Damn shame "Some fear megachurch bubble may soon burst"

[krispos42]

Some fear megachurch bubble may soon burst

Aging pastors, big overheads may threaten longevity

5:03 AM, Nov. 20, 2011

<snip>

For more than 15 years, Smith was an elder of the 2,500-member Nashville congregation. Crowds packed the church on Granny White Pike, drawn by its contemporary music and charismatic practices such as speaking in tongues. The Rev. Billy Roy Moore’s sermons made the Bible come alive.

<snip>

Moore moved away after his son died in a car crash. People dropped out rather than shift to a new, 50,000-square-foot church seven miles away. When the Lord’s Chapel finally closed down in 2003, there were 40 people left.

<snip>

Most megachurches — which earn that label around the 2,000-attendance level — are led by baby boomer pastors who soon will hit retirement age and without suitable replacements in the pipeline. And some fear the big-box worship centers with lots of individual programs no longer appeal to younger generations.

Skye Jethani, a senior editor of Leadership, a prominent evangelical magazine for pastors, compared megachurches to the real estate market of a few years ago.

<more>

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20111120/NEWS06/111120006/Some-fear-megachurch-bubble-may-soon-burst

So does this mean that Christianity in America will finally become a private and personal issue, rather than public and political powerful?

It sure would be nice!

And Republican strategists are probably soiling themselves in fear now. :rofl:

[JNelson6563]

1. If that happened, I might consider there is a god after all!

Not only would I suspect there might actually be a god but I'd reckon that such a being is far too just to even remotely resemble that mean-spirited, petty bible-god.

Julie

[sharp_stick]

2. They love their megachurches like they like their stores

Just like Walmart they can pretend to be a part of a community without ever really having to interact personally with the same human time and again.

[SheilaT]

3. I did hear one mega-church

described as: Six Flags Over Jesus.

They can't collapse too soon for me.

[JackRiddler]

4. Why do headlines usually take the wrong perspective? Here's a simple correction...

If "some" fear it... then surely that also means...

Some HOPE it! Some anticipate it with glee! Some are relieved that at least this one madness of so many appears to have peaked!

[hughee99]

5. Ah, so THAT's the problem, it's the BUILDING that was the issue

not the attendees. Without these large congregations, the people are all going to start voting Dem, right?

[krispos42]

6. It would certainly change the dynamic, don't you agree? n/t

[hughee99]

10. Not really,

While these people aren't going to all get together once a week in one large group, I don't expect that they're going to give up on their beliefs either. The "megachurch" was a convenient target for us because it was big, but the issue we had was with the philosophy of the people inside it. Now instead of meeting in one large group, they'll meet if 10-15 smaller ones, but they'll still be pretty much the same people.

Personally, I'd rather have them all in one place where it's easier to keep an eye on the crazy things they're being told.

[krispos42]

11. Massing their resources enables them to do more activities that encourage recruitment

In other words, fun stuff for kids that are the future evangelicals.

More trips to religious camps, more vacation bible school... essentially, more marketing.

If a regular church throws a vacation bible school and there are only 3 high-school age kids there, that's "lame". But if a mega-church throws a vacation bible school with 30 high-schoolers there, that's mainstream. That will forge friendships and such.

:shrug:

The rise of the mega-church coincided with the rise of the Christian Coalition and similar. Did one forge the other? Or did they feed on each others energy?

[hughee99]

15. I think you're putting too much stock in the value of the megachurch

and far to little in the parents with regard to creating future evangelicals. I think they were always there, the church was just a way to organize them. In the absence of the mega-churches, political groups will find other ways to organize them. They've cultivated a voter base and they're not going to give it up just because "reverend Joe" is retiring.

[krispos42]

17. I think megachurches are large enough to create a self-contained social circle.

Basically, the people that go there have 2 social circles: work or school, and home/church. And if the kids are home-schooled or go to private school, then they essentially have only one.


The church is big enough to have plenty of people to be friends with, date, marry, have your kids be friends, play sports, do charitable work, etc., all from within the church community.

If you interviewed the people that go there weekly or bi-weekly, you'd probably find that most or all of their close friends go to the same church under the same pastor.


It's an enclosed environment. Not as bad as a cult compound, but worse than, say, a dozen smaller churches.

:shrug:

[GoCubsGo]

19. Yep, churches, regardless of their size, ARE social clubs.

I like the "big box churches" comparison with these megachurches. All along, I have been calling them "religious country clubs", which is pretty much what they are, whether small or mega. Most of the churches in my town seem to be more about socializing than religion.

[Missy Vixen]

21. It would be easier to join a country club and be accepted

than it is to walk into the local "mega-church" and think they would care about anything but how much you put into the offering plate, and how much you're willing to give to the building program.

The country club is there to keep the doors open for their members. Therefore, they'll at least be polite to the guy in the ill-fitting suit, or the woman who isn't wearing Chanel. Some of the wealthiest people aren't on the best-dressed list, after all.

I have wondered more than once what would happen if Christ walked into a mega-church today. I don't think they'd know Him.

[bigmonkey]

12. I think few of those small groups will actually form.

When you've been a "consumer" so long, it's hard to think of creating community as an option. These small prayer groups you're outlining are community, although not the kind I would be happy with. I think instead a large proportion (not all, of course) will just slip away from their previous pattern of attendance, and, in the absence of the big church/mob propaganda message, many will revert to mostly human behavior. I see this as potentially a real positive, since I'm also a human. :-)

[hughee99]

16. If you've been an "addict" for so long, it's not hard to find a new dealer.

If there's money or power to be gained by keeping these people organized, someone will step in and fill the void.

[bigmonkey]

22. I don't see it as an addiction, more like a club.

An often-evil, propagandistic, selfish, delusional club, mind you. So, when the club closes, many people go on to something else. I could see your point if addiction is the correct analogy, but I just don't think it's that way for most people. More like mob behavior, which people can regret right after participating in the worst of acts.

[Courtesy Flush]

18. I suspect some are there to be entertained

If they start attending smaller, more sober services, they'll lose interest. They'll say the "don't feel the spirit" or something like that.

They are on an evangelical sugar high, and regular church won't satisfy them anymore.

[LiberalAndProud]

7. Since I hold the personality cults described here as "big box worship centers" in utter disdain,

this pleases me.

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. I think some of their congregation are rethinking those over one hundred dollar

donations they gave in at the peak off the insanity.

[Blue_Tires]

9. Translation: There's no more $$$$ to fleece from the flock anymore

And the youth just don't pour in the donations like the wealthy seniors and retirees do...

[jwirr]

13. The Chrystal Palace has already gone under. These mega churches

made politics one of their main issues. That has always been a mistake for the church starting with Rome. When the government policies fail the church is irrelevant and takes the blame which it deserves. You want to be a successful church you had better stick with the feeding of the poor and the justice for the oppressed. Oh well they will never learn. That is the only legitimate political issue there is for the church.

[Kurmudgeon]

14. Nothing new, the population moves as it wills.

[Missy Vixen]

20. They're falling apart because the "prosperity gospel" isn't working anymore

People who attend mega churches aren't serious about their spiritual life. There, I said it. It's all about the spectacle. When the spectacle is over, people find something else to do with their time and their MONEY. The biggest issue for these churches, and the reason why our family's former church is now circling the drain: It's pretty damn hard to pay a multi-million dollar balloon payment on the mortgage when people have had enough of the surface relationships and the witch hunts these congregations engage in.

When our ex-church opened its doors, there were less than 30 people attending in a junior high cafeteria. I have no idea what their congregation is now, but building a $28 million facility didn't happen with 30 people, even if one of them was Bill Gates.

Nobody says you have to go to a building to pray. Nobody legislates what happens in the heart. As I mentioned the other day, the things we value as a family (non-discrimination, for instance,) weren't valued. If we EVER go back to any church at all, it will be one that practices being welcoming to all, with a strong focus on social issues. Mega churches exist as monuments to a pastor's ego, and for their money-making potential, which is now gone.