Every so often I read an article in a Christian periodical which contains the line, "The problem of the
mega-church is…" then everything that is wrong with the church today is attributed to the mega-church: a
lack of discipleship, superficiality, materialism, theological shallowness, ruthless pragmatism…
I don't believe I have ever read an article that attempted to briefly state what's right about a
mega-church. Since the Columbus Vineyard is often referred to as a "mega-church" (the technical definition
of a mega-church varies widely - some call any church over a thousand a "mega-church." Others require 1% of
the city's population.) I thought as a senior pastor I might list some of the things that are right about
our church, and churches like ours:
Mega-churches are God's primary means of reaching people around the world today. South Korea may
soon become the first majority evangelical nation in Asia. This is in substantial part due to the
extraordinary effectiveness of extremely large churches in reaching South Koreans with the gospel. The
largest Methodist, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Charismatic, and one of the world's largest Baptist churches
are located in South Korea.
I recently had the privilege of spending a day with Dr. William Kumuyi, the pastor of Deeper Life
Fellowship Church in Lagos, Nigeria, a church numbering 125,000 people in Lagos, and 1 million people in
branch churches throughout Nigeria. Deeper Life's influence is being felt in 40 different African nations.
Mega-church success stories can, likewise, be found throughout Latin America, especially Argentina and
Brazil; in Africa; in Singapore; and, in many cities in the United States. In the Vineyard, we have found
that the vast majority of our church plants have been birthed out of mega-churches.
A standard of excellence in many areas. There is a reason that thousands of people choose to call
large churches their home. In our own church, people discover ministries and opportunities that are simply
not available in small churches. For example, only a large church could house as excellent a training
program as Vineyard Leadership Institute. Likewise, only a large church is going to be able to host
conferencing for a Missions Perspectives Course for four months with world class speakers.
If you are a teenager or a young adult and you wish to find fellowship with more than a half a dozen of
your peers, where do you go other than a large church? We have the capacity to run fantastic summer camps
for kids, city-wide compassion ministries, and I've heard that we even offer excellence in preaching,
worship, and children's ministry at our main services.
Mega-churches tend to have an optimistic "why not?" attitude. If you have ever been in a pessimistic,
low risk, "we've never done it that way before" church, moving into a church that is willing to experiment,
willing to try new possibilities, and willing to dream is an extraordinary breath of fresh air. Healthy
mega-churches tend to have an attitude of contagious optimism that permeates the church.
Mega-churches make room for diversity. Typically, in a small church, there is no room for people who
just don't fit "the mold." Mega-churches tend to embrace not only the center of the bell curve, but extreme
edges. So, if you are very poor or very wealthy, you may feel entirely out of place in a small church, but
can find a home in a healthy mega-church. Likewise, if you have emotional difficulties or are socially
unskilled, you may find yourself ejected from a small church, but embraced in a large church. Seekers,
people who just want to sit and learn for a while without being pressured to join, appreciate the relative
anonymity of a mega-church. And, of course, a healthy mega-church makes room for racial and ethnic
diversity as well.
Healthy mega-churches will offer specialized services for people who are often overlooked by smaller
churches. Here at Vineyard Columbus we can offer special kids' classes for developmentally disabled
children; services for the hearing impaired; simultaneous Spanish language translation the Sunday message;
numerous groups for people in recovery. We even offer large print bulletins for the visually impaired.
Mega-churches have sufficient resources to plant and pay for new churches and to train, send and
sustain missionaries around the world. Typically, missionaries who are sent by a small church have to spend
the bulk of their furloughs itinerating to various churches to pay for their missions. What a joy it is to
be able to fully fund numerous missionaries around the world so that they can concentrate of church planting
and not on raising money.
Mega churches typically have great facilities and in our church's history we have crammed three
packed services for the 800+ people into a building that had one men's urinal. I remember 25
kindergarteners being allocated 3 square feet per child and a few saintly children's ministry workers who
were assigned to teach those kindergarteners in a dark, damp basement room. Because of the efficiencies of
scale, mega-churches can frequently provide wonderful facilities at a lower per person cost than can a small
church.
Of course, nothing in this fallen world is all positive. In a large church one must have a degree of
personal initiative to be involved. In other words, if a person chooses to stay on the fringe (by not
joining a group or being involved in a ministry), one can do that and remain anonymous for years. We are
trying to rectify the entire reliance on personal initiative, by assigning to every new member a personal
"connector" who will assist each new member to find their way into a group, a ministry, and to obtain the
training tailored to meet that new member's needs and calling.
Second, if an individual demands a "professional pastor's" personal attention, he or she will be
frustrated in a mega-church. There's simply no way to hire enough staff to meet the needs of every person
in a several thousand-person church. To be happy in a large church, one must be willing to accept ministry
from people who are not paid to minister.
Third, many mega-churches can be tempted to play it safe and rest on their laurels. The joy of living on
the edge and being forced to step out in faith is quenched by conservative, bureaucratic thinking. In a
future email I am going to address the issue of how we can continue to be what we have always been, a church
that's willing to take risks.
