Megachurches: The Newest American Brand

By Kayla Ayres Stoner

“Our God reigns, forever your Kingdom come,” he croons into the center stage microphone. Flanked by his bassist and drummer—clad all in black and a fedora—this singer commands the audience. The jumbo screens on either side of the stage project his image and words so the audience can sing along—and do they ever. The entire crowd is on its feet, including the 80-year-olds who braved the cold and stinging rain to get here. Children dance in the aisles, and a young man clad in a hooded sweatshirt stands at the back with his arms above his head, swaying in time to the music.

Whirling red lights illuminate the stage. But that is not the only source of light; two clusters of Christmas trees frame the band and the garland strung along the bottom of the stage twinkles with white lights. Everyone, young and old, is euphoric with the holiday spirit. But this is no Christmas concert that has brought this rag-tag bunch together. It is the usual Saturday night Emerge Service at Fellowship of The Woodlands. Emerge is one of two services offered on Saturdays, along with the four opportunities to worship on Sundays.

After the band finishes a 25-minute set praising God, the lights go down on the stage for a few short seconds. When they rise again, the instruments have been replaced by a stool that is occupied by Executive Pastor Randy Reeves. “May your Thanksgiving leftovers stay off your thighs,” begins Reeves’s light-hearted sermon for the evening on the only spiritual food one needs: God.

Fellowship of The Woodlands, located in The Woodlands, Texas, is the twelfth largest church in the United States with a congregation of over 15,000. It was also ranked by Outreach Magazine in 2004 as the 20th fastest growing church in the nation. The Fellowship of The Woodlands is part of a trend in Protestantism: the megachurch. A megachurch is defined as a Protestant church with a typical Sunday attendance of more than 2,000 people. The megachurch is not a new idea: in 1960, there were 16 in the United States. There are now over 1,300 and that number is quickly rising.

Within the past five years, the average weekly attendance at megachurches has increased by 57 percent, according to a study at the Institute for Religion Research at the Hartford Seminary. This same study found that 54 percent of megachurches have congregations between 2,000 and 3,000 members, only 4 percent of these churches have over 10,000 members—anywhere near the magnitude of Fellowship of The Woodlands. Rapid growth is nothing new for Fellowship, though. “In 1993, I was one of eight people that started Fellowship. It grew at breakneck speed. The first public service we had 168 people,” Pastor Reeves said.

The driveway to Fellowship is impressive and grandiose: the mile stretch of concrete leading up to the church winds through thick groves of pine trees, past an illuminated pool that holds a tall, white cross. The sanctuary looms stories high, massive single pane windows stretching towards the sky. Stretching out to the right of this goliath are children’s buildings in uniform cream-colored stucco; to the back are temporary buildings until the new Children’s Ministry is open.

Pastor Reeves attributes the church’s rapid and continuous growth to a few things. “God has a hand on this church and has blessed our casual style of leadership. There are two things that have helped us grow: we used mass advertising before others did, and our preaching has a very conversational, warm, and engaging quality.” This warm style of preaching can be seen nationally on DirecTv and Dish Network in addition to the 39 states where Fellowship’s services are offered on basic cable. Services are also broadcast internationally with Daystar Network and God TV Europe. Reeves said that this form of spreading the word has been highly successful. “Our Nielsen ratings are very high, and we have a high amount of website hits.” Because of the wide focus of Fellowship, there is a call center on the church’s campus where 20 to 30 people answer phones, fielding questions and praying with the callers.

But where did this church come from? What is the inspiration for these churches so large that their members can fill stadiums? Charles Lindholm, a professor of anthropology at Boston University, thinks that Mormonism, the only American-born religion, actually acted as the model for the megachurch. “The leaders of these megachurches, they aren’t that charismatic. They are nice, regular guys who are more like CEOs. They know how to deliver to the people, and what people really want is childcare. There might not be a lot about God, but there is a lot of support provided. Coffee hours, support groups, a social life and a cut-down on the talk about damnation—the Mormons did all that. The Mormons provide help for the people,” Lindholm said. “It’s religion light; it’s how people want it.”

The lobby, even with a service underway, is full of employees milling about. Tables are set up for the various ministries, and in the entryway Chris Bregenzer is decorating Christmas trees for the Angel Tree Ministry. The trees are covered in 4,000 small angels. On each angel is the name of a local needy child for whom members buy gifts. “Every child is provided for—if their name is still on the tree by the day the gifts are supposed to be brought back, the church shops for them. And when the gifts are taken away, we literally have hundreds of volunteers that load the boxes into a dozen Fed-Ex trucks,” Bregenzer said. Amanda Palmer, a highly involved member of Fellowship, believes that by volunteering in the church, she made her own community. “It’s funny; the more involved you become, the smaller the church gets.”

Despite the fact that Fellowship and other megachurches do a lot of good in and for the community, many find large-scale, commercialized churches off-putting. The Christian Post reported in February 2007 that although megachurches draw large numbers, they are still a small percentage of the 350,000 plus congregations across America. Many families, however, are drawn to the opportunities that these glossy and well-financed congregations have. Robert Palmer said, “Our church in Massachusetts was 150-160 people, and they struggled to finance it. When we joined Fellowship at 5,000 people, it was still a relatively small church, but there were so many more opportunities for the kids.”

One such opportunity arose for the children at Fellowship in early November. Chris Bregenzer, the Sunday Information Coordinator at Fellowship, said, “We had a Wiifest for two weeks. We got 50 Wii units and we mounted them in the other children’s buildings.” Robert Palmer was also impressed by Wiifest. “There were plasma screen TVs on every wall with Wiis and there would be a huge screen in the middle with Christian bands jamming out. It was wild,” Palmer said.

Pastor Reeves explains that “at Fellowship, we place a high premium on children.” This high premium derives from the high expectations of the members; now the church is not just a place of worship. Members can also work out, eat at the restaurants and browse through the bookstore without ever leaving the church.

Fellowship is located on over 120 acres of land, and its campus is ever-expanding. In December 2007, it will open a new Children’s Ministry Building with the largest Christian bookstore in Texas, along with a café that will be open every day. The New York Times reported in November 2007 that 1,300 of the megachurches in America have business interests “as varied as basketball schools, aviation subsidiaries, investment partnerships and a limousine service.” This extreme level of economic commitment in the community is quickly becoming as defining of a trait as the rapid membership growth.

A small town north of Charlotte, Virginia is home to the First Assembly of God Church, under the umbrella of First Assembly Ministries. First Assembly Ministries encompasses the church, a school, an assisted-living center, a day-care center, a food-service and a 22-acre retreat center. Because it is such a large part of the community, non-Christians do use the facilities. Doug Reider, Assembly church business administrator, said in The New York Times that, “There are Muslims and other non-Christians here. We do want to convert them, no doubt about it—that’s our mission. We don’t discriminate, but we do evangelize.” And evangelizing is something these churches do very well.

In a study at the Institute for Religion Research at the Hartford Seminary, 58 percent of megachurches reported that evangelism is a key activity. Evangelizing can take several forms, and most churches rely on a variety of tactics to garner interest. Almost all megachurches maintain a website; distribute newsletters and flyers; and advertise on postcards, television, radio and in newspapers. After new people show interest, it is left to the core members to make the new people feel at home. “It doesn’t matter what denomination the church is— the inner core, the people that really drive the congregation, are evangelicals,” Professor Lindholm said.

The main sanctuary of Fellowship of The Woodlands boasts multiple tiers of seating, giant screens for projections, cameras permanently set up, and in the middle, a large cross. How does such a large congregation with so many unknown faces comfort anyone? Professor Lindholm thinks that the rising popularity of the giant church stems from a disconnect within post-modern society. “The need for community; there is a pervading sense of loneliness. Americans are nervous about fanaticism but they don’t want too much. They want low-key, family-oriented—not too much of a connection, but a sense,” Lindholm said.

Though the megachurch may be shunned for its size, many people have found and continue to find what they need here, whether it is spiritual, physical, or a blend of both. Scott Thumma, a professor at the Hartford Seminary in Connecticut, likens the megachurch to another massive American brand: Wal-Mart. “If you go to a Wal-Mart, you can get all of your lists done in one place,” he said. “It’s sort of one-stop shopping for spirituality as well.”

Works Cited

Bregenzer, Chris. November 24, 2007. Fellowship of The Woodlands. The Woodlands, Texas.

“Database of Megachurches in the U.S.” Hartford Institute for Religion Research. December 6, 2007.
http://hirr.hartsem.edu/cgi-bin/mega/db.pl?db=default
&uid=default&view_records=1&ID=*&sb=3&so=descend.

Henrigues, Diana B. and Lehren, Andrew W. “Megachurches Add Local Economy to Their Mission.” The New York Times. November 23, 2007.

Lampman, Jane. “Megachurches’ way of worship is on the rise.” The Christian Science Monitor. February 6, 2006. November 19, 2007.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0206/p13s01-lire.html.

Lindholm, Charles. University Professor, Professor of Anthropology. December 6, 2007. Boston University. Boston, Massachusetts.

“Megachurches Desegragate Worship.” The Christian Post. February 21, 2007. November 23, 2007.
http://www.christianpost.com/pages/print.htm?aid=25932.

“Mega-Churches Offer Prayer, Play, Shopping.” ABC News. March 27, 2005. November 19, 2007.
http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=617341.

“Megachurches Today 2005: Summary of Reseach Findings.” Hartford Institute for Religion Research. December 10, 2007. http://hirr.hartsem.edu/megachurch/megastoday2005_summaryreport.html.

Palmer, Amanda. November 25, 2007. Private residence. The Woodlands, Texas.

Palmer, Robert. November 25, 2007. Private residence. The Woodlands, Texas.

Reeves, Randy. Executive Pastor. November 24, 2007. Fellowship of The Woodlands sanctuary. The Woodlands, Texas.

Works Consulted

About Kerry. Fellowship of The Woodlands. 11/18/07.
www.fotw.org/aboutus/pastorkerry.asp.

“Fellowship of The Woodlands has new chapel.” The Villager. November 22, 2007.

“History of the Church.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. 2007. December 9, 2007.
http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/content/0,15757,4069-1-2130,00.html.

“Mormon church membership on the rise.” International Herald Tribune. March 31, 2007.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/03/31/america/NA-REL-US-
Mormon-Conference.php.

Services. Fellowship of The Woodlands. 11/18/07.
www.fotw.org/worship.asp.