Americans Flock to Megachurches—but There’s a Catch
A new study shows more people are attending megachurches in America than ever before. But there’s a catch: Attendance is down to once or twice a month.
“The perfect consistency of attendance is no longer the norm,” Dr. Warren Bird, director of research at Leadership Network, said.
Bird and and Scott Thumma, professor of sociology at the Harford Institute for Religion Research, co-authored a new study examining trends within America’s megachurches.
In an interview with CBN News, Bird said church attendance trends are “clocking down even in very large churches.”
As with smaller congregations, big churches also struggle to keep the faithful attending regularly.
“It used to be 50 years ago that someone could wear the perfect lapel attendance pin and never miss. But now your most active elders and leaders are maybe there just two or three Sundays,” Bird said.
What attracts people to megachurches? Bird said what draws people and what keeps them are different.
