Sunday, June 18, 2006

Impact and integrity of Mega-churches

I'm up late (it's 2:23 am, Louisville time) with an serious heartburn, but thankful for the world wide web as one's window to the world. Here's an interesting article (from the Weekly Standard) about so-called mega-churches and their increasing cultural influence/impact. There's little in the article to be defensive about (being a member of Fellowship Bible Church, a mega-church in a Nashville exurb), but I'm encouraged by these conclusions of the author:
The average income of a mega-church is $6 million. According to the Hartford report, mega-churches do not emphasize money, as skeptics might imagine, though worshippers are encouraged to tithe. The mega-churches are more than simply Sunday extravaganzas and have "high spiritual expectations and feature serious orthodox beliefs and preaching." Contrary to liberal notions of Republican manipulation, most mega-churches are not overtly political and internalize a separation between the church and the politics of the worshippers. And most mega-churches intentionally attempt to be racially and economically inclusive.

No comments: