Megachurch Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! == Features == A megachurch has been defined by Hartford Institute for Religion Research (2006) and others as any Protestant Christian church which at least 2,000 attend in a [[weekend]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.usachurches.org/church-sizes.htm |title=Church Sizes |publisher=www.USAChurches.org The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=29 August 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news| last = Baird| first = Julia | title = The good and bad of religion-lite | url=https://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/the-good-and-bad-of-religionlite/2006/02/22/1140563858123.html | access-date = 5 November 2006 | date=23 February 2006}}</ref><ref>Turner, Bryan S.; ''The New Blackwell Companion to the Sociology of Religion'', John Wiley & Sons, 2010, p. 251.</ref><ref name="hartford" /> The [[OED]] suggests that megachurches often include educational and social activities and are usually Protestant and Evangelical.<ref>{{OED|megachurch|id=115861}}</ref> These large congregations are a significant development in Protestant Christianity.{{sfn|Loveland|Wheeler|2003|p=3}} Most of these churches build their building in the suburbs of large cities, near major roads and highways, to be visible to as many people as possible and easily accessible by car.{{sfn|Hunt|2019|p=77}}<ref> Wilford, Justin G.; ''Sacred Subdivisions: The Postsuburban Transformation of American Evangelicalism'', NYU Press, 2012, p. 78.</ref> Some install a large cross to edify believers and evangelize potential new members.{{sfn|Loveland|Wheeler|2003|p=156}} A 2020 study by the Hartford Institute found that 70 percent of American megachurches had a [[Multi-site church|multi-site]] network and an average of 7.6 [[Church service|services]] per weekend.<ref>[https://www.christianitytoday.com/pastors/2020/november-web-exclusives/us-megachurches-multisite-small-group-hartford.html Maria Baer "US Megachurches Are Getting Bigger and Thinking Smaller" christianitytoday.com, 19 November 2020]</ref> The study also found that most U.S. megachurches are in Florida, Texas, California, and Georgia.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Allen |last=Kim |title=What is a megachurch? |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/27/us/what-is-a-megachurch-explainer/index.html |access-date=30 March 2021 |publisher=CNN |date=27 April 2019}}</ref> Churches in which more than 10,000 people gather every Sunday have been dubbed ''gigachurches''.<ref> {{Cite web |last=Tribune |first=Jeff Strickler Star |title=What makes a gigachurch go? |url=https://www.startribune.com/what-makes-a-gigachurch-go/25636704/ |access-date=2023-12-18 |website=Star Tribune}} </ref><ref> Stanley D. Brunn, ''The Changing World Religion Map: Sacred Places, Identities, Practices and Politics'', Springer, USA, 2015, p. 1683</ref> In 2015, there were about 100 gigachurches in the United States. <ref>[https://outreachmagazine.com/features/14529-multisite-2016-whats-new-and-whats-next.html Multisite 2016: What’s New and What’s Next? outreachmagazine.com, Jim Tomberlin, 31 December 2015] </ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page