Megachurches

July 30, 2010

Three of the ten largest megachurches in America are located here in the Houston metro: Lakewood (#1), Second Baptist (#6) and Fellowship of the Woodlands (#10).

Between 60 million and 120 million people in the U.S. attend church on a weekly basis. More than five million people attend weekly religious services at a megachurch.

According to Hartford Seminary's Hartford Institute for Religion Research, which partnered with Leadership Network to conduct the largest national representative study of megachurch attendees to date, "The term megachurch generally refers to any Protestant congregation with a sustained average weekly attendance of 2000 persons or more in its worship services."

Megachurches are typically located in suburban areas of rapidly growing sprawl cities such as Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, Orlando, Phoenix and Seattle. These churches are often prominently situated on large properties near major highways. The weekly attendance average for megachurches is more than 3,800 individuals; Lakewood averages more than 45,000 weekly. the rest