Friday, March 2, 2007

The Top 22 Churches in America


I am cutting and pasting a great article of the Top 22 Churches in America. I normally would not just cut and paste an article but I thinik it is great when we have a list of churches we can learn from and they all do it different ways. I took this article from http://churchrelevance.com/newsletter/the-top-22-churches-in-america/ if you are a church leader or a youth pastor and you do not subscribe to www.churchrelevance.com you should.


Check out this article //



The Top 22 Churches in America
Church Relevance - Issue 17March 2007by Kent Shaffer
I believe that one of the best available resources to pastors is learning from other churches. But with an estimated 350,000 churches in the United States, it is not easy to determine which ones offer something worth learning. Obviously, there is no time to keep track of them all.
That is why I like lists. While some find it questionable to rank churches, I find lists valuable in helping me to know which churches are worth studying. In fact, I have listed over 350 churches along with the notable lists they have made on Church Relevance’s Churches to Watch page. But no list is perfect.
So in the quest for a more perfect list, I merged seven lists together to determine the top 22 churches in America. Consider them a starting point and a manageable list of churches worth studying.


Lists Referenced
07 AMIC = Outreach magazine’s 2007 America’s 25 Most Innovative Churches
06 FGC = Outreach magazine’s 2006 100 Fastest-Growing U.S. Churches
06 LC = Outreach magazine’s 2006 100 Largest U.S. Churches>> Provides the below attendance numbers
06 MIC = The Church Report’s 2006 50 Most Influential Churches
05 FGC = Outreach magazine’s 2005 100 Fastest-Growing U.S. Churches
05 MIC = The Church Report’s 2005 50 Most Influential Churches
04 FGC = Outreach magazine’s 2004 100 Fastest-Growing U.S. Churches
The BreakdownOut of 350,000 churches in the United States…
22 churches made 5 or more of the 7 lists
10 churches made 6 or more of the 7 lists
4 churches made all 7 lists


Top 22 Churches
LifeChurch.tv (Edmond, OK) :: Craig GroeschelMade Attendance: 16,071>>
Fellowship Church (Grapevine, TX) :: Ed Young Jr.Attendance: 18,124
Saddleback Church (Lake Forest, CA) :: Rick WarrenAttendance: 20,595
New Hope Christian Fellowship (Oahu, HI) :: Wayne CorderoMade Attendance: 11,000Lakewood Church (Houston, TX) :: Joel OsteenAttendance: 45,000
Willow Creek Community Church (South Barrington, IL) :: Bill HybelsMade Attendance: 21,500
The Potter’s House (Dallas, TX) :: T.D. JakesMade Attendance: 14,000
Fellowship of the Woodlands (The Woodlands, TX) :: Kerry ShookMade Attendance: 14,120>> NorthRidge Church (Plymouth, MI) :: Brad Powell Attendance: 12,700
Seacoast Church (Mt. Pleasant, SC) :: Greg SurrattAttendance: 7,000
North Point Community Church (Alpharetta, GA) :: Andy Stanley Attendance: 16,700
Without Walls International (Tampa, FL) :: Randy WhiteMade Attendance: 23,900
Mars Hill Bible Church (Grandville, MI) :: Rob BellAttendance: 10,000
Second Baptist Church (Houston, TX) :: Ed Young Sr.Attendance: 22,266
New Birth Missionary Baptist (Decatur, GA) :: Eddie Attendance: 22,000
Mars Hill Church (Seattle, WA) :: Mark DriscollAttendance: 6,000
Calvary Chapel (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) :: Bob CoyAttendance: 18,300
Southeast Christian Church (Louisville, KY) :: Bob RussellAttendance: 18,520
Christ’s Church of the Valley (Peoria, AZ) :: Don Attendance: 11,250
The Church of the Resurrection (Leawood, KS) :: Adam Attendance: 8,500
Harvest Christian Fellowship (Riverside, CA) :: Greg LaurieAttendance: 15,000
McLean Bible Church (Vienna, VA) :: Lon Attendance: 11,000


The most exciting part of this list is that it proves that success in ministry can be achieved with a variety of models. It represents a wide spectrum of denominations and ministry philosophies reaching an equally diverse spectrum of cultures and communities. Many of them are multi-site churches. Some are innovative. And all of them are large, influential, and fastest-growing.
Dr. John Vaughan of Church Growth Today compiled the research for six of the seven lists, and more in-depth research is available on his website for purchase. Also, if you have enjoyed this list, you should consider subscribing to Outreach magazine and The Church Report to get the latest ideas and stories from effective churches across the nation.
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