The Arts and Humanities Research Council in the UK has funded a three-year study of London’s megachurches and their social engagement activities, to be complete at the end of 2016. Using the definition of a megachurch developed at Hartford Seminary Institute for Religion Research as 2000 or more people per week attending a Protestant church…
Contributor Jennifer McClure shares her recent published research examining the intersection of network connections, congregational size, and community involvement. A few years ago, I wondered how a congregation’s organizational context shapes whether attenders are involved in the broader community outside of their congregation. I grew up in a large evangelical congregation with about 2,000 regular attenders. A few…
Question: Why would anyone attend a Megachurch? It just seems to be about hype and money and the pastor promoting himself. That’s not what church should be about. I never expected to become an apologist for the Megachurch when I began my research years ago, but I’ve been shocked by the extent to which people…
A National Post article examines Protestant mega-congregations in Canada and offers interesting insights into what makes them work. Broadway Church, in Vancouver Canada, shuffles 2,000 congregants through churches on a given Sunday. The large, auditorium-esq sanctuary, modern music, and casually-dressed pastor give attenders the sense of a new type of religious movement.