tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657772.post113934684675634927..comments2023-07-25T10:52:13.925-05:00Comments on Because I said so: Megachurches growing in number and sizeChris Meirosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05717903860701408008noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657772.post-1139382251419581022006-02-08T01:04:00.000-06:002006-02-08T01:04:00.000-06:00Only in receint years have large numbers of Muslim...Only in receint years have large numbers of Muslims been moving to the USA. For example, here in Minneapolis, we've had a huge influx of Somalians. We've also taken in 35,000 Hmong refuges, who also are not Christian. Certainly the Latino immigrants are predominantly Roman Catholic, but more and more the immigration is from non-Christian countries in Africa and Asia, as well as places like India. Keep asking questions, we'll see if we can clarify this further. It's really late, and I'm not thinking all that clearly. I suppose you are wide awake at this hour!<BR/><BR/>Big ChrisChris Meirosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05717903860701408008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657772.post-1139366884172363372006-02-07T20:48:00.000-06:002006-02-07T20:48:00.000-06:00Where are these non-Christian immigrants coming fr...Where are these non-Christian immigrants coming from? If they're from Mexico then that would increase the percentages of Roman Catholicism. I don't think the percentage of "no religion" is driven by immigrants, but by the march of secularism. Those drawn to secularism tend to be white and educated and are often from the established community.<BR/><BR/>I personally have no problem with anyone leaving a church and going to another one if the church they leave is pretty bad biblically and the one they're going to is good biblically. If they're moving from a small and shrinking bad church to a large and growing bad church then the problem isn't solved at all. To my mind the solution isn't megachurches (and I don't think that was what you were trying to communicate) but biblical churches, large or small.Neil Cameron (One Salient Oversight)https://www.blogger.com/profile/03143948543305522865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657772.post-1139356849277206172006-02-07T18:00:00.000-06:002006-02-07T18:00:00.000-06:00Salient, It's a good question you pose, and I wou...Salient,<BR/> It's a good question you pose, and I would say it's a combination of all of the above plus. It depends on the church you are referencing. Mars Hill in Seattle (Marc Driscoll's church) and Mosaic in Los Angeles (Erwin McManus' church) would both be ones who have drawn primarily from the unchurched. Locally, we have churches like Wooddale (Leith Anderson), Bethlehem Baptist (John Piper), Eaglebrook (Bob Merritt) and I would say they all have grown more through marginal Christians joining their church, and Christians leaving other churches for various reasons.<BR/><BR/>People leave churches of course for both good and bad purposes. John Piper has specifically addressed his congregation about how it greives him if their growth is through/from pirating of other church's membership rolls. <BR/><BR/>So some of the megachurches are the gravity wells you speak of, others somewhere inbetween, and some are growing by reaching the unchurched. I think some of the things contributing to the steady rate (which in numbers is growth, but not in percentage) is the over all impact of non-Christian immigrants. For much of the history of our country, those moving here were coming from "Christian" nations. This has slowly changed, but is accelerating, especially in the past 30 or so years.<BR/><BR/>I'm sure there are other factors I'm forgetting/overlooking/am not aware of, but that's some food for thought at least in a partial attempt to answer your question.<BR/><BR/>Big ChrisChris Meirosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05717903860701408008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657772.post-1139352248988859832006-02-07T16:44:00.000-06:002006-02-07T16:44:00.000-06:00Let's keep this in context.According to Barna, the...Let's keep this in context.<BR/><BR/>According to Barna, the amount of Evangelical Christians has remained steady at around 7% of the US adult population for the past 10-15 years.<BR/><BR/>According to US Census figures, those with "no religion" rose from 8.4% of the population in 1990 to 15.0% in 2000.<BR/><BR/>So, despite the efforts of the political right, the gospel is not exactly progressing in America while secularism appears to be gaining great amounts of popularity.<BR/><BR/>The question is - where do megachurches fit into these facts? Are they merely gravity wells sucking in believers from dying churches, or are they truly making a Gospel impact in America. I fear that it is the former reason - after all, most successful megachurches are not exactly known for having strong biblical theology.Neil Cameron (One Salient Oversight)https://www.blogger.com/profile/03143948543305522865noreply@blogger.com