In his new book, Whole Church, Mel Lawrenz of Elmbrook Church (Brookfield, WI) discusses how a church can practically apply God’s grace, salvation, and people’s personal lives, in church community, in local community, and globally.
I had the opportunity to ask Mel the following question:
What are the best ways a church can keep itself and protect itself from withdrawing inwardly rather than seeking to engage its local community?
I think community engagement is one of the great movements of God through the church today. All over the country churches are re-discovering the joy of getting outside the walls of the church, serving in the local community, and glorifying God in it. There are 350 practical ideas for cohesion in Whole Church, some of which are about community engagement.
But I think the real focus is here: congregations will get moving out into the community when they are given imagination and inspiration. In other words, rather than form a church program where people can plug into the community, we should scour our congregations, discovering the examples of where the people are already doing it, and then tell the stories with power and conviction. Tell the story of the woman who is tutoring at the local rescue mission, the coffee-shop owner who uses his place for a Sunday-night college group, the young adult group that volunteers at a nursing home once a month. Find such stories, and dozens others, and tell them.
Challenge the congregation to look around their own communities, to use their own imaginations, to give something a try. But tell them NOT to wait for specific marching orders from the top.
For more excerpts of Mel’s wisdom check out Leadership Network’s blog tour.
Outreach magazine in collaboration with Ed Stetzer of LifeWay Research has published their annual list of the top 100 largest churches in America.
Over 8,000 churches were invited to submit their weekend attendance averages from February and March 2009 (excluding Easter). Children and adults were counted. Physical campuses were counted. Internet campuses were not counted.
It is interesting to look at how the attendance of the top 16 largest U.S. churches has changed since 2006. Some change quickly. Some change gradually. And others fluctuate.
For the full list and analysis of Outreach’s 100 largest churches, you can buy a PDF or print copy at OutreachMagazine.com.
Top 16 Largest Churches in America for 2009
13,000+ attendance
- Lakewood Church (Houston, TX) :: Joel Osteen
43,500 (#1) for 2009
43,500 (#1) for 2008
47,000 (#1) for 2007
45,000 (#1) for 2006
- LifeChurch.tv (Edmond, OK) :: Craig Groeschel
26,776 (#2) for 2009
20,823 (#5) for 2008
19,907 (#5) for 2007
16,071 (#13) for 2006
- Willow Creek Community Church (South Barrington, IL) :: Bill Hybels
23,400 (#3) for 2009
22,500 (#4) for 2008
23,500 (#2) for 2007
21,500 (#5) for 2006
- North Point Community Church (Alpharetta, GA) :: Andy Stanley
23,377 (#4) for 2009
22,557 (#3) for 2008
17,700 (#7) for 2007
16,700 (#12) for 2006
- Second Baptist Church (Houston, TX) :: Ed Young Sr.
22,723 (#5) for 2009
23,659 (#2) for 2008
23,198 (#3) for 2007
22,266 (#3) for 2006
- Saddleback Church (Lake Forest, CA) :: Rick Warren
22,418 (#6) for 2009
19,414 (#8) for 2008
22,000 (#4) for 2007
20,595 (#6) for 2006
- Fellowship Church (Grapevine, TX) :: Ed Young Jr.
18,355 (#7) for 2009
19,913 (#7) for 2008
13,000 (#16) for 2007
18,124 (#9) for 2006
- Southeast Christian Church (Louisville, KY) :: Dave Stone
17,261 (#8) for 2009
16,264 (#12) for 2008
18,013 (#6) for 2007
18,520 (#7) for 2006
- Woodlands Church (Woodlands, TX) :: Kerry Shook
17,142 (#9) for 2009
16,380 (#11) for 2008
15,600 (#12) for 2007
14,120 (#18) for 2006
- Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) :: Bob Coy
15,921 (#10) for 2009
18,000 (#9) for 2008
17,000 (#9) for 2007
18,300 (#8) for 2006
- Central Christian Church (Las Vegas, NV) :: Jud Wilhite
15,081 (#11) for 2009
13,010 (#22) for 2008
12,000 (#22) for 2007
8,994 (#43) for 2006
- First Baptist Church (Hammond, IN) :: Jack Schaap
15,059 (#12) for 2009
13,678 (#19) for 2008
12,000 (#20) for 2007
11,300 (#26) for 2006
- Prestonwood Baptist Church (Plano, TX) :: Jack Graham
14,975 (#13) for 2009
14,450 (#17) for 2008
14,000 (#14) for 2007
14,871 (#17) for 2006
- Thomas Road Baptist Church (Lynchburg, VA) :: Jonathan Falwell
13,100 (#14) for 2009
13,000 (#23) for 2008
17,445 (#8) for 2007
7,626 (#71) for 2006
- Calvary Chapel (Albuquerque, NM) :: Skip Heitzig
13,000 (#15) for 2009
13,500 (#20) for 2008
12,000 (#19) for 2007
12,000 (#24) for 2006
- New Birth Missionary Baptist (Decatur, GA) :: Eddie Long
13,000 (#16) for 2009
15,000 (#14) for 2008
15,000 (#13) for 2007
22,000 (#4) for 2006
Surprisingly, quite a few large churches are not on the list. Some churches did not respond to the study for various reasons that include:
- did not want to reveal attendance data
- did not have time
- do not like church ranking lists
Churches listed on a previous list with 13,000+ attendance but unlisted on the 2009 list are as follows:
- Last listed in 2008
20,000 = West Angeles Church of God in Christ (Los Angeles, CA)
17,000 = The Potter’s House (Dallas, TX)
16,000 = Hopewell Missionary Baptist (Norcross, GA)
13,500 = New Light Christian Center (Houston, TX)
- Last listed in 2007
16,000 = First Assembly of God (Phoenix, AZ)
- Last listed in 2006
23,900 = Without Walls International Church (Tampa, FL)
13,000 = Greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church (New Orleans, LA)
Large churches typically have implemented great systems to manage themselves more efficiently. If you want to learn church methodology, the top 100 largest churches are a good starting point.
Ben Arment is the creative mind behind STORY conference. He also has a big heart for helping pastors reach their communities, particularly church planters and urban pastors. In fact, he wants to be able to invite 400 urban pastors from Chicago’s hardest areas to STORY for free.
But he needs your help…
Will you help one inner city pastor go to STORY by giving a scholarship?
All you need to do is buy 1 ticket and write “urban scholarship” in the comments section at the end of the checkout process. Your gift will train, refresh, and inspire a Chicagoland pastor.
And while you are at it, you should buy a ticket for yourself, too. I will be at STORY, and I’d love to meet you there.
Looking for more great church blogs to read?
My list of top church blogs has been updated and expanded from 60 blogs to 100 blogs. It is still likely missing some eligible church blogs, so please tell me in the comments which blogs you think would make the list.
Check them out. Subscribe. And enjoy the free wealth of knowledge.
LifeChurch.tv’s interactive online Bible, YouVersion, is about to take the interactivity up a notch and to congregations around the world.
It’s called YouVersion Live (October 2009 launch). And it allows pastors, conference speakers, teachers, and group leaders to share content and real-time feedback on mobile devices during live events. Essentially, YouVersion Live is interactive digital message notes that allow the audience to:
- take notes and save them online
- read the Bible
- ask questions and get answers during the message
- do surveys anonymously via a YouVersion Live poll
- get extra content via blog links, YouTube videos, and other resources
- share the message with a friend
- request prayer
- give online
It is easy to create a YouVersion Live message guide. All a speaker has to do is drag and drop the features he wants to use into his template on a super-simple YouVersion Live admin area. All an audience member needs is a web-enabled phone, netbook, or laptop.
Already over 1.8 million iPhone users have YouVersion on their phone, which is equivalent to 1 in 27 iPhones. YouVersion’s rapid growth means your user base already exists. All you need to do is use YouVersion Live’s super-simple admin panel, and you can take your audience engagement to incredible new places.
YouVersion Live launches in October 2009. Until then, you can sign up for updates at YouVersion.com/live.
Every November, churches across the U.S. collect food for those in need to celebrate Thanksgiving. This year more churches should start planning and gathering food early not just for Thanksgiving but also for the weeks before and after.
The number of Americans using food stamp government assistance has risen to record levels. In May, over 10% of the total U.S. population received food stamps.
In order to reach all of these people, churches must do more than what they have done in the past.
(via Good)
Something exciting is happening! More and more churches are getting great church websites.
In fact, there are so many great church website designs that it is becoming difficult to list and keep track of them all. Fortunately, MinistryCSS.com takes on that challenge beautifully. Instantaneously, it is the new top church websites list.
If you have a ministry website that looks great and was designed with XHTML/CSS (tableless), you can submit your ministry web design for free to MinistryCSS.com. All submissions are:
- Archived with a full screen capture of the homepage.
- Able to be rated by other MinistryCSS.com users.
In other words, over time MinistryCSS.com will become an archived gallery of the best church web designs ranked by you and other users around the world.
View it.
Contribute.
Use it.
Many consider SXSW to be the best interactive media conference in the world. You learn from minds like Guy Kawasaki and the people at Facebook and Google. Unfortunately, SXSW has had little if any church oriented content in the past.
You can change that.
You can vote for SXSW Interactive to have several church oriented sessions in 2010. Why should you have to choose between SXSW and a church media conference? Let’s merge them together! If enough of us vote, then we have a good chance of getting these church panels.
FIRST STEP
Create a free profile for voting at http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/users/register
(an email confirmation will be sent)
SECOND STEP
Vote today for the church panels by clicking the “thumbs up” icon located near the top left of the following four pages:
#1 :: Creating Authentic Online Community
>> Tony Steward, Carlos Whittaker, John Saddington, & Cynthia Ware (moderator)
#2 :: Technology For Results Not Profits
>> Bobby Gruenewald, Brad Abare, Kent Shaffer, & Terry Storch (moderator)
#3 :: LifeChurch.tv - Reaching 2 Million+ With Technology
>> Terry Storch, Tony Steward, Bobby Gruenewald, & Kent Shaffer (moderator)
#4 :: Pushing Technological Change Without Alienating Your Co-Workers
>> Kem Meyer & mystery experts
Please spread the word and help us rock the vote!
