Megachurch and Me

Alright, get ready for a serious blog post...I recently read an article talking about the number of "megachurches" in the United States. In the article, it defines a megachurch as Protestant churches with more than 2,000 people attending each week. In 2005, Texas had 157 megachurches. Authors of the book, Beyond Megachurch Myths: What We Can Learn From America's Largest Churches, Scott Thumma and Dave Travis say that, "Americans have not only grown accustomed to large organizations, but they have even had their character and tastes shaped by them."

In addition to this, they have found the average age of attendees is 40, compared with 53 in other churches. About one third of attendees are single, compared with an average of 10% at other churches.

So with just this information, here is my thought. And I'm not exactly sure how eloquently I will be able to deliver it...

Have megachurches grown because upcoming generations are mastering the art of being disconnected? This is what I mean: The younger generations (including my own), have grown up in the popularity of cell phones, and the internet. Instead of calling someone, we text them. Instead of visiting a friend, I check their facebook status. We've grown so accustomed to being disconnected. Here is where the megachurch comes into play...

In many of these churches, in order to truly be plugged in, you have to take the time to join some kind of a home group. This is usually your accountability, or your accountability is within your home group. Home groups can take on all shapes and sizes, all women, all men, married couples, singles, young, old, and the in between. However, though the numbers are not mentioned in the article I read, I would guess that the majority of the megachurch attendees are not even in a home group. If not the majority, I would guess close to majority. Why is that? Because we are masters at being disconnected.

We are a contradictory people. We say that we crave relationship and love, yet we won't step outside of our comfort zone to search it out within the avenues designed specifically for us...like home groups. We say we want close fellowship, yet we attend churches of 2,000 people and more. You would think it would be the opposite.

Now, I know there are MANY reasons that people attend "megachurches". According to these definitions, I attend a megachurch. I love my church. I love what it is about (Jesus) and I have joined a home group. But I have noticed that it is harder to create deep relationships. I have been lucky to start some relationships that I believe will develop and grow deep. My only hope is that others will find the same.

I don't know if any of this makes sense or if anyone is following my train of thought. I just found it interesting that megachurches are growing while our ability to have personal contact/relationship is dying.