Houston Texas – Joel Osteen (47,000)
   
2. Willow Creek Community Church, South Barrington, Ill. – Bill Hybels (23,500)
   
3. Second Baptist Church, Houston – Ed Young Sr. (23,198)
   
4. Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, Calif. – Rick Warren (22,000)
   
5. LifeChurch.tv, Edmond, Okla. – Craig Groeschel (19,907)
   
6. Southeast Christian Church, Louisville, Ky. – Dave Stone (18,013)
   
7. North Point Church, Alpharetta, Ga. – Andy Stanley (17,700)
   
8. Thomas Road Baptist Church, Lynchburg, Va. – Jonathan Falwell (17.445)
   
9. Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. – Bob Coy (17,000)
   
10. The Potter's House, Dallas – T.D. Jakes (17,000)

Top 10 Fastest-Growing U.S. Churches

1. Iglesia Cristiana Segadores de Vida, Hollywood, Fla. – Ruddy and Maria Gracia (grew by 3,050; 109 percent)
   
2. Community of Faith, Cypress, Texas - Mark Shock (grew by 2,200; 163 percent)
   
3. Valley Bible Fellowship, Bakersfield, Calif. – Ron Vietti (grew by 3,600; 52 percent)
   
4. Community Christian Church, Naperville, Ill. – Dave Ferguson (grew by 2,230; 81 percent)
   
5. The ROC (Richmond Outreach Center), Richmond, Va. – Geronimo Aguilar (grew by 2,100; 100 percent)
   
6. New Life Church, Conway, Ark. – Rick Bezet (grew by 2,000; 108 percent)
   
7. Living Hope Church, Vancouver, Wash. – John Bishop (grew by 2,223; 75 percent)
   
8. Elevation Church, Charlotte, N.C., Steven Furtick (grew by 1,965; 444 percent)
   
9. Thomas Road Baptist Church, Lynchburg, Va. – Jonathan Falwell (grew by 4,750; 37 percent)
   
10. Flamingo Road Church, Cooper City, Fla. – Troy Gramling (grew by 2,040; 51 percent)

Here are lists of the top 100 churches in each category [PDF]:

• 100 Largest U.S. Churches
• 101 Fastest-Growing U.S. Churches

See statistics from previous years here.

One thing interesting is how many of these churches are using technology to help them grow:

A key growth trend, or megatrend, is multi-site technology. Currently, seven of the top 10 fastest-growing churches are multi-site churches in which churches have set up extension sites on multiple campuses across the city, state or country. In 1990, there were only 10 multi-site Protestant churches in the United States. Today, 25 percent of all megachurches have more than one site and 16 percent of all Protestant churches in the United States are seriously considering adding a site within the next two years, according to LifeWay Research.

Churches, just like the organization of any other firm or industry are profoundly impacted by changes in costs driven by technological innovation. The churches which grow the most tend to be highly technology-centric. Churches that resist the use of technology are often in decline, although I'm not sure which way the causation runs.

Does church growth lead to higher budgets to afford better technology or does better use of technology help churches to grow? My guess is the latter effect is the stronger of the two. I also suspect that openness to technology is correlated to other factors (such as lower levels of organizational bureaucracy) that would tend to lead to higher growth.

I hope to eventually explore the effects technology has on religious organizations. Mega-churches are examples of religious institutions leveraging social and technological innovations to take advantage of greater economies of scale. I also suspect many smaller churches are benefiting from these trends as well, just like many other small businesses.

On a personal note, I attended two of these churches while I lived in Florida -- Northland (21st largest and 40th fastest growing) with a 12,000 in attendance and First Baptist Church of Orlando (82nd largest) with a measly 7,000 attending each week. It was a fantastic and dynamic experience being involved with each of them. As Professor Iannaccone has often lectured, these churches are quite different from what most people imagine them to be.

Also see:

• My previous posts on the economics of religion.
  
• Listen to Professor Iannaccone's lecture on The Myth of the Religious Right.

For further reading:

• Researchers Paint Latest Portrait of U.S. Megachurches
• Megachurch Myths Dispelled in New Report

(HT TaxProf Blog)