by Warren Bird
Does it surprise you that among megachurches…?
- 62% are multisite, up from 46% five years ago
- 30% host an online campus (more than just streaming)
- 57% serve Communion always or often as part of worship
- almost twice as many “strongly agree” that their congregation has a clear mission and purpose, as compared to smaller churches
These findings and more are available in a just-released, richly illustrated report, “Recent Shifts in America’s Largest Protestant Churches,” by Scott Thumma and Warren Bird, brought to you by The Beck Group.
For a video recording of a recent media webinar where reporters asked questions about the report, click the graphic on this page.
In recent years, Scott Thumma and Warren Bird have been the nation’s most prolific researchers and writers on megachurch trends. Here are several other publications (all free downloads) that track developments in large churches:
- “Nine Fascinating Facts about People Who Attend Megachurches” (here)
- “Not Who You Think They Are: The Real Story of People Who Attend America’s Megachurches” (identical copies at Leadership Network and Hartford Institute)
- Megachurch reports from 2011, 2008, 2005, 2000 (all on this Hartford Institute page)
- Salary reports from megachurches (all on this Leadership Network page)
- “Megachurches in Canada,” a 2015 study (here)
- Global megachurches, including FAQ section about North American megachurches (here)
- Blog about current number of megachurches
- Blog about the first megachurches
Global mission programs are a major emphasis or a specialty of the congregation for 81% of megachurches. Likewise, giving to all missions
has increased by 4% in the budget to median of 14% as compared to the 2010 and 2008 studies where the
median was 10% both years. Additionally, having a major emphasis on engagement in community service
programs has grown by 7% to 81% of megachurches in 2015 compared to 74% of them in 2010.