Ten biggest churches

I’ve been following the discussion on the ten biggest churches in America on the listserv at Easum Bandy. A lot of people are surprised that Willow Creek didn’t make the list. The discussion has almost been a clinic on how models of church have changed:

Some of the most effective churches may be the ten smallest churches in America – house churches in which lives are being changed on a regular basis. Small is no longer bad. (It never really was.) Megachurches that are growing no longer distinguish between seeker and believer. “That is old world. In the postmodern world, seeker and believer worship and serve side by side” (Easum). Corporate churches (ones that are based on the CEO model of leadership and use corporate language) are levelling off and won’t last. This is not to completely discredit them: “Willow is still a great church for modernity.” Growing megachurches are generally a little more off the wall.

I really don’t care about the size of a church, but it is good to see indications that even megachurches have to grapple with the new world that is developing all around us.