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Resurrection window at Church of the Resurrection, Leawood, Kan. The window measures 94’ by 37’ and is broken up in 161 – 4’ x 5’ panels. The design concept, defined by Pastor Adam Hamilton, focuses on a garden theme. The central feature is the Christ figure in the middle of the window, the left illustrates the Garden of Eden and on the right is the Garden of Revelations. The galaxy on the upper left side represents God the Father and the dove on the right symbolizes the Holy Spirit. More than 100 figures are portrayed in the window from Adam and Eve to Billy Graham and Martin Luther King.

Today’s UMC has only 3 megachurches

Analysis  |  November 1, 2026

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Resurrection window at Church of the Resurrection, Leawood, Kan. The window measures 94’ by 37’ and is broken up in 161 – 4’ x 5’ panels. The design concept, defined by Pastor Adam Hamilton, focuses on a garden theme. The central feature is the Christ figure in the middle of the window, the left illustrates the Garden of Eden and on the right is the Garden of Revelations. The galaxy on the upper left side represents God the Father and the dove on the right symbolizes the Holy Spirit. More than 100 figures are portrayed in the window from Adam and Eve to Billy Graham and Martin Luther King.

With Highland Park Methodist Church of Dallas now claiming to have disaffiliated with The United Methodist Church, there are only three U.S. churches with more than 10,000 members in the UMC, down from six in 2022.

But that’s not the most important story. After the Dallas defection, measured by in-person attendance, there are only three UMC churches nationwide that would be classified as “megachurches” by the most prominent researchers on the subject. In 2022, there were five.

Those three are Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kan.; St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Indianapolis; and St. James United Methodist Church in Little Rock, Ark. This report is based on brand-new 2025 data published by the UMC on its website.

The UMC model is not often identified with megachurches, defined by Hartford Institute for Religion Research as having 2,000 or more people in average weekend worship attendance. Average weekly attendance at all UMC churches nationwide is about 100.

The UMC model is not often identified with megachurches.

There’s a special challenge with counting attendance in UMC churches, however. Researchers like Ryan Burge have documented that the largest UMC churches often have huge numbers of online members, creating chasms between reported membership and reported in-person attendance.

Based on 2025 numbers, there are now 21 UMC churches in the U.S. — excluding Highland Park — with average weekly attendance of more than 2,000 when considering in-person and online attendance. Compared to only those that cross that threshold in in-person attendance.

But some of those numbers show vast disparities. For example, Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church in Little Rock, Ark., reports average in-person Sunday attendance of 657 but combined online and in-person attendance of 40,462.

Between 2019 and Dec. 31, 2023, a total of 7,651 U.S. churches formally disaffiliated from the UMC — about 25% of UMC churches in the U.S. The departures mainly were over disagreements about LGBTQ inclusion and ordination.

Only 1% of the churches disaffiliating during that recent window of opportunity reported worship attendance of 1,000 or more.

Among those larger churches was White’s Chapel Church in Southlake, Texas, which in 2022 reported average weekly in-person attendance of 5,468.

Other large churches that left through the disaffiliation window included The Woodlands Methodist Church in suburban Houston; Mt. Bethel Church in Marietta, Ga.; Asbury Church in Tulsa, Okla.; and Frazer Memorial United Methodist Church in Montgomery, Ala.

Measured by in-person attendance, the largest U.S. church in the UMC remains Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kan. Reported attendance across its six campuses is 9,600, and in-person attendance at the main campus is reported as 3,840. This is the church founded by and still led by Adam Hamilton, currently running for U.S. Senate.

One of the complaints the leadership of Highland Park Methodist lodged against the denomination was the difficulty of a megachurch conforming to UMC polity as outlined in its Book of Discipline.

Clergy and lay leaders in other Dallas-area UMC churches have said Highland Park already received unusual concessions from the denomination and the local bishop because of the church’s size. By this view, the church should have left well enough alone and enjoyed their special benefits.

Metrics for Highland Park Methodist. Source: UMC

But Highland Park insiders do not see it that way. They claim the bishop has interfered too much in their governance decisions and have said a church their size cannot be fully committed to the Book of Discipline.

While Highland Park Methodist Church — as it’s now called — was the second-largest U.S. church in the UMC, it barely meets the Hartford Institute’s definition of a “megachurch.” Even though the affluent North Dallas church lists 15,000 members, its in-person Sunday attendance is reported as 2,876.

There are about 500 U.S. churches with larger weekly attendance than that.

 

Related:

In Dallas, Methodist bishop creates a church in exile

Highland Park Methodist and the death of denominationalism | Analysis by Mark Wingfield

3 reasons all churches should pay attention to HPUMC right now | Analysis by Mark Wingfield

Dallas megachurch overwhelmingly votes to leave UMC

The nondenominationalizing of American Christianity | Opinion by Bill Leonard