Posted on 10/12/2009 11:04:53 AM PDT by DBCJR
... Golden State has more of these megachurches -- defined as those with at least 2,000 congregants -- than any other state. California is home to 193, slightly more than Texas with 191, ... survey by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research
... some who study the phenomenon call the Southern California Bible Belt...
The megachurches are expanding by adapting to changing times and tastes, scholars say. Many have jettisoned formal rituals such as organs and hymns in favor of Christian rock music and overhead projection screens that display lyrics and prayers.
They deliver upbeat biblical messages about applying faith in everyday life and building a personal relationship with God. They organize parishioners into small "life" groups that study Scripture. And they encourage their followers to recruit new members.
Although some critics refer to the megachurch phenomenon as "church lite," evangelical Christian scholars say the congregations are reaching the unaffiliated or disaffected by turning church attendance into a more comfortable, positive experience, bound by fewer rules or obligations than traditional churches.
...
The number of megachurches has grown steadily for the last four decades. Researchers say there are now at least 1,350 such churches nationwide, more than double the number a decade ago.
They draw an average of 4,100 weekend parishioners. By contrast, most U.S. churches attract 500 people or fewer on Sundays.
"They are essentially re- creating a small-town milieu and giving folks . . . a place to plug in and share experiences with like-minded people," said sociologist Scott Thumma of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research in Connecticut, who studies the megachurch movement.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
This is all they have left in that huge house of ill repute that is CA.
As long as they are delivering the TRUTH, it doesn’t matter how they are delivering.
Way too many Christians get caught up in the trappings instead of the message. “Oh No, they are playing rock music in church. A real church sings classic hymns, performs traditional liturgy, and has ministers that wear robes, like the ELCA.”
The megachurches are expanding by adapting to changing times and tastes, scholars say.
Conforming itself to the pattern of this evil age, which is passing away.
Conforming itself to the pattern of this evil age, which is passing away.
I think you have a stereotype of megachurches that is, to put it bluntly, wrong.
I am currently attending what would be called a megachurch in GA (after years of attending Southern Baptists churches.) The service does not resemble a traditinal chruch. Christian rock, no to litt dress code, etc...
I can also tell you that the doctrine taught is as conservative as any I’ve ever found in a Southern Baptist church. The pastor routinely talks about the reality of Hell during sermons (and having develoted several sermons to that one subject) and Jesus as the only way to salvation.
You can’t paint with that broad of a brush. Large churches (just like small ones) are not all alike.
Been to a church like that. They actually passed a communion cup around, as if this was 1950, and you couldn’t get VD from someone else’s lips.
Things like that make me wonder where the Pastor’s head is. Then again, I’ve heard in enough places that American Christianity is ... not well, overall.
One of the reasons for the success of the mega churches is that they create a sense of the small town. This is one of the characteristics that is rarely looked at by those who don’t like the mega churches.
I go to one that is a conservative church and has a very small town feel about it. About 52-53,000 members.
Been to a church like that. They actually passed a communion cup around, as if this was 1950, and you couldn’t get VD from someone else’s lips.
I know the church I attend does NOT do that. They use individual servings. They also make it perfectly clear that communion is for believers only. Those that have not given their lives to Christ are told, bluntly, not to participate.
My comment was not about megachurches but about (tongue in cheek) California and it’s “fruits, nuts, and flakes.” Reach the lost anyway you can! My allusion was to Abraham negotiating with God to save Sodom & Gommorah if he could find so many who still followed God. Noah tried the same thing.
We Christians spend WAY too much time throwing stones at each other. I’m not sure which is more destructive to the Great Commission, throwing stones at each other or at the ones we are attempting to attract.
Casual church=casual Christians
I don’t see what the big deal is about a church with over 2,000 members. My Catholic parish has over 1,600 *households* (including my family of 11), and we’re not the biggest in the area by any means. And nobody walking into our “multi-purpose parochial facility plus trailer” (we don’t have a canonical “church” building) would call it a “mega-church.”
May I call your attention to the fact that the L.A. TIMES or SLIMES wrote this hit piece??
Congratulations on your newest baby! What a beautiful family you have. I so enjoyed your homepage.I went to a so called “Mega-Church” in So. Cal.I guess the liberals are up to their old tricks of labeling us Christian,Conservative,
Right Wingers something bad to take the focus off their
nonsense!
I don’t understand the implicit point that there’s something bad about a large congregation, just for that reason.
And thanks! Frank is 4-1/2 months old now, weighs 18 lbs. Anoreth is happily washing dishes, sanding the hull, and baiting the Commies in Seattle.
Certainly you may, but I don’t see this as a hit piece. They seemed to be glorifying California’s megachurches. Did you read the article?
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