My son texted from Connecticut this morning to ask, “What’s all this hoopla with Highland Park UMC?” Having grown up in North Dallas and being a musician who has played in churches all over town, he has some sense of…
Multisite churches are growing faster than leadership pipelines can keep up with, research shows
Nearly 10% of Protestant churchgoers in the United States attend a multisite church, many of which are growing at faster rates than leadership pipelines can keep up with, according to a new research report that sheds light on the challenges…
3 reasons all churches should pay attention to HPUMC right now
Why is a Baptist-affiliated news service spending so much time writing about the Methodists these days? The answer is simple: Because the legal battle between Highland Park United Methodist Church and The United Methodist Church has implications for all churches…
Andy Stanley sets exit plan from North Point Church
Unlike his father, Andy Stanley will not hold onto his pulpit into old age. The younger Stanley, founding pastor of North Point Church in Atlanta, announced Oct. 18 he will step down as senior pastor of North Point Ministries at…
What the SBC’s new survey on worship leaders says and doesn’t say
The Southern Baptist Convention released a large-scale study on worship leaders in SBC churches last week, and while the results may be alarming, they should not be surprising. Anyone who’s been paying attention for the last four decades should recognize…
When a megachurch isn’t really a megachurch
Once again, Robert Jeffress is the talk of the nation because of his political views. If you live outside Dallas, you probably have an image of First Baptist Church of Dallas as one of the largest and most prominent megachurches…
In Jacksonville, 10,000-seat worship space demolished for apartments
The auditorium of First Baptist Church in downtown Jacksonville, Fla., is being demolished to make way for an apartment tower that will include a Publix supermarket, according to the Jacksonville Daily Record. The demise of the 10,000-seat worship space follows…
What Ryan Burge sees in America’s megachurches
Americans are fascinated with megachurches, and that is leading some of the nation’s largest churches to keep getting larger, according to religion researcher Ryan Burge. Burge, a professor of practice at the Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University, has…
US megachurches report strong rebound from pandemic
Most American megachurches have rebounded well from the COVID-19 pandemic as more than 80% reported they are flourishing, according to a new report by Hartford Institute for Religion Research. The study examined responses from 331 mostly Protestant congregations with 2,000…
What’s next for John MacArthur’s church and preaching ministry?
If ever there were a ministry built around one person, it is “Grace to You,” the broadcast ministry of the late John MacArthur. And Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, where MacArthur served as pastor 55 years, is not much…
Megachurches aren’t forever
While researching historical data for another article this week, I stumbled upon a list of the largest churches in America in 1983-1984, and before I knew it, I was down the rabbit hole of curiosity. This list was published in…
When a former megachurch becomes a satellite congregation
Something struck me as odd when I read the news that Roswell Street Baptist Church in Marietta, Ga., has become a satellite campus of First Baptist Church of Woodstock in far north suburban Atlanta. Back in the day, Roswell Street…