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The editors at Online Christian Colleges decided to research the topic of Megachurch Megabusiness.
Megachurch Megabusiness
Churches across America are shutting down at a rate of 1% while megachurches are growing at rate of 8%. Many have criticized them for using corporate techniques to create economic empires. All the while, smaller churches watch their flock migrate towards a religious experience that's a little more... MEGA.
THE MEGACHURCH (2000+ attendance/week)- 1970: 10 mega-churches
- 1990: 250 mega-churches
- 2000: 600 mega-churches
- 2003: 740 mega-churches
- 2005: 1200 mega-churches
- 2011: 1,611 mega-churches
- 314,000 protestant churches (56 million worshipers/week)
- 1638 mega-churches (6 million/week)10.7% of church population & 2% of the US population
- 100 giga churches (1.3 million/week)
- Megachurches are tax exempt | they made $7.2 billion dollars/year in 2005
- Megachurches typically have a charismatic, authoritative, celebrity-like leader.
- Some meagachurches are like mini-cities with gyms, shopping, arcades, and even Starbucks.
- Most megachurches are evangelical (growth dependent), suburban, white, and southern.
LARGEST MEGACHURCHES IN THE WORLD
- Yoido Full Gospel Church | David Yonggi Cho | Seoul, South Korea | 850,000 Members
- Annual Budget: $200 Million
TOP 10 LARGEST MEGACHURCHES IN THE U.S. (ATTENDANCE)
1. Lakewood Church | Joel Osteen | Houston, TX
- 43,500 weekly attendance
- $70 million annual budget
- Located in the Compaq Center, former Houston Rockets Arena. (bought in 2010 for 7.5 million)
2. Lifechurch.tv | Craig Groschel | Edmond, OK
- 42,782 weekly attendance
- 45,754,000 in expenses | 71,338,000 in giving 2012
- 100,000 unique viewers tune in every week online from 120 countries
3. North Point Community Church | Andy Stanley | Alpharetta, GA
- 27,429 weekly attendance
- $38.5 million annual budget
4. Second Baptist Church | H. Edwin Young | Houston, TX
- 25,221 weekly attendance
- $55 million annual budget
5. Willow Creek Community Church | Bill Hybels |South Barrington, IL
- 24,377 weekly attendance
- $36 million annual budget
6. Fellowship Church | Ed Young Jr. |Grapevine, TX
- 24,162 weekly attendance
- $51 million annual budget
7. Southeast Christian Church | Dave Stone | Louisville, KY
- 22,496 weekly attendance
- $31 million annual budget
8. Saddleback Church | Rick Warren | Lake Forest, CA
- 22,418 weekly attendance
- $36 million annual budget
9. Central Christian Church | Jud Wilhite | Henderson, NV
- 20,145 weekly attendance
- $12 million annual budget
10. West Angeles Church of God in Christ | Charles Blake |Los Angeles, CA
- 20,000 weekly attendance
- $15 million annual budget
U.S. DISTRIBUTION
- South: 49% (807 megachurches) Population Attendance: 2.65%
- West: 25% (406 megachurches) Population Attendance: 2.2%
- Mid West: 19% (306 megachurches) Population Attendance: 1.69%
- North east: 7% (119 megachurches) Population Attendance: 0.67%
States with the most megachurches
- CA (218 megachurches)
- TX (206 megachurches)
- FL (120 megachurches)
- GA (91 megachurches)
- TN (66 megachurches)
States with the highest percentage of population attending megaChurches
- DC (4.1%)
- GA (3.79%)
- TX (3.39%)
- OK (3.38%)
- TN (3.36%)
THE MEGACHURCH ATTENDEES
GROWTH
- Megachurches maintained an 8% growth in membership for the past 5 years.
- Average attendance grew from 2,604 in 2005 to 3,597 in 2010 to 3,823 now.
RACE
- 82% white | 10% African American | 1% hispanic | 2% Asian (Megachurch Population)
- 64% white | 12% African American | 16% hispanic | 5% Asian (U.S. Population)
AGE
- 70% are under 50
- AGE: 0-18 (22%) | 19-34 (20%) | 35-49 (28%) | 50-64 (19%) | 65+ (11%)
EDUCATION
- 52% have college degrees
REASONS FOR ATTENDING
- 82% came because of family or friends
- Reason for initial attraction - #1: worship style | #2: Senior pastor | #3: Church reputation
- Reason for staying - #1: Senior pastor | #2: worship style | #3: Church reputation
WHERE THEY CAME FROM
- 40% of megachurch attendees are new within the last 5 years
- 72% attended a church immediately prior before changing to a megachurch.
- 18% attended a church prior before changing to a megachurch but not for a while
- 6% never been to church prior before changing to a megachurch
- 4% have only been at their megachurch
MEGACHURCH PASTORS
- 75% white | 13% African American | 2% hispanic | 9% Asian (Megachurch Pastoral Pop)
- 64% white | 12% African American | 16% hispanic | 5% Asian (U.S. Population)
- The average Protestant pastor makes 40,000/year
- The average MegaChurch pastor makes 147,000/year (but that's not the whole story)
- On average Pastor Salary increases $8,000 per every 1,000 members
Joel Olsteen
- Lives in a luxurious 17,000 square foot, $10.5 million mansion in Houston Texas.
- Money made through his books is estimated at $55 million. He has a net worth of $40 million.
- "We make plenty of money from our books, but we just live normal lives. We try to be conservative and honor God with our life and with our example."
Ed Young
- Lives in a 10,000 square foot, $1.5 million estate, receives $240,000 a year in housing allowance plus a $1 million salary and flies in an $8.4 million french-made private jet.
- He also knows pastoral fashion: www.pastorfashion.com
- "Why are you even coming to church if you're not bringing the tithe?"
Creflo A. Dollar
- Lives in a $1 million Atlanta home and a $2.5 million New York townhouse. He
- owns 2 Rolls-Roycees and a private jet. He refuses to disclose his salary or to cooperate with auditors citing "separation of church and state".
- "If you take time to tithe the tithe correctly, it's impossible to go to hell."
John Hagee
- He was the highest paid non-profit CEO in 2004 with a $1 million salary. He then converted the non-profit into a church, thus relieving himself of the obligation to file a publicly available tax return.
- "Your income is controlled by your giving."..."Poverty is a curse."
Bishop Eddie Long
- A charity (ran by Eddie) "love gifted" him a $1.4 million home on 20 acres and a $350,000 Bentley.
- Another charity (ran by Eddie) "love gifted" land which was sold for $1.4 million.
- He also makes 1 million a year.
- "We're not just a church, we're an international corporation."
Charles E. Blake
- Makes $227,750 a year, but frequently gives a year's salary back to his church. He's the CEO of Save Africa's Children which has housed, fed, and clothed over 200,000 children in Africa - he takes no salary from this charity.
- "In order to be credible, [pastors must be] on the...cutting edge in giving."
Craig Groschel
- Despite his churches mega profits, Craig lives a modest lifestyle, carpooling and sharing hotel rooms on trips.
- He gives away his resources for free and has no access to the church's checkbook.
- "[Toxic] religion is Christ plus anything...Christ plus church membership. Or Christ plus tithing."
Rick Warren
- Has made tens millions of dollars off his books, such as "A Purpose Driven Life."
- He's made so much that, in 2005, he returned 25 years of salary to the church and stopped accepting new paychecks. He lives off 9% of his income and gives 91% to charity.
- "The opulent lifestyles of televangelists make me sick."
SOURCES
- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/19/best-paid-pastors_n_1214043.html
- http://churchrelevance.com/top-71-largest-gigachurches-in-america-2011-edition/
- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704300004575095864172124230.html
- http://thomrainer.com/2013/01/26/largest-churches-in-the-southern-baptist-convention/
- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-groeschel/toxic-religion-life-church_b_1468798.html
- http://www.christianpost.com/news/report-reveals-salaries-of-megachurch-pastors-46779/
- http://slaughteringthesheep.wordpress.com/2011/06/11/if-you-dont-tithe-youre-robbing-god/
- http://www.wfaa.com/news/investigates/Prominent-Pastor-Linked-to-Luxury-83600192.html
- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tanya-young-williams/bishop-charles-blake-shar_b_1852150.html
- http://www.forbes.com/2009/06/26/americas-biggest-megachurches-business-megachurches.html
- http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2007-11-29/news/osteen29_1_osteen-lavish-lifestyles-televangelists
- http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/bishop-eddie-long-megachurch-had-modest-beginning/nQkQc/
- http://christianstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/2011-Megachurches-and-Emerging- Megachuches.pdf
- http://www.howmuchmoneytheymake.com/public-figures/joel-osteen-net-worth-and-salary-lakewoodchurch. htm
- http://hirr.hartsem.edu/megachurch/megachurch-2011-summary-report.htm
- http://hirr.hartsem.edu/megachurch/megachurch_attender_report.htm
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States
- http://djchuang.com/2010/churches-closing-and-pastors-leaving/
- http://www.forbes.com/2003/09/17/cz_lk_0917megachurch.html
- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16860611
- http://preachersaidwhat.wordpress.com/john-hagee-said-what/
- http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Business/story?id=617341&page=1
- http://hirr.hartsem.edu/research/fastfacts/fast_facts.html
- http://www.urbantulsa.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=18228
- http://www.statisticbrain.com/mega-church-statistics/
- http://zedekiahlist.com/cgi-bin/quotes.pl?&id=24161744
- http://hirr.hartsem.edu/megachurch/database.html
- http://www.lifechurch.tv/2012review
