Beyond Megachurch Myths: What We Can Learn from America's Largest Churches by Scott Thumma and Dave Travis is releasing this summer! It's an incredible read, with lots of myths to debunk, but more importantly, lots of practical insights for churches of any size. Here's its official description:
This data-driven description of American megachurches is aimed at leaders and members of smaller congregations who may harbor apprehensions about this growing phenomenon. Chapter by chapter, the authors tackle common misconceptions of churches with more than 2,000 attendees and suggest that they are simply Christian neighbors with a different-looking storefront who are here to stay a while and who have much to offer smaller churches willing to learn. However, the collaboration of the two writers (one an academic and the other a consultant for church leadership) is disjointed, with the applying what you have read sections at the end of each chapter feeling tacked on to the richer content of the main text. One of the strongest chapters confronts the myth that megachurches are akin to Wal-Mart in that they grow at the expense of existing congregations. The authors argue that megachurches feed a constant cycle of birth, growth, maturity and decline needed to help keep churches and religion in America strong and vital. Readers are reminded that Christianity comes in many different packages and that the market for religion can and should be tapped in a variety of ways.
Plus, Michael Duduit, editor of Preaching magazine and LeaderLinks, cites this Christian Post article, Researchers Paint Latest Portrait of U.S. Megachurches::
Megachurches together have the same number of attendees at weekly services (roughly 4.5 million) as the smallest 35 percent of churches in the country, wrote Scott Thumma and Dave Travis in Beyond Megachurch Myths, a soon-to-be-released book about megachurches. Across the whole of Protestantism, the largest 20 percent of the churches have around 65 percent of the worshippers, finances and staff in America. Yet megachurches only make up one-half of 1 percent of all the religious congregations in the nation.
Read the full article and pre-order the book for convenient home delivery!
Comments