Mega Churches

One of my concerns is how well the pastor can really serve his flock. Is there anyway that he can truly know all of his members, when there are 1,000 members? Would somebody actually be able to talk to the pastor if they really needed to talk? Does he know the struggles of each of his parishioners (both spiritual and physical)? Does he know which members of the parish might be poor and need help? These are very important, and I seriously wonder if a megachurch could fulfill these.

I also wonder if the church should have shops, restaurants, gyms and other things as well. A church should be separate from those types of things. Of course, quite a few of the megachurches are in a lot of financial trouble since the recession started. They can't afford to make the payments anymore.

I would imagine that a church of that size would have more than one pastor.

katherine2001 said:

One of my concerns is how well the pastor can really serve his flock. Is there anyway that he can truly know all of his members, when there are 1,000 members? Would somebody actually be able to talk to the pastor if they really needed to talk? Does he know the struggles of each of his parishioners (both spiritual and physical)? Does he know which members of the parish might be poor and need help? These are very important, and I seriously wonder if a megachurch could fulfill these.

I also wonder if the church should have shops, restaurants, gyms and other things as well. A church should be separate from those types of things. Of course, quite a few of the megachurches are in a lot of financial trouble since the recession started. They can't afford to make the payments anymore.

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How many people did Moses lead out of Egypt?

pgp_protector said:

How many people did Moses lead out of Egypt?

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Jesus spoke to 5000 people once.....

katherine2001 said:

One of my concerns is how well the pastor can really serve his flock. Is there anyway that he can truly know all of his members, when there are 1,000 members? Would somebody actually be able to talk to the pastor if they really needed to talk? Does he know the struggles of each of his parishioners (both spiritual and physical)? Does he know which members of the parish might be poor and need help? These are very important, and I seriously wonder if a megachurch could fulfill these.

I also wonder if the church should have shops, restaurants, gyms and other things as well. A church should be separate from those types of things. Of course, quite a few of the megachurches are in a lot of financial trouble since the recession started. They can't afford to make the payments anymore.

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I think you'd be surprised. My church has between 1,500 and 2,000 members, and the pastors do an incredible job really getting to know everyones stories, and so do the members with each other - a true community.

I think the restaurants, book stores and coffee shops are all unnecessary but gyms aren't so bad. Then again my church's gym is a ragtag 30-year-old steel building, not the Staples Center.

When I think of our gym I think of all the good times playing basketball and other games in my youth group days.

pgp_protector said:

How many people did Moses lead out of Egypt?

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How many people did Moses lead into the Promised Land? Zero.

I know someone who attended a mega church and it was the only time they ever attended a church as an adult, they were turned off by the churches that speak in tongues and roll around on the floor because their mother was a horrible women and went to a church like that. Not that those Churches are bad, just that he thought they were. This person left the state where the mega church was in and didn't find another one. They later committed suicide. I don't know if mega churches are good or bad but im glad my friend did go to church before he did what he did. I hope he accepted the lord before he did that. I know some will say hes going to hell because he committed suicide, but i don't think thats necessarily backed by scripture and its uncertain one way or the other.

I actually feel a lot of sorrow because i should have been a better witness. Maybe i could have helped him. We shouldn't take our mission to share the lords mercy and love with others for granted because we never know when they will leave this world.

My mega church has one pastor and about 900 registered families.

pgp_protector said:

So what's the maximum number of allowed worshipers in one building at one time?

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Great question. I think first one must ask how many people do you need to constitute a "mega church". Where I go the services are quite large I would say 500-1000 people. My church also uses colored lights at times during worship. Do I go to a mega church? I think it all comes down to an individual point of view and comfort. If you can go to a huge church where you may never meet the head pastor and feel the you have experienced Christ, then that is great. Keep going. Who am I to tell someone who is following Christ how and where to worship and gain knowledge?

there is nothing wrong with mega-churches

I know of many that are extremely fruitful and faithful. The fact that there are bad mega-churches is a terrible reason to think that mega-churches are bad. There are millions of 50 person churches that teach straight up heresy. The argument goes both ways.

I would almost go so far as to say that mega-churches are an extremely good thing. I see it as a natural outcome of the work of Christ in a world today where we are all fairly close together and have access to easy transportation. If a church is being faithful to the message of Scripture why wouldn't a church grow to large size?

I think the OP has a lot of confusing points. Many don't really relate to mega-churches.

In general, I think there are issuues with very large churches, including probably things like the Hagia. Once a community gets to a certian size, it starts to fragment into a group of smaller related cliques, and there are real disadvantages to that IMO. Probably a few advantages, but I'm not sure they outweight the problems, at least without a lot of close supervision by good leaders.

But many of those huge buildings have been erected as a symbol of power and wealth, as much as to serve a natural community.

As far as the modern mega churches go, they probably suffer the same issue, but I think the biggest issue is with the mega aspect itself. They are very focused on growth and numbers. That tends to lead to counting sucess as growth, which is pretty much going to lead to cancerous kinds of problems. Watered down theology, lack of time and care spent on helping current members grow spiritually, offering the incentives that are most appealing for people. So, music and light shows that excite the brain like a rave, or not demanding anything in the way of hard teachings.

In the end, it's a capitalists approach to Christianity.

Mega churches rub me the wrong way. Too fake and impersonal.

This thread is nothing but a wide brush attack on people worshiping our Lord in spirit and truth in more cases than not.
The mega church I belong to teaches straight out of scripture with the law and gospel included every week, we are planting churches throughout the Middle East and Vietnam and other non-reached and anti-Christian nations, we support hundreds of missionaries around the world and send people into harms way for the sake of the gospel. Now if you have an issue with that then you have an issue with people following God's word as instruction for our lives.

As to Ousa;s comment on baptism? we have baptized in one week over 250 people who confessed Jesus Christ as both Savior and Lord.

As to the style of worship?
Here's David...
Psalm 150

Let Everything Praise the LORD

1(A) Praise the LORD!Praise God in his(B) sanctuary;
praise him in(C) his mighty heavens![a]
2Praise him for his(D) mighty deeds;
praise him according to his excellent(E) greatness! 3Praise him with(F) trumpet sound;
praise him with(G) lute and harp!
4Praise him with(H) tambourine and(I) dance;
praise him with(J) strings and pipe!
5Praise him with sounding(K) cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
6Let(L) everything that has breath praise the LORD!(M) Praise the LORD!

Nik0s said:

Nothing against my brothers and sisters here on CF who like modern praise music, but does it really belong in a worship service?

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I've never been in a Mega-Church, but it seems to me the earliest Churches were exactly that. W/o denoms, as many were in a city all in the same place? Thuis becomes one of the better arguments that however many Pr denoms there may be, could indeed be a good thing but I digress.

I can certainly speak to your question quoted here, as I've been involved in what you no doubt would call modern music in worship service since 1984. And I can respect that some denoms don't welcome that, but I can't vouch that G-d finds it unacceptable. Also, if you think of a Liturgy as "Divine," please recognize that others do not, and apparently this is not too much for G-d to keep track of.

Nik0s said:

These churches offer a simplified version of Christ and the Bible, usually mentioning nothing about the spiritual struggle and need for repentance that it takes to be a Christian.

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Quite the serious charge there! Are you sure this is correct of all mega-Churches, or are there just a small handful you actually know this to be true of? The closest thing to a Mega Church I know of in this area, actually teaches in such depth that some complain about it. And I've had some fascinating conversations with people who have been members there for a long time, and find them to be some of the most knowledgeable people I've had the pleasure of discussing the Bible with.

If your charge were true, I would have to agree with your judgment. And in that case, they wouldn't be spreading the Gospel at all. I implore you to consider of you really mean to make that accusation.

Nik0s said:

The question refers to the style of the music (secular). Should secular music really be used for a church service?

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What makes music secular?

iMaverick said:

Mark Driscoll.

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Any relation to Phil Driscoll? Never got to see him perform ...

razeontherock said:

Any relation to Phil Driscoll? Never got to see him perform ...

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You'd think so, they're both from Seattle and are ministers... No relation though.

The size of a church doesnt matter IMO. Big or small. Its the quality of the members that determines whether or not its a good or bad church.

It is not the size of a body of believers that counts. It can be small or it can be large. What really counts is if Christ is in the individual person inside that body. Most of the time the money collected in the coffee shop and ect are for missions. I don't know how all bodies dole out the money made in the shops but I do know alot of the proceeds are for furthering the Gospel of Christ in many ways. They have the large body in the worship service then alot of small groups to attend.

I tend to like smaller Churches - and in part for the reasons that MKJ notes.

And likewise I agree that any large Church, including Hagia Sophia, will have this difficulty.

The Cathedral (origin of the large Church) was in part constructed to allow people from Churches in a wider region to worship together at times.

The modern megas remind me of the idea of a theocratic empire, writ "city size" vs the village size of smaller Churches.