A new megachurch study by Warren Bird and Scott Thumma has been released via The Hartford Institute for Religious Research titled, Not Who You Think They Are: A Profile of The People Who Attend America’s Megachurches.
According to USAToday:
- The average age of megachurch attenders is 40, compared to nearly 53 at a typical Protestant church. Nearly two-thirds of megachurch attenders are under 45, double the numbers in Protestant congregations of all sizes. The vast majority are between 18 and 44.
- Nearly a third of megachurch attenders are single, compared to 10% in a typical Protestant church. They also tend to be wealthier and better educated.
- Nearly all those surveyed — 98%, including visitors — described themselves as a “committed follower of Jesus Christ.” Nearly a quarter hadn’t been in any church for a long time before coming to the megachurch.
- Sixty-two percent of megachurch attendees said they had experienced much spiritual growth in the past year. But that does not always translate to behavior churches expect of members: nearly 45% of megachurch attenders never volunteer at the church and 32% give little or no money to the congregation. “The ethos of the megachurch is to say ‘You can’t just sit there and spectate, that’s not enough, you’ve got to do this or do that,”‘ said study co-director Scott Thumma, a sociologist at the Hartford Institute for Religion Research. “But a lot of people said ‘I’m perfectly happy coming here and doing that.”‘ (emphasis mine)
- Divided loyalties also might play a role: just three-quarters described the megachurch they were attending as their “home” church, and many said they were attending more than one church.
What are your thoughts?
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Tags: Megachurch, research
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