My Take on Recent Mega Church Research

Pretty interesting article New Research Offers Portrait of Megachurch Attendees

Here's the highlights

• Nearly two-thirds of megachurch attenders are under 45 years old, as compared to only one-third for all Protestant churches (62% vs. 35%).
• Nearly a third of megachurch attenders are single, unmarried persons. In a typical church, singles account for just 10% of the congregation.
• Megachurch attenders are both more educated and more affluent than attenders at other churches.
• The majority of megachurch attenders are not necessarily new to Christianity but nearly a quarter had not recently been in another church before coming to a megachurch.
• While newcomers almost always attend a megachurch at the invitation of family, friends or co-workers, the real attraction tends to be the church’s reputation, worship style and senior pastor.
• Long-term attendance flows from an appreciation for the church’s music/arts, social and community outreach and adult-oriented programs.
• 45% of megachurch attenders never volunteer at the church, and 40 percent are not engaged in a small group, the mainstay of megachurch programming.

What do you think: news, not news? - good, bad?

My own take is that a lot of the criticism of mega churches is partially accurate, but only as far as it goes. Most of these critiques, in my opinion, are simply tearing down a straw hoarse, or a caricature. That said, I think critiques that look at the influence of consumerism and individualism on the church, and the mega church specifically, need to be taken seriously.

Part of the reason I look at things this way is because I view "church" as so much more than the Sunday worship experience. Consequently, critiques that focus on the final outcome I find more interesting.

Sure i would want to tweek some elements of your average mega church worship service, make it more holistic and interactive if possible, but on the whole I don't have a big problem with that. It is what is going on the rest of the week that I have questions about, which is a church by church question. Some churches, no matter the style, do a better job than others at reflecting the Kingdom of God. That's not just a mega church issue, that's an all of us issue.

What do I mean by "reflecting the Kingdom of God"? I'm talking abut Jesus values.

Things like this: ¹⁶He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. ¹⁷The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

¹⁸"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
¹⁹to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

²⁰Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, ²¹and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." - Luke 4:16-20

Being like Jesus, now that's a life long challenge. And I think, the chief way in which we should ask ourseleves if our church is doing all that it can or should be doing.

A Bible Thumping Agnostic

There is a pretty interesting book coming out, and the title says it all.

Good Book: The Bizarre, Hilarious, Disturbing, Marvelous, and Inspiring Things I Learned When I Read Every Single Word of the Bible

Written by David Plotz, a writer for Slate, an online news magazine, it is a compilation of his multi-year blog journey through the Bible.

In his blog entry on the book he says this: Maybe it doesn't make sense for most of us to read the whole Bible. After all, there are so many difficult, repellent, confusing, and boring passages. Why not skip them and cherry-pick the best bits? After spending a year with the good book, I've become a full-on Bible thumper. Everyone should read it—all of it! In fact, the less you believe, the more you should read. Let me explain why, in part by telling how reading the whole Bible has changed me. Read more here.



David's journey through the Bible didn't change his agnostic outlook, but he did learn to love the book many of us cherish. For a review from a Christian perspective check out Church Central's Book Review.

Why do I bring all of this up. If Christians want to be engaged in God's world, we have to understand how that world thinks. This is as good a tool as any. Furthermore, what David says in that video about understanding the complicated characters of the Bible on their own terms, without the window dressing if you will, of sermons and commentaries, is spot on.

Using Bible study tools is good, but I think the place to start is with a naked reading, the whole Bible as it really is, the good, the bad and the absolutely disgusting.

And you took your sons and daughters whom you bore to me and sacrificed them as food to the idols. Was your prostitution not enough? You slaughtered my children and sacrificed them to the idols. In all your detestable practices and your prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, kicking about in your blood. - Ezekiel 16:20-22

Economic Stress Index

Check out this map of the US showing stress by county.

A Fundraising Appeal

Many of you know Joey and I are part of Oasis, a new church plant in Waverly, just outside of Lincoln Nebraska. What you may not know is why this means so much to us.

Every week I meet someone who’s perspective on life, Christ, or His Church, has been stunted by bad experiences; some horrible, some not, but all of them leaving the person with a bad taste in her mouth. When I look at the world around me, I can see why. There is a lot of crazy stuff going on.

At Oasis we are trying to be a part of the solution to this problem. We are trying, (and sometimes failing) to create space for dialog, space for exploration; a community that reflects Christ’s values of lifting up the poor, releasing the captive, and creating sight, so that all of us can see the world as it really is, the good and the bad. (Luke 4:18)

Since beginning preview services almost a year ago, and weekly services in September, we have seen our committed members double, from ten to over twenty people, with attendance near forty each week. But the real success is found in the stories.

Later this month we will be baptizing three people who a year ago wanted nothing to do with Jesus Christ, and earlier this month our community had the opportunity to clean up the yard of a foreclosed home. God is doing great things and people are moving closer to him, but we need resources to spread the message and create space for authentic relationships. Will you consider investing the resources God has given you in the Oasis community? If so, you can click here to visit our sister church, the Northern Lighthouse's web site where you can donate specifically to Oasis (just shoot me an e-mail designating your funds for Oasis, or you can always send a check to the address below.)

One last story. A few weeks ago I was at HOOT our after school program, getting to know some of the kids, including Calvin, a bright young 8th grader. A few days later while I was working at the local hardware store. He and his mother Denise came in to pick up a few things, and we ended up chatting for a while. It turns out she has her own way of making the world a better place. Denise is the owner of Legends, a sports bar & grill up the road, a place which facilitates a sense of community in a world becoming increasingly polarized. Because of these God encounters, they too are now a part of our community. Why? Because people like you are helping us to create a community guided by the Spirit, and engaged with the world around us. If you would like to learn more about Oasis, check out our web site, or find us on Facebook here.

God Bless.

Oasis
Mailing Address:
6141 N 14th St.
Lincoln NE 68521
402.580.0261
bestdavidp@yahoo.com
waverlyoasis.com

I must say, I do love everything about blogging

Just clicked through each of the blogs in my "bloggs of interest" list. Great stuff happening around the world. I will have to clean some of them up as a few of them are dead links, but it's interesting to check in on people I've been following for several years now. I don't write here as often as I should, but I must say, I do love everything about blogging.

In other news, we just completed an intensive "no pants" weekend potty training "experience" (it was that.) And the good news is that is has been largely "successful", so long as success is defined in relative terms. : )