Top 70 Largest Gigachurches in America (2011 edition)

Kent Shaffer —  September 15, 2011

UPDATE: When this list was first published, First Baptist Church (Hammond, IN) was accidentally listed twice (2011 & 2010 numbers). It is now corrected.

Outreach magazine has released the 2011 list of the 100 Largest Churches in America. You can buy a copy of the list at OutreachMagazine.com. It includes an in depth analysis of the research data and is the best way to quickly glean insights from the churches listed.

Since 2004, there have been 20 largest churches lists that have been published. Their scope ranges from size, growth rate, and church planting to innovation and influence. Remarkably, out of the combined 1,429 rankings from the list only 487 churches have been featured.

In the 6 years of measuring the largest churches (gigachurches with 10,000+ weekly attendance), 70 gigachurches have been listed. However, on the new 2011 list, only 39 of these 70 gigachurches reported their numbers. What happened to the other 31 gigachurches?

I call them them invisible gigachurches.

TOP LARGEST U.S. GIGACHURCHES (including invisible gigachurches)
Only the first 15 churches from 2011′s list are named out of respect to Outreach magazine. Outreach is selling the full list here. All invisible gigachurches from 2006-2010 are named.

  1. 43,500 // Lakewood Church (Houston, TX) – Joel Osteen
  2. 27,429 // North Point Community Church (Atlanta, GA) – Andy Stanley
  3. **26,776 (2009) // LifeChurch.tv (Edmond, OK) – Craig Groeschel
  4. 24,377 // Willow Creek Community Church (South Barrington, IL) – Bill Hybels
  5. **23,900 (2006) // Without Walls International (Tampa, FL) – Paula White
  6. 20,801 // Southeast Christian Church (Louisville, KY) – Dave Stone
  7. **20,000 (2008) // West Angeles Church of God in Christ (Los Angeles, CA) – Charles Blake
  8. 19,742 // Saddleback Church (Lake Forest, CA) – Rick Warren
  9. 18,386 // Woodlands Church (Woodlands, TX) -  Kerry Shook
  10. 18,223 // Central Christian Church (Las Vegas, NV) – Jud Wilhite
  11. 18,061 // Second Baptist Church (Houston, TX) – Ed Young, Sr.
  12. 17,900 // First Assembly of God (Phoenix, AZ) – Tommy Barnett
  13. 17,887 – Christ’s Church of the Valley (Peoria, AZ) :: Don Wilson
  14. **17,000 (2008) // The Potter’s House (Dallas, TX) – TD Jakes
  15. 16,621 // Calvary Chapel Ft. Lauderdale (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) – Bob Coy
  16. **16,000 (2008) // Hopewell Missionary Baptist (Norcross, GA) – William Sheals
  17. 15,722 // Christ Fellowship (Palm Beach Gardens) – Tom Mullins
  18. 15,704 // Gateway Church (Southlake, TX) – Robert Morris
  19. 14,776 // First Baptist Church (Hammond, IN) – Jack Schaap
  20. 14,525 // Family Christian Center (Munster, IN) – Stephan Munsey
  21. 14,440 // see Outreach’s 2011 list
  22. 14,200 //see Outreach’s 2011 list
  23. 14,125 // see Outreach’s 2011 list
  24. **13,796 (2010) // Fellowship Church (Grapevine, TX) – Ed Young Jr.
  25. 13,607 // see Outreach’s 2011 list
  26. **13,500 (2008) // New Light Christian Center (Houston, TX) – Ira Hillard
  27. 13,346 // see Outreach’s 2011 list
  28. 13,224 // see Outreach’s 2011 list
  29. 13,218 // see Outreach’s 2011 list
  30. 13,200 // see Outreach’s 2011 list
  31. **13,000 (2009) // New Birth Missionary Baptist (Decatur, GA) – Eddie Long
  32. **13,000 (2006) // Greater St Stephen Full Baptist Church (New Orleans, LA) – Paul Morton Sr
  33. 12,708 // see Outreach’s 2011 list
  34. 12,637 // see Outreach’s 2011 list
  35. 12,637 // see Outreach’s 2011 list
  36. 12,504 // see Outreach’s 2011 list
  37. 12,023 // see Outreach’s 2011 list
  38. 12,000 // see Outreach’s 2011 list
  39. **12,000 (2008) // Calvary Chapel Golden Springs (Diamond Bar, CA) – Raul Ries
  40. 11,821 // see Outreach’s 2011 list
  41. **11,752 (2008) // The Fountain of Praise (Houston, TX) – Remus Wright
  42. **11,500 (2006) // Jericho City of Praise (Landover, MD) – Betty Peebles
  43. **11,344 (2007) // Calvary Community Church (Phoenix, AZ) – J. Mark Martin
  44. 11,340 // see Outreach’s 2011 list
  45. **11,289 (2010) // Kensington Community Church (Troy, MI) – Steve Andrews
  46. 11,201 // see Outreach’s 2011 list
  47. 11,200 // see Outreach’s 2011 list
  48. 11,023 // see Outreach’s 2011 list
  49. 11,000 // see Outreach’s 2011 list
  50. **11,000 (2007) // Word of Faith International Christian Center (Southfield, MI) – Keith Butler
  51. 10,848 // see Outreach’s 2011 list
  52. **10,800 (2009) // Calvary Chapel South Bay (Gardena, CA) – Steve Mays
  53. **10,800 (2008) // Valley Bible Fellowship (Bakersfield, CA) – Ron Vietti
  54. **10,550 (2009) // Redemption World Outreach (Greenville, SC) – Ron Carpenter
  55. 10,494 // see Outreach’s 2011 list
  56. **10,300 (2009) // Faith Fellowship Ministries (Sayreville, NJ) – David Demola
  57. **10,263 (2009) // Northland a Church Distributed (Longwood, FL) – Joel Hunter
  58. 10,147 // see Outreach’s 2011 list
  59. ** 10,047 (2010) // McLean Bible Church (Vienna, VA) – Lon Soloman
  60. **10,035 (2008) // St. Matthew’s Baptist Church (Williamstown, NJ) – Raymond Gordon
  61. 10,000 // see Outreach’s 2011 list
  62. **10,000 (2009) // First A.M.E. Church (Los Angeles, CA) – John Hunter
  63. **10,000 (2008) // Faith Community Church (West Covina, CA) – Jim Reeve
  64. **10,000 (2008) // Faith Landmarks Ministries (Richmond, VA)
  65. **10,000 (2008) // Heritage Christian Center (Denver, CO) – Dennis Leonard
  66. **10,000 (2008) // Mount Zion Baptist Church (Nashville, TN) – Joseph Walker III
  67. **10,000 (2008) // World Changers Church International (College Park, GA) – Creflo Dollar
  68. **10,000 (2007) // Mars Hill Bible Church (Grandville, MI) – Rob Bell
  69. **10,000 (2006) // Church on the Move (Tulsa, OK) – Willie George
  70. **10,000 (2006) // The Brooklyn Tabernacle (Brooklyn, NY) – Jim Cymbala

So how many gigachurches are there really in the United States?

Related Reading:
Top Churches in America to Watch (by category)
US Churches to Watch (state-by-state listing)
Top Church Websites of 2012

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Kent Shaffer

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10 responses to Top 70 Largest Gigachurches in America (2011 edition)

  1. Prajeeth September 15, 2011 at 4:08 am

    Thanks for the post. Gr8 info.
    I like your posts.
    Please can you post the stats of largest churches in Middleeast, Asia, India & Europe.
    It would be helpful. Thanks in advance for the document.
    God Bless you – PJ :)

  2. Kent Shaffer September 15, 2011 at 7:46 am

    @Prajeeth

    My pleasure. For a list of some of the world’s largest churches, check out:

    >> http://innovationlab.leadnet.org/warren//?/world/
    >> http://www.dci.org.uk/main/largestchurch.htm
    >> http://www.egc.org/sites/egc.org/files/researcharchive/issue_20.htm

  3. Vern Sanders September 21, 2011 at 12:30 pm

    Are #18 and #20 the same church? Or is it possible that there are two gigachurches named First Baptist in Hammond, Indiana?

  4. Kent Shaffer September 21, 2011 at 1:47 pm

    @Vern

    You are right. That was a terrible typo on my part, and it is now corrected.

  5. eef eef September 28, 2011 at 11:58 pm

    I go to Family Christian Center! It’s great to see how far we’ve come over the years

  6. Vanessa October 11, 2011 at 7:27 pm

    Seeing Texas on there so much makes me happy, I’m so very homesick! I regret not getting a chance to attend a Joel Osteen service with my mother, it was just a 5 hour drive. I have gone past the church itself, its’ colossal!

    - Vanessa

  7. Rodney May 28, 2012 at 4:43 am

    Harvest Ministries of Riverside, California has over 11,000 members. Greg Laurie is the Minister.

  8. Vickie Isaac June 13, 2012 at 9:15 pm

    Does size of church really dictate relevance? Or should relevance be measured by fruits produced- godly impact on culture and changed lives? I fear you set a dangerous standard by measuring relevance by size, and I believe many of the pastors you have listed would call for a more biblical standard.

  9. evangelist chukwunonso onyeije August 27, 2012 at 4:56 am

    Dear Sir,
    calvary greetings in the name of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ who died on the cross for the remission of sin of mankind.
    This message is to awaken your consciousness of Rapture.A serious meeting is going on in the kingdom of darkness now, their agenda is on how to occuppy the minds of christians with the things of the world so that rapture will take them unware. Jesus is no more at the door but has crossed the door, please make amendment where their is need. Be serious with evangelism and soul wining, God counts on the two. Send this to as many as you can, there is no more time.
    your,s brother in christ
    Evangelist Chukwunonso Onyeije
    tel 234 80 3318 9307

    Sir find below the message i want to print as track in three different languages, french, portuguse and english and also bible. the Lord is directing me to those Africa countries that speaks this three languages, but i need sponsors people that knows what it takes to win souls to the kingdom of God.
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    {1}Heaven is so real just as the sum rises daily
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    {5}Fire not quenched
    {6}His intensity similtude of the valcano. Math 13 vs 42, Math 16vs 26, Math 18vs 8-9 , luke 12 vs 4-5, luke16 vs 19-24 so live daily with enternity in view. readers i wish you heaven at last, but you must be born again and being born again means you are no longer living in your sin

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