One of the most common reasons for pastoral leadership mistakes is blindness to the significance of church size. Size has an enormous impact on how a church functions. There is a “size culture” that profoundly affects how decisions are made, how relationships flow, how effectiveness is evaluated, and what ministers, staff, and lay leaders do. We tend to think of the chief differences between churches mainly in denominational or theological terms, but that underestimates the impact of size on how a church operates. The difference between how churches of 100 and 1,000 function may be much...

Here are three quotes taken from an article at Chron.com that feature three very prominent megachurch pastors.  See if this kind of flies in the face of what many people think about megachurches:  low involvement, low accountability… Here are the quotes… what do you think? Craig Groeschel on “Christian Atheists”: I believe in God but I want to do whatever the heck I want to do. I want enough of God to keep me out of hell and enough of God to get me into heaven but I don’t want so much of God that it makes me change my lifestyle because at its root I believe in God but I...

A new lawsuit by a woman and her husband claims a pastor of a large church “purposefully introduced her into his life of depraved pornography, adultery, scheming, lies and the abandonment of her marriage and family with the intent that it would lead to the destruction of her marriage and family, which he knew would be going against everything she ever believed in or truly desired.” The couple is seeking $6.6 million for breach of fiduciary duty, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and other claims. SOURCE   Folks… this HAS...

From The Inquisitr: A former janitor at a Tulsa megachurch was sentenced to 55 years in prison Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to raping a 13-year-old girl in the church’s stairwell. Chris Denman was sentenced to an additional five years of probation and a $12,000 fine.  In October, Denman pleaded guilty to first-degree rape, forcible oral sodomy of a child, lewd molestation, making a lewd proposal to a child and two counts of using a computer to facilitate a sex crime. There was no plea agreement in place, and Denman faced a life sentence. Denman was accused of the August rape of a 13-year-old...

This is a great example of how NOT to run your church finances, or your personal finances for that matter. Eddie Long has had a rough couple of years… various sexual allegations with young men that were settled out of court, declining membership at his megachurch, and now a divorce… which is bringing new details into view of how convoluted the finances are between Long’s church and his personal finances. And the local TV news investigative reporter is all over the story.  Lesson:  Keep your personal finances personal, and don’t mix it up and blur the lines with the church.  I...

Gene Appel proves there IS life after Willow Creek. According to the Orange County Register: A sprawling building once devoted to the science of flight was rededicated Sunday with another reach-toward-the-sky purpose: as one of the largest churches in north Orange County. Eastside Christian Church paid $20 million for the former Boeing site and an additional $35 million to replace the office cubicles and test floors with concert lighting, a thundering sound system and 1,800 seats. The building reopened with a prayer – “Do mighty works in this room.” – and a pastor’s...

All three of these are news that you need to know about this week: Links (but the video’s much more fun to watch!) Church was 3,000; Now is 200. Down to 1 Pastor. Selling its 60,000 square foot facility $1.2 Billion Pastor Housing Allowance is headed to court Large Church Senior Pastor Survey Says: Your Pay Went up...

A mid-state mayor has a bold vision: mixing church and state and business. The mayor of Mt. Juliet said he plans to actively recruit a mega-church to their city to attract more Sunday afternoon business. “What a boom that would be to our retailers- to have 3,000 or more people exiting church at 12 noon and getting lunch at Providence, or shopping at Providence or going to a movie or spending their day in some other form in Mt. Juliet,” said Mayor Ed Hagerty. The Mayor’s vision goes beyond building economic growth through a mega church. He said he wants to build on his town’s...

OK… this is bizarre. Faith Life Church is a large church ‘Word of Faith’ church located in Branson, MO. And they’re opening a new church… in Sarasota, FL… a megachurch… in just a couple weeks. Pastor Keith Moore announced to the Branson congregation that their new sister church would open in Sarasota on February 5 for their first service. Faith Life Church purchased a large warehouse and has installed 2,700 chairs.  They’ve also paved a 600 space parking lot, done a lot of building improvements and even landscaping. They purchased the building for about...

$12.5 million will get you a 125,000 square foot megachurch building situated on 51 acres in beautiful Johnson County, KS.  You’ll get a 1,400 seat sanctuary, a huge kitchen, a coffee shop, indoor playland, basketball courts and more. The bank foreclosed on First Family Church in Overland Park over three months ago, but the property is turning out to be a hard sell.  While the building is beautiful, it is really functional only as… well, a really big church. So… if you’re in the market to start a megachurch in Kansas… this could be the opportunity you’ve been...