According to an article by Cathy Lynn Grossman at USA Today, most people who change churches move to larger churches.
But according to Scott Thumma of Hartford Theological Seminary, author of an upcoming book, Beyond Megachurch Myths,
“The 1,200 or so megachurches (defined as churches where 2,000 or more people attend weekend worship) are only one-half of 1% of all U.S. churches and account for only 5% of all weekend worship attenders,” Thumma says.
“And my sense, after years of examining megachurches, is that 80% of the people who join, including those who go through new member classes, are gone within the first two years.”
What was really interesting to me was the large percentage of people who say they left their old church because it “failed to engage their faith, or put their talents to work, or it seemed hypocritical or judgmental”.
So…take courage Church Planters…keep engaging your congregation and remain authentic.
As our friend Dave Anderson said, “You are the mega-church“!
