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Since this list does not include Catholic churches (since they are not considered "megachurches") it seems that this article should be renamed to "List of the largest Protestant churches in the USA" or "List of the largest megachurches in the USA" to properly reflect the scope of the list included. -- Strandist ( talk) 06:28, 12 August 2010 (UTC)
Wouldn't it be better to call this: List of Protestant Megachurches in the United States as per the definition of megachurch listed here. I suspect that some places like the National Cathedral or larger liturgically based churches reach 2,000 weekly attendance but they don't seem to be listed. >> M.P.Schneider,LC ( parlemus • feci) 13:42, 30 April 2013 (UTC)
Most important reason why Anglican church should not be included is not because of it's liturgical similarity with Catholicism but its administrative similarity: they have parishes which are territorial units within which all people of that faith are basically "by default" members as far as the church is concerned.
The whole scheme here seems to favor a certain styles of churches, megachurches, over other "more traditional" styles. For instance, at a liturgical tradition, the individual "pastor" is not so important he would be included in the list. I suggest we simply rename the list "Megachurches." this point was lost above due to a side point about membership numbers for one certain church. (Or it may even be helpful to start a separate list for non-megachurches.) I would use this definition of megachurch which seems reliable but what do you all think?>> M.P.Schneider,LC ( parlemus • feci) 13:56, 2 May 2013 (UTC)
What should the rightmost column heading be? A church may describe itself as Non-denominational, Episcopal, Fundamentalist, Evangelical etc. Terms like these may describe
All seem relevant. "Orientation" does not seem to capture the concepts. "Denomination" seems to narrow. "Description" invites verbiage that would not fit the table format. Opinions? Aymatth2 ( talk) 01:59, 20 August 2010 (UTC)
The article linked by Young Nak Presbyterian Church is not the one referred to in the article. It is actually the original YN church, from which YN Presbyterian Church of LA branched off of. Some members of the original congregation in Seoul, Korea immigrated to Los Angeles and founded a new Young Nak Church there. 99.38.133.87 ( talk) 03:41, 1 January 2011 (UTC)
The attendance/membership numbers are mostly cited as taken from the 2008 Outreach Magazine "Outreach 100" list of the largest churches in the US. This is an annual report, and the most recent edition is 2010. ( http://www.outreachmagazine.com/magazine/recent-issues/3762-The-2010-Outreach-100.html) Is there any way to pull these in bulk, or do they have to be updated individually?
Menlo Church should be on the list [John Ortberg] as the church had 3400 members in 2014 and 4400 per weekend in attendance. Menlo.church. — Preceding
unsigned comment added by
167.24.24.150 (
talk)
13:41, 3 October 2018 (UTC)
Why are only five or six of these pastors listed as "Doctor" when many, if not most have either earned a Theological Doctorate at a seminary or been granted an honorary doctorate by some institution somewhere? Most of these guys are "Doctors" so how come only a handful are listed as such? It might be more reasonable to remove that title from all of their names. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 180.189.167.13 ( talk) 21:33, 20 May 2012 (UTC)
We have set this list to be limited at 2,000. Right now the list is loosing its usefulness since it is getting so big. I would like to suggest that we either move the limit to 5,000 or we cut the list into two sections at 5,000. It would seem that then the list would focus on the truly largest not just include every large suburban church as it seems to be tending towards.>> M.P.Schneider,LC ( parlemus • feci) 14:25, 2 May 2013 (UTC)
Since Episcopalian Parishes were not included, I e-mailed their research assistant.
I was trying to add some Episcopalian parishes to the list of biggest protestant Churches in the US on Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_largest_Protestant_churches_in_the_United_States). Unfortunately it is hard to track down the information. This page ( http://www.generalconvention.org/gc/parochial_reports) lists you as the contact person for that information. I was hoping that you could point me to where I could find a list or that you could post it online in a domain owned by the Episcopalian Church. It could either be a complete list or a list of the biggest parishes (for the Wikipedia list, the limit is 2,000 registered members).
She responded with a PDF that lists about 50 parishes, however she did not post it on their website as asked. She noted that this is based on 2011 numbers but I believe that is current enough for this list. And the numbers are exact: 2004 is the smallest over 2000. I want to respond to her. Is asking that they publish it on their site the only way to make it a reliable source? Could I instead post it on wikisource or somewhere else? Would I need her permission for this?
I will paste a link to this section on Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Noticeboard.>> M.P.Schneider,LC ( parlemus • feci) 15:20, 10 May 2013 (UTC)
The PDF is a table. Here is the text copied from it. You can grab the dioceses from it. I could upload it to some site if that's needed.
Diocese Name City State Members as of 2011
Texas St Martins Episcopal Church Houston TX 8480
Los Angeles All Saints Episcopal Church Pasadena CA 7715
Dallas St Michael & All Angels Church Dallas TX 7180
Atlanta Cathedral of St Philip Atlanta GA 6119
Florida Christ Episcopal Church Ponte Vedra Beach FL 5842
New York St Bartholomews Church New York NY 5262
Texas St John the Divine Episcopal Church Houston TX 4671
Dallas Church of the Incarnation Dallas TX 4357
North Carolina Christ Episcopal Church Charlotte NC 4345
Virginia St Stephens Church Richmond VA 4073
Washington St Columbas Episcopal Church Washington DC 3957
Alabama Cathedral Church of the Advent Birmingham AL 3744
Texas Christ Church Cathedral Houston TX 3737
Upper South Carolina Trinity Cathedral Church Columbia SC 3712
Upper South Carolina Christ Episcopal Church Greenville SC 3455
Long Island Church of St Mark Brooklyn NY 3340
Tennessee St Georges Episcopal Church Nashville TN 3274
Maryland Church of the Redeemer Baltimore MD 3257
Pennsylvania St David Episcopal Church Wayne PA 3249
Atlanta All Saints Episcopal Church Atlanta GA 3182
New York St James Church New York NY 3148
Texas The Church of the Good Shepherd Austin TX 3141
Los Angeles All Saints Episcopal Parish Beverly Hills CA 3034
North Carolina St Johns Episcopal Church Charlotte NC 3017
Texas Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church Houston TX 2872
North Carolina St Pauls Episcopal Church Winston Salem NC 2867
Connecticut St Luke Episcopal Church Darien CT 2839
Alabama St Lukes Episcopal Church Birmingham AL 2802
North Carolina Christ Episcopal Church Raleigh NC 2704
Virginia St Jamess Church Richmond VA 2700
South Carolina St Philips Church Charleston SC 2677
Central Gulf Coast St Pauls Episcopal Church Mobile AL 2665
Olympia St Marks Episcopal Cathedral Seattle WA 2590
New York St Thomas Church Fifth Avenue New York NY 2580
Mississippi St James Episcopal Church Jackson MS 2551
Louisiana Trinity Episcopal Church New Orleans LA 2529
Massachusetts Trinity Church Episcopal Boston MA 2528
Colorado St Johns Episcopal Cathedral Denver CO 2513
Virginia St Pauls Church Alexandria VA 2497
Virginia Christ Church Alexandria VA 2488
Texas St Davids Episcopal Church Austin TX 2386
Virginia Christ Episcopal Church Glen Allen VA 2383
North Carolina Holy Trinity Episcopal Church Greensboro NC 2373
Pennsylvania Church of the Redeemer Bryn Mawr PA 2367
Kansas St Michael and All Angels Church Mission KS 2319
Los Angeles St Michaels Episcopal Church Anaheim CA 2305
Dallas Church of the Transfiguration Dallas TX 2297
Louisiana St James Episcopal Church Baton Rouge LA 2297
Atlanta Holy Innocents Episcopal Church Atlanta GA 2246
Massachusetts St Andrews Episcopal Church Wellesley MA 2238
Chicago Church of the Holy Spirit Lake Forest IL 2229
East Carolina St James Episcopal Church Wilmington NC 2188
South Carolina Grace Episcopal Church Charleston SC 2172
California Grace Cathedral San Francisco CA 2143
Tennessee Christ Church Cathedral Nashville TN 2141
Ohio St Pauls Church Akron OH 2140
Central Florida All Saints Episcopal Church Winter Park FL 2103
Central Gulf Coast Christ Episcopal Church Pensacola FL 2100
Virginia Church of the Good Shepherd Burke VA 2090
Maryland St Annes Episcopal Parish Annapolis MD 2078
Pennsylvania La Iglesia de Christo y San Ambrosio Philadelphia PA 2076
Connecticut Christ Church Greenwich Greenwich CT 2069
Virginia Church of the Holy Comforter Vienna VA 2055
Atlanta St Lukes Episcopal Church Atlanta GA 2050
West Texas Christ Episcopal Church San Antonio TX 2048
Long Island St Augustines Episcopal Church Brooklyn NY 2045
Virginia St Marys Church Richmond VA 2042
New Jersey Trinity Episcopal Church Princeton NJ 2019
El Camino Real St Andrew Episcopal Church Saratoga CA 2011
Florida St Mark Episcopal Church Jacksonville FL 2004
Hopefully that helps; I need to study for my theology exams.>> M.P.Schneider,LC ( parlemus • feci) 16:35, 16 May 2013 (UTC)
The result of the move request was: not moved the consensus is that the current list is about individual congregations/parishes/local churches, not about larger denominational structures. ( non-admin closure) TonyBallioni ( talk) 00:23, 29 March 2017 (UTC)
List of the largest Protestant churches in the United States → List of the largest Protestant denominations in the United States – Per WP:Consistency - compare List of Christian denominations, List of Christian denominations by number of members, List of the largest Protestant denominations, etc. Reasons: neutrality and circumference of definition. Chicbyaccident ( talk) 18:01, 21 March 2017 (UTC)
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The result of the move request was: Move to alternative title List of megachurches in the United States. Cúchullain t/ c 14:18, 20 October 2017 (UTC)
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Chicbyaccident (
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Some of these churches listed are based on membership and not "average weekly attendance". One example I've noticed is the Woodlands United Methodist Church in The Woodlands (Spring), TX. It was listed at 13,000 which, if correct, would be the largest U M church in average attendance in the U S. It is not; the average attendance was approximately 5200 or so as I recall. It is less than 50% of the average attendance of the largest U M, Resurrection located in the greater Kansas City area.
Another issue based on attendance is defining attendance. I agree attendance at regular church wide worship times is the most reasonable indicator of mega church status. Clarification of whether or not the church is a multi-site location is important as well as whether they are including count based on video feed attendance to a larger audience (outside of their regular actual attendees who are viewing a specific day from home) as this may be very misleading toward churches who large area or national T V programming. As far as defining attendance; some churches may only report adult member/visitor attendance or report "family unit attendance or membership" rather than including inclusive attendance of their worship attendance hours which would then include children's and youth programming, specialty programming like special needs, deaf, multi-language, etc. It should not include all events such as Bible studies or other programming during a calendar week but including regularly scheduled worship events outside their specific location such as a church plant, a community center or extended care facility held weekly is appropriate, in my opinion. It's long been a practice in a church's propensity to inflate any figure they publish such as not updating "membership roles" to on a regular basis to include those who still attend the church or never requested that a membership be transferred or removed, as one example. The megachurches specifically within some/many of the larger denominations are very "competitive" in this arena within their respective denomination.
Bob East bob.east@outlook.com sign-in name: bobeast77365 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bobeast77365 ( talk • contribs) 15:40, 17 June 2018 (UTC)
This list is in need of a comprehensive review and refresh using reliable sources. For example, a cursory glance reveals at least three ministers (Tim Keller, Michael Ross, and James McDonald) that are no longer serving as pastors at the listed churches. I have added an update template to the top of the page until these issues can be fixed. I'll work on it a bit myself as time allows. Uncle Dick ( talk) 02:13, 21 August 2019 (UTC)
McLean Bible Church is incorrectly listed as a member of a denomination. The church's website has a specific clarification stating that it is non-denominational ( https://mcleanbible.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/SBC_Letter.pdf) and the Wikipedia page for the church McLean Bible Church was correct until the same user changed it this morning, listing it as non-denominational. I have tried to update this list but a that user has reverted my change twice, claiming a conflict of interest. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bolt in blue ( talk • contribs) 14:04, 29 June 2021 (UTC)
I just arrived on this page. There is a lot of unsourced information on here! This is a mammoth project, and hats off to those of you trying to diligently maintain this list. But... it all needs to be sourced. User:MPSchneiderLC made a point above that the list is unworkable at an inclusion criterion of 2000 and maybe this should be raised. I would definitely suggest that is done for the following reasons:
1. The list is currently not very useful to the uninitiated. It is just too big; 2. Everything needs sourcing and although there are 182 citations, there is a lot missing here; and 3. What is even the purpose of this list? Other than seeing your own church moving up and down the league, what is anyone even supposed to get from this? Sirfurboy🏄 ( talk) 20:43, 16 August 2022 (UTC)
The current maintenance template at the top of the article is around 4 years old. Since that time many citations have been updated with newer information and items without a reference have a "citation needed" template applied throughout the list. Yes, there are some references that are still old, but that might be because those are the only reliable sources with that information with no newer information. Feels like this ever-changing list is always going to have some information that is slightly outdated, which means the maintenance template would never be removed. This seems like a WP:BOLD move to remove the maintenance template, but does seem necessary. Since there is active discussion on this article regarding editing, thought best to post here for discussion. 24.214.60.151 ( talk) 17:27, 8 June 2024 (UTC)
An IP is edit warring in 100,000 as the figure for Gateway church. Our article has 25,800 sourced to this [1] and also in agreement with the church's article page, Gateway Church (Texas). Two sources have been proffered for the 100,000 figure. The first was a news report from Fox about a scandal, which had the 100,000 as a throwaway line. When this was reverted, the OIP returned with a link to this book [2] which is a critical look at the pastors of these churches, but has the 100,000 figure. The notes of that book credit the information to the Church's own website. That is not independent, and although better than nothing, when we have an independent source, we should be using that. I therefore have reverted this twice (and another editor has also reverted this). A consensus would be required before this larger number can be accepted in the article (and the church wikipedia page should also match). Sirfurboy🏄 ( talk) 20:39, 25 June 2024 (UTC)
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Since this list does not include Catholic churches (since they are not considered "megachurches") it seems that this article should be renamed to "List of the largest Protestant churches in the USA" or "List of the largest megachurches in the USA" to properly reflect the scope of the list included. -- Strandist ( talk) 06:28, 12 August 2010 (UTC)
Wouldn't it be better to call this: List of Protestant Megachurches in the United States as per the definition of megachurch listed here. I suspect that some places like the National Cathedral or larger liturgically based churches reach 2,000 weekly attendance but they don't seem to be listed. >> M.P.Schneider,LC ( parlemus • feci) 13:42, 30 April 2013 (UTC)
Most important reason why Anglican church should not be included is not because of it's liturgical similarity with Catholicism but its administrative similarity: they have parishes which are territorial units within which all people of that faith are basically "by default" members as far as the church is concerned.
The whole scheme here seems to favor a certain styles of churches, megachurches, over other "more traditional" styles. For instance, at a liturgical tradition, the individual "pastor" is not so important he would be included in the list. I suggest we simply rename the list "Megachurches." this point was lost above due to a side point about membership numbers for one certain church. (Or it may even be helpful to start a separate list for non-megachurches.) I would use this definition of megachurch which seems reliable but what do you all think?>> M.P.Schneider,LC ( parlemus • feci) 13:56, 2 May 2013 (UTC)
What should the rightmost column heading be? A church may describe itself as Non-denominational, Episcopal, Fundamentalist, Evangelical etc. Terms like these may describe
All seem relevant. "Orientation" does not seem to capture the concepts. "Denomination" seems to narrow. "Description" invites verbiage that would not fit the table format. Opinions? Aymatth2 ( talk) 01:59, 20 August 2010 (UTC)
The article linked by Young Nak Presbyterian Church is not the one referred to in the article. It is actually the original YN church, from which YN Presbyterian Church of LA branched off of. Some members of the original congregation in Seoul, Korea immigrated to Los Angeles and founded a new Young Nak Church there. 99.38.133.87 ( talk) 03:41, 1 January 2011 (UTC)
The attendance/membership numbers are mostly cited as taken from the 2008 Outreach Magazine "Outreach 100" list of the largest churches in the US. This is an annual report, and the most recent edition is 2010. ( http://www.outreachmagazine.com/magazine/recent-issues/3762-The-2010-Outreach-100.html) Is there any way to pull these in bulk, or do they have to be updated individually?
Menlo Church should be on the list [John Ortberg] as the church had 3400 members in 2014 and 4400 per weekend in attendance. Menlo.church. — Preceding
unsigned comment added by
167.24.24.150 (
talk)
13:41, 3 October 2018 (UTC)
Why are only five or six of these pastors listed as "Doctor" when many, if not most have either earned a Theological Doctorate at a seminary or been granted an honorary doctorate by some institution somewhere? Most of these guys are "Doctors" so how come only a handful are listed as such? It might be more reasonable to remove that title from all of their names. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 180.189.167.13 ( talk) 21:33, 20 May 2012 (UTC)
We have set this list to be limited at 2,000. Right now the list is loosing its usefulness since it is getting so big. I would like to suggest that we either move the limit to 5,000 or we cut the list into two sections at 5,000. It would seem that then the list would focus on the truly largest not just include every large suburban church as it seems to be tending towards.>> M.P.Schneider,LC ( parlemus • feci) 14:25, 2 May 2013 (UTC)
Since Episcopalian Parishes were not included, I e-mailed their research assistant.
I was trying to add some Episcopalian parishes to the list of biggest protestant Churches in the US on Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_largest_Protestant_churches_in_the_United_States). Unfortunately it is hard to track down the information. This page ( http://www.generalconvention.org/gc/parochial_reports) lists you as the contact person for that information. I was hoping that you could point me to where I could find a list or that you could post it online in a domain owned by the Episcopalian Church. It could either be a complete list or a list of the biggest parishes (for the Wikipedia list, the limit is 2,000 registered members).
She responded with a PDF that lists about 50 parishes, however she did not post it on their website as asked. She noted that this is based on 2011 numbers but I believe that is current enough for this list. And the numbers are exact: 2004 is the smallest over 2000. I want to respond to her. Is asking that they publish it on their site the only way to make it a reliable source? Could I instead post it on wikisource or somewhere else? Would I need her permission for this?
I will paste a link to this section on Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Noticeboard.>> M.P.Schneider,LC ( parlemus • feci) 15:20, 10 May 2013 (UTC)
The PDF is a table. Here is the text copied from it. You can grab the dioceses from it. I could upload it to some site if that's needed.
Diocese Name City State Members as of 2011
Texas St Martins Episcopal Church Houston TX 8480
Los Angeles All Saints Episcopal Church Pasadena CA 7715
Dallas St Michael & All Angels Church Dallas TX 7180
Atlanta Cathedral of St Philip Atlanta GA 6119
Florida Christ Episcopal Church Ponte Vedra Beach FL 5842
New York St Bartholomews Church New York NY 5262
Texas St John the Divine Episcopal Church Houston TX 4671
Dallas Church of the Incarnation Dallas TX 4357
North Carolina Christ Episcopal Church Charlotte NC 4345
Virginia St Stephens Church Richmond VA 4073
Washington St Columbas Episcopal Church Washington DC 3957
Alabama Cathedral Church of the Advent Birmingham AL 3744
Texas Christ Church Cathedral Houston TX 3737
Upper South Carolina Trinity Cathedral Church Columbia SC 3712
Upper South Carolina Christ Episcopal Church Greenville SC 3455
Long Island Church of St Mark Brooklyn NY 3340
Tennessee St Georges Episcopal Church Nashville TN 3274
Maryland Church of the Redeemer Baltimore MD 3257
Pennsylvania St David Episcopal Church Wayne PA 3249
Atlanta All Saints Episcopal Church Atlanta GA 3182
New York St James Church New York NY 3148
Texas The Church of the Good Shepherd Austin TX 3141
Los Angeles All Saints Episcopal Parish Beverly Hills CA 3034
North Carolina St Johns Episcopal Church Charlotte NC 3017
Texas Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church Houston TX 2872
North Carolina St Pauls Episcopal Church Winston Salem NC 2867
Connecticut St Luke Episcopal Church Darien CT 2839
Alabama St Lukes Episcopal Church Birmingham AL 2802
North Carolina Christ Episcopal Church Raleigh NC 2704
Virginia St Jamess Church Richmond VA 2700
South Carolina St Philips Church Charleston SC 2677
Central Gulf Coast St Pauls Episcopal Church Mobile AL 2665
Olympia St Marks Episcopal Cathedral Seattle WA 2590
New York St Thomas Church Fifth Avenue New York NY 2580
Mississippi St James Episcopal Church Jackson MS 2551
Louisiana Trinity Episcopal Church New Orleans LA 2529
Massachusetts Trinity Church Episcopal Boston MA 2528
Colorado St Johns Episcopal Cathedral Denver CO 2513
Virginia St Pauls Church Alexandria VA 2497
Virginia Christ Church Alexandria VA 2488
Texas St Davids Episcopal Church Austin TX 2386
Virginia Christ Episcopal Church Glen Allen VA 2383
North Carolina Holy Trinity Episcopal Church Greensboro NC 2373
Pennsylvania Church of the Redeemer Bryn Mawr PA 2367
Kansas St Michael and All Angels Church Mission KS 2319
Los Angeles St Michaels Episcopal Church Anaheim CA 2305
Dallas Church of the Transfiguration Dallas TX 2297
Louisiana St James Episcopal Church Baton Rouge LA 2297
Atlanta Holy Innocents Episcopal Church Atlanta GA 2246
Massachusetts St Andrews Episcopal Church Wellesley MA 2238
Chicago Church of the Holy Spirit Lake Forest IL 2229
East Carolina St James Episcopal Church Wilmington NC 2188
South Carolina Grace Episcopal Church Charleston SC 2172
California Grace Cathedral San Francisco CA 2143
Tennessee Christ Church Cathedral Nashville TN 2141
Ohio St Pauls Church Akron OH 2140
Central Florida All Saints Episcopal Church Winter Park FL 2103
Central Gulf Coast Christ Episcopal Church Pensacola FL 2100
Virginia Church of the Good Shepherd Burke VA 2090
Maryland St Annes Episcopal Parish Annapolis MD 2078
Pennsylvania La Iglesia de Christo y San Ambrosio Philadelphia PA 2076
Connecticut Christ Church Greenwich Greenwich CT 2069
Virginia Church of the Holy Comforter Vienna VA 2055
Atlanta St Lukes Episcopal Church Atlanta GA 2050
West Texas Christ Episcopal Church San Antonio TX 2048
Long Island St Augustines Episcopal Church Brooklyn NY 2045
Virginia St Marys Church Richmond VA 2042
New Jersey Trinity Episcopal Church Princeton NJ 2019
El Camino Real St Andrew Episcopal Church Saratoga CA 2011
Florida St Mark Episcopal Church Jacksonville FL 2004
Hopefully that helps; I need to study for my theology exams.>> M.P.Schneider,LC ( parlemus • feci) 16:35, 16 May 2013 (UTC)
The result of the move request was: not moved the consensus is that the current list is about individual congregations/parishes/local churches, not about larger denominational structures. ( non-admin closure) TonyBallioni ( talk) 00:23, 29 March 2017 (UTC)
List of the largest Protestant churches in the United States → List of the largest Protestant denominations in the United States – Per WP:Consistency - compare List of Christian denominations, List of Christian denominations by number of members, List of the largest Protestant denominations, etc. Reasons: neutrality and circumference of definition. Chicbyaccident ( talk) 18:01, 21 March 2017 (UTC)
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The result of the move request was: Move to alternative title List of megachurches in the United States. Cúchullain t/ c 14:18, 20 October 2017 (UTC)
List of the largest Protestant churches in the United States →
List of Protestant churches in the United States – Having size being the default order of the list, since no list of other ordering exists.
Chicbyaccident (
talk) 09:45, 30 September 2017 (UTC) --Relisting.
DrStrauss
talk
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Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot ( Report bug) 10:25, 31 December 2017 (UTC)
Some of these churches listed are based on membership and not "average weekly attendance". One example I've noticed is the Woodlands United Methodist Church in The Woodlands (Spring), TX. It was listed at 13,000 which, if correct, would be the largest U M church in average attendance in the U S. It is not; the average attendance was approximately 5200 or so as I recall. It is less than 50% of the average attendance of the largest U M, Resurrection located in the greater Kansas City area.
Another issue based on attendance is defining attendance. I agree attendance at regular church wide worship times is the most reasonable indicator of mega church status. Clarification of whether or not the church is a multi-site location is important as well as whether they are including count based on video feed attendance to a larger audience (outside of their regular actual attendees who are viewing a specific day from home) as this may be very misleading toward churches who large area or national T V programming. As far as defining attendance; some churches may only report adult member/visitor attendance or report "family unit attendance or membership" rather than including inclusive attendance of their worship attendance hours which would then include children's and youth programming, specialty programming like special needs, deaf, multi-language, etc. It should not include all events such as Bible studies or other programming during a calendar week but including regularly scheduled worship events outside their specific location such as a church plant, a community center or extended care facility held weekly is appropriate, in my opinion. It's long been a practice in a church's propensity to inflate any figure they publish such as not updating "membership roles" to on a regular basis to include those who still attend the church or never requested that a membership be transferred or removed, as one example. The megachurches specifically within some/many of the larger denominations are very "competitive" in this arena within their respective denomination.
Bob East bob.east@outlook.com sign-in name: bobeast77365 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bobeast77365 ( talk • contribs) 15:40, 17 June 2018 (UTC)
This list is in need of a comprehensive review and refresh using reliable sources. For example, a cursory glance reveals at least three ministers (Tim Keller, Michael Ross, and James McDonald) that are no longer serving as pastors at the listed churches. I have added an update template to the top of the page until these issues can be fixed. I'll work on it a bit myself as time allows. Uncle Dick ( talk) 02:13, 21 August 2019 (UTC)
McLean Bible Church is incorrectly listed as a member of a denomination. The church's website has a specific clarification stating that it is non-denominational ( https://mcleanbible.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/SBC_Letter.pdf) and the Wikipedia page for the church McLean Bible Church was correct until the same user changed it this morning, listing it as non-denominational. I have tried to update this list but a that user has reverted my change twice, claiming a conflict of interest. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bolt in blue ( talk • contribs) 14:04, 29 June 2021 (UTC)
I just arrived on this page. There is a lot of unsourced information on here! This is a mammoth project, and hats off to those of you trying to diligently maintain this list. But... it all needs to be sourced. User:MPSchneiderLC made a point above that the list is unworkable at an inclusion criterion of 2000 and maybe this should be raised. I would definitely suggest that is done for the following reasons:
1. The list is currently not very useful to the uninitiated. It is just too big; 2. Everything needs sourcing and although there are 182 citations, there is a lot missing here; and 3. What is even the purpose of this list? Other than seeing your own church moving up and down the league, what is anyone even supposed to get from this? Sirfurboy🏄 ( talk) 20:43, 16 August 2022 (UTC)
The current maintenance template at the top of the article is around 4 years old. Since that time many citations have been updated with newer information and items without a reference have a "citation needed" template applied throughout the list. Yes, there are some references that are still old, but that might be because those are the only reliable sources with that information with no newer information. Feels like this ever-changing list is always going to have some information that is slightly outdated, which means the maintenance template would never be removed. This seems like a WP:BOLD move to remove the maintenance template, but does seem necessary. Since there is active discussion on this article regarding editing, thought best to post here for discussion. 24.214.60.151 ( talk) 17:27, 8 June 2024 (UTC)
An IP is edit warring in 100,000 as the figure for Gateway church. Our article has 25,800 sourced to this [1] and also in agreement with the church's article page, Gateway Church (Texas). Two sources have been proffered for the 100,000 figure. The first was a news report from Fox about a scandal, which had the 100,000 as a throwaway line. When this was reverted, the OIP returned with a link to this book [2] which is a critical look at the pastors of these churches, but has the 100,000 figure. The notes of that book credit the information to the Church's own website. That is not independent, and although better than nothing, when we have an independent source, we should be using that. I therefore have reverted this twice (and another editor has also reverted this). A consensus would be required before this larger number can be accepted in the article (and the church wikipedia page should also match). Sirfurboy🏄 ( talk) 20:39, 25 June 2024 (UTC)