Simon Cox Blog: Reflections on the Megachurch

Friday 2 February 2018

Reflections on the Megachurch

Making and growing disciples is more important than butts in seats.

This article originally appeared in Outreach Magazine.

As former head of LifeWay Research, I did the statistical research for the Outreach 100 Fastest-Growing and Largest Churches lists for a number of years and always noticed two things: First, God was doing amazing things through many of these churches. Hearing stories of how the megachurch reaches a region with the gospel is one reason I loved what I did.

Second, controversy was often a part of our work. Some people said we should not do the lists at all, while others were upset when we accurately reported their numbers.

One person even complained we were “hurting Jesus” by not allowing them to alter their numbers so that they would look like they had grown.

Obviously, for too many pastors, church attendance is connected with personal self-worth and value. They make numbers an idol instead of a metric. However, milestones are important for observing impact—that’s what we are trying to do here. To learn so others can learn and to celebrate so others can be encouraged.

I have the privilege of serving the oldest extant megachurch in the world: Moody Church in Chicago. And I preach once a month at Christ Fellowship in Florida—probably the largest church you’ve never heard of, with almost 10,000 people weekly at nine campuses across Miami.

Moody Church is widely known. Christ Fellowship is not—although it has a wide impact. What they have in common is that God has worked in them powerfully for many years. They are actively making disciples, preaching the gospel, and faithfully serving their communities. I can take no credit for the size of either church, but they remind me just how interesting the megachurch world is, behind the scenes. ...