Thanks to Scot McKnight for bringing this to my attention.
The Hartford Institute for Religion Research has come up with a report about the people who attend Megachurches.
One thing that stood out to me was the reasons people initially attended the churches:
1. The worship style
2. The senior pastor
3. The church’s reputation
The reasons people continued to attend?
1. The senior pastor
2. The worship style
3. The church’s reputation
I find that quite scary. What a burden to lay on the senior pastor for one thing. What a sad list of reasons for another. And where is Jesus in all this? I didn’t hear one mention…
Hmm… yeah. The church I used to be a leader at… the main draw? The music style. What keeps them? Even out of the mouths of those who know what he does (he likes to seduce the ladies on staff), they stay….why? Because the preaching is so good! Sigh.
Shopping for a church. Not keen.
Ouch, yeah when I either left churches or stopped singing for them, you should have heard the yowling. I was ruining the music program!!
So what? Were people there for Jesus or for my entertainment — one look from their faces told me that I was only “loved and valued” for the folks I drew in the doors /sigh and they were afraid to lose them if all they had to depend on was people focusing on their own worship /rolleyes
First time it happened really opened my eyes to what was really going on in churches.
Katherine, that’s a terribly sad story. I still find it incredible how the biggest drawcard is the “worship” though. As if that’s what a community of believers is about.
Lucy, hey at least they don’t distribute catalogues…
Tyler, another awful story. I think God might love and value you for some other reasons
I hope others around see that too.
Thanks for the link – I downloaded the lot it’s worth the read.