Megachurches Search for Ideas to Grow Again

Blossoming in suburbs everywhere, megachurches--the mostly evangelical, mostly nondenominational institutions that have transformed religious practice in America--are now approaching middle age and have begun to encounter serious obstacles to growth.

Megachurches, defined as congregations with 2,000 or more members, grew by offering polished services and practical messages in super-sized sanctuaries. But now many suffer from problems that range from disaffected members to unhappy neighbors and an inability to connect with younger congregants.

To resolve the problems, pastors at leading megachurches are planning radical change.

Two of the nation’s largest megachurches are setting the pace: At Saddleback Valley Community Church in Orange County, leaders are considering tables and chairs--instead of pews--in a new 6,000-seat sanctuary as a way to help worshipers feel connected in small groups.

At Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Ill., baby boomer pastors who rose to prominence by targeting other boomers are now scrambling to train dozens of Gen-X men and women and move them into leadership positions in the church.

The number of megachurches nearly doubled in the 1990s to about 500 today. Largely because of them, an increasing number of Christians in America are forsaking traditional Sunday services of hymns and prayers offered by a small cluster of believers. Instead, they favor elaborate stage productions, complete with contemporary music, mini-dramas and sermons that offer life lessons for families with no strong ties to established denominations.

Southern California is home to more than 50 such churches, spanning the Protestant spectrum--from West Angeles Church of God in Christ, the nation’s largest black Pentecostal church, to Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, pastored by the leading conservative theologian John MacArthur, to televangelist Robert Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove.

The megachurches include so-called “seeker-sensitive” churches like Saddleback that stress innovation and reach out to people unfamiliar with traditional religion. Led by self-styled religious entrepreneurs, they use sophisticated business techniques to create a spiritual product for choosy suburban consumers.

Many churches that helped pioneer the megachurch trend are now more than two decades old--a point at which, experts say, the average church stops growing. To move ahead, megachurches must not only solve practical problems but find ways to help parishioners feel connected to each other in the Sunday crowds and attract a new generation of worshipers.

“They have to reinvent themselves,” said Eddie Gibbs, professor of church growth at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena.

Indeed, some experts contend that for all the influence they have had on America’s religious culture, megachurches have passed their prime and will gradually fade.

“The style of worship and the style of presentation, that’s all going to go away eventually,” said Scott Thumma, a megachurch researcher at the Center for Social and Religious Research in Hartford, Conn. “It’s more a momentary reaction to the culture than it is a phenomenon of staying power.”

Megachurches arrived at a time when baby boomers were returning to church in droves with the onset of parenthood but were looking for spiritual outlets different from those they discarded in their youth. The megachurches rose to prominence amid a consumer culture that featured large institutions in general, like mega-malls and multiplex movie theaters, experts say.

Younger Congregants Seek Authenticity

But today’s younger religious seekers appear to place a premium on authenticity, and may be turned off by the large churches that have deliberately cut ties with religious traditions and rituals, said Gibbs.

Churches tailored to Gen-Xers have already begun to emerge. But megachurches, known for their relentless innovation, have no intention of ceding their place as the church of the future.

And some experts believe that the large-church trend is only beginning to make itself felt and that the biggest churches in America--now about 20,000 worshipers strong--are on the verge of making another quantum jump.

“The first churches to hit 50,000 will do it in the next decade,” said Carl George, a leading independent expert on church growth.

The pastor of Mariners Church in Irvine, one of the region’s leading megachurches, envisions several churches some day running simultaneously on the church’s campus--one offering a liturgical service in a New England-style chapel and another aimed specifically at Gen-X worshipers.

Next month, Calvary Chapel Golden Springs in Diamond Bar will begin sponsoring monthly “millennium concerts” at the church, directed at teenage fans of the “rave” scene. The goal is to reach the younger generationwith their kind of music, said Senior Pastor Raul Ries.

In Orange County, Saddleback saw a pause in its growth for the first time this past year in part because of nightmarish traffic problems. The church began growing again only after spending $4.5 million to improve road access to its 118-acre campus.

Even with a heavy dose of ingenuity, most churches will eventually run out of space, pastors said. One method to continue the spread of a megachurch’s mission and message is through the planting of “daughter churches,” or the establishment of quasi-denominational networks of like-minded churches.

Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa, one of the granddaddies of the large church movement, has spawned more than 800 Calvary Chapels nationwide and abroad, some of them going on to become megachurches themselves.

But can a church with tens of thousands of members--perhaps without even a regular pastor--meet a person’s desire to feel connected, part of a community?

“People have an inborn hunger to be known,” said Irvine resident Steve Bjorkman. “A big church can’t know me.” Bjorkman, 47, left Mariners Church frustrated by what he felt was a lack of meaningful relationships.

Small groups, or gatherings of a half a dozen or more believers, have long been a part of church life. But megachurches, by necessity, are now elevating the importance of these groups, pastors said.

“The bottom line is if you don’t figure out how to get smaller as you’re getting larger, growth will definitely peak,” said Saddleback’s membership pastor, Brett Eastman.

Churches May Adopt Korean Model

Some experts predict megachurches of the future may resemble the decentralized churches of Korea, where 24 of the 50 largest churches in the world are located. At Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, for example, 250,000 come to worship at 13 services every week. In many Korean churches, “cell groups” are considered the basic components of the church.

Saddleback’s plans to replace church pews with tables and chairs reflect its renewed emphasis on small groups, said Kreun.

Jim Aragon, a divorced electronics salesman from Lake Forest, credits the singles group at Saddleback for helping him with the recent death of his brother and sudden illness of his mother.

“They carried me through this,” he said.

But, he admits, navigating the immensity of the megachurch requires persistence: “You have to be a little bit determined, a little bit flexible and keep your eyes on God.”

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Thinking Big

More than 1.7 million U.S. Protestants attend megachurches--those with attendance of more than 2,000. Growth in number of mega-churches nationwide: