I’m stumbled across this research from Scott Thumma and Warren Bird on Megachurches. I know not every church is a megachurch but this research is really fascinating.
One stat I found particularly interesting is where attenders came from. The church in the United States has long struggled with reaching people for Christ and we can see, even in dynamic megachurches, that this is no different.
New Member Breakdown for Megachurches:
44% – Local Transfer
28% – Distant Transfer
18% – Dechurched
6% – Unchurched
4% – Organic growth (from within)
To summarize, megachurches only see 6% of their growth from outreach (You could count the 18% in this category too although I’m hesitant to do so not knowing exactly how they categorize ‘dechurched’).
