Largest and Fastest-Growing Churches in America

조지아 12스톤교회 등 바이블벨트 지역 교회 강세

▲100대 대형교회 2위에 오른 조지아 노스포인트커뮤니티교회(위)와 100대 급성장교회 1위에 오른 12스톤교회.

최근 미국 기독교 격월간지 ‘아웃리치’에 발표된 미국 ‘100대 대형교회’와 ‘100대 급성장 교회’ 리스트에서 조지아에 위치한 노스포인트커뮤니티교회와 12스톤교회가 각각 대형교회 2위와 급성장 1위를 차지해 주목된다. 100대 교회를 지역별로 보면 남동부 지역에 가장 많은 33개가 밀집돼 있어 바이블벨트로서의 명성을 유지했다.

노스포인트커뮤니티교회는 현재 앤디 스탠리 목사가 이끌고 있으며, 매주 2만4천명 이상의 교인이 출석하고 있다. 대형교회 2위에 오른 노스포인트교회는 성장 순위에서도 68위를 차지, 지속적인 성장을 하고 있는 것으로 분석됐다.

미국 100대 대형교회 1위는 텍사스 레이크우드교회(조엘 오스틴 목사, 교인 수 43,500명)가 올라 4년 연속 1위를 차지했으며, 2위로 조지아 노스포인트커뮤니티교회(앤디 스탠리 목사, 교인 수 24,325명), 3위 텍사스 세컨드침례교회(에드 영 목사, 교인 수 24,041명), 4위 일리노이 윌로우크릭커뮤니티교회(빌 하이벨스 목사, 교인 수 24,000명), 5위 켄터키 사우스이스트크리스천교회(데이브 스톤 목사, 교인 수 19,230명)가 각각 순위에 올랐다.

100대 급성장 교회로는 1위 조지아 12스톤교회(케빈 마이어스 목사), 2위 텍사스 익스페리언스라이프교회(크리스 갈라노스 목사), 3위 캘리포니아 더락교회&월드아웃리치센터(짐 코브래 목사), 4위 오클라호마 피플스교회(허버트 쿠퍼 목사), 5위 미조리 세인트루이스페이스교회(데이빗 크랭크 목사)가 차지했다.

급성장교회 1위에 오른 12스톤교회는 지난 1년 사이 2,226명의 새 교인이 등록하면서 30%의 성장세를 경험했다. 이 교회는 지난 해 100대 급성장 교회 16위에 오른 바 있으며 올해 처음으로 1위에 올랐다.

케빈 마이어스 목사가 이끄는 12스톤교회는 지난 1978년 창립된 이후 3~4번의 교회 이전을 경험했으나 최근 몇 년간 5배로 급성장해 주목되고 있다.

위 순위는 지난 2월과 3월 주일 평균 출석 교인 수를 조사한 것으로 대형교회는 5,500명 이상, 급성장 교회는 1,000명 이상 교회를 조사해 순위를 매긴 것이다. 한인교회로는 유일하게 남가주사랑의교회가 올랐으나 출석 교인 수가 다소 감소하면서 지난 해에 비해 하락했다. 한편 100대 교회 순위에 든 교회 중 절반에 가까운 49개 교회가 무교단으로 나타났다.

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Outreach magazine releases annual issue. Report shows increase in church attendance.

VISTA, Calif., Sept. 8, 2010—Research used to compile the Outreach Magazine/LifeWay Research Largest and Fastest-Growing Churches in America lists indicates that attendance in the churches on the Fastest-Growing list has increased over last year. Combined, total attendance was 643,727, an increase of 75,246. The lists appear in Outreach magazine’s 2010 Outreach 100 Special Issue, published Sept. 15, 2010.

To survey churches for this report, Outreach again partnered with LifeWay Research for the fourth consecutive year. Led by LifeWay Research President and Outreach columnist Dr. Ed Stetzer, researchers contacted more than 8,000 churches to gather the self-reported data used to compile the lists. The listings are based on February and March weekend attendance averages.

The 2010 Outreach 100 Special Issue includes more research and statistics than ever before, as well as more profiles of churches.

“As we approached the 2010 Outreach 100, we knew we wanted to tell more stories of churches to truly reflect their impact and to get to the heart of why they’re growing,” Outreach magazine Editor Lindy Lowry said. “So we increased the number of profiles from five to 15 and added several other feature-length articles offering the stories behind the numbers. Ultimately, The Outreach 100 is not so much about numbers as it is the individuals those numbers represent—people who have found hope in Jesus, and the churches pointing them to Him.”

“The Outreach 100 lists are a window into the ongoing lives and ministries of churches in motion,” Stetzer said. “They give us a freeze frame from an epic motion picture that is engaged in God’s mission.”

The 2010 Outreach 100 also includes a candid conversation with Matt Chandler, pastor of The Village Church in Flower Mound, Texas (No. 59 Largest and No. 81 Fastest-Growing), who on Thanksgiving Day last year was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Chandler shares what God is doing in his public fight against cancer and his leadership at The Village Church.

The special issue also contains an article about churches working to elevate their communities via Dream Centers. It features five large churches throughout the country, including Healing Place Church in Baton Rouge, La., Church of the Highlands in Birmingham, Ala., Seacoast Church in Mt. Pleasant, S.C., New Life Church in Conway, Ark., and the Los Angeles Dream Center, the inaugural Dream Center model established 16 years ago by Pastor Matthew Barnett. Today, Dream Center LA serves 40,000 people each month in South Central Los Angeles and has birthed 180 autonomous locations worldwide.

The Largest and Fastest-Growing lists are based on February and March weekend attendance averages. The 2010 Largest list includes churches with an attendance of more than 5,500 while this year’s Fastest-Growing list includes churches with attendance greater than 1,000; a numerical gain of 250 or more; and a percentage gain of at least 3 percent. Rankings for Fastest-Growing Churches are determined by factoring both percentage growth and numerical gain.

Fastest-Growing Churches Fast Facts

1. Some 643,727 people are represented by the combined attendance of the Outreach 100 Fastest-Growing Churches in America. These churches added 75,246 people over their combined previous year’s attendance, an average of more than 750 per church.
Q> What about the overall number of Christians?

2. The state with the most churches on the Fastest-Growing list (14) is Texas. Florida and Illinois have eight, followed by California (seven), Georgia and Tennessee (both with six).

3.Combined, the 100 Fastest-Growing churches represent 373 worship sites, an average of almost four per church and 93 more than last year.

4. The youngest church on the Fastest-Growing list is Experience Life, Lubbock, Texas, (No. 2), founded in 2007. The oldest church is Mountain Christian Church, Joppa, Md. (No. 78), founded in 1824.

Largest Churches Fast Facts

1. Some 1,012,832 people are represented by the combined attendance of the Outreach 100 Largest Churches in America.

2. Combined, the 100 Largest churches represent 384 worship sites. Brentwood Baptist Church, Brentwood, Tenn. (No. 77) has the most with 27 (primarily deaf-church sites) followed by First Baptist Church Springdale and Pinnacle Hills, Springdale, Ark., with 16, many of which are in prisons and apartment buildings.

3. Texas has the most Largest churches with 17 followed by California with 16, Georgia (nine), Florida (seven) and Illinois and Ohio with five.

4. Almost half (49) of the Largest churches identify themselves as “nondenominational.”

5. The youngest church on the Largest list is Elevation Church, Matthews, N.C. (No. 95), founded in 2006. The oldest is The Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral of New York, Jamaica, N.Y., (No. 63), founded in 1834.

Top 5 Fastest-Growing U.S. Churches
(church name, location, pastor, growth by percent, by number)

1. 12Stone Church, Lawrenceville, Ga., Kevin Myers (30 percent, +2,226)

2. Experience Life Church, Lubbock, Texas, Chris Galanos (60 percent, +1,061)

3. The Rock Church and World Outreach Center, San Bernardino, Calif., Jim Cobrae (25 percent, +2,646)

4. People’s Church, Oklahoma City, Okla., Herbert Cooper (58 percent, +1,085)

5. Faith Church of St. Louis, Fenton, Mo., David Crank (36 percent, +1,200)


Top 5 Largest U.S. Churches
(church name, location, pastor, attendance)

1. Lakewood Church, Houston, Texas, Joel Osteen, (43,500)

2. North Point Community Church, Alpharetta, Ga., Andy Stanley (24,325)

3. Second Baptist Church, Houston, Texas, Ed Young Sr. (24,041)

4. Willow Creek Community Church, South Barington, Ill., Bill Hybels (24,000)

5. Southeast Christian Church, Louisville, Ky., Dave Stone (19,230)


San Diego, California-based Outreach magazine offers the ideas, insights and stories of today’s outreach-oriented Bible-based churches. Founded in January 2003 by church communications company Outreach, Inc., Outreach is an award-winning leading periodical for church leadership. Outreach is available by subscription. For more information, visit OutreachMagazine.com.

The Outreach 100 lists were compiled by LifeWay Research and include only Protestant churches—as defined by the American Religious Data Archive—that opted to participate in the study. The Outreach 100 is based on a self-reported survey, not an independent investigation. Outreach and LifeWay are not responsible for errors/discrepancies in self-reported data or churches not opting to report. Copyright © 2010. All rights reserved.