As an Irish-Italian Catholic from Massachusetts, mega churches down south seem absolutely bizarre. Honestly, from afar they just seem like scams

I want to give you attendants the benefit of the doubt – why do you actually prefer a mega church to a local smaller church?

44 comments

  1. >Honestly, from afar they just seem like scams

    I’m not a mega church attendee and have no dog in this fight, but I strongly suspect that many of the people you’re looking for opinions from hold similar opinions towards the Catholic Church.

  2. There are many reasons for why one would choose mega churches. I only know and experience one. Local small churches have two glaring problems lots gossip and peer pressure, and low networking support. It’s basically a high school. Those that I know who go to mega church, want to experience the faith while also having the option to ignore the gossip and peer pressure. Another thing is that mega church bring people from all walks of life. You can meet people you would’ve never meet or the church has some network system in place.

    I do find it funny ironic that you would crap on mega churches when the Catholic Church is pretty much a megachurch.

  3. Isn’t the Catholic church the largest most powerful Mega Church?

    Anyways I know people that attend them and (in my opinion) the biggest draw is that they get professional/semi-professional artists to lead the music and the speakers are sometimes celebrity pastors in the church world.

  4. When you said they sounded like scams you made me curious. I didn’t expect the average pastor to make a six figure salary. Also they have benefits with their taxes, along with a high vacancy rate. I’m surprised the average church has members donating that much.

  5. I don’t go to a mega church but one of the things I think attracts people is the opportunity to meet people. I grew up going to a smaller church and for example the youth ministry was pathetic, there were almost no church members under the age of like 35. Large churches typically have active youth groups, singles groups, etc etc.

  6. I don’t go to any church, but isn’t the catholic church the biggest megachurch of them all?

    Pot. Kettle. Black.

  7. My MIL loved her mega church because of the music and the community. I’m a Catholic and had only been to Catholic Churches, so I went with her once and it was nice. It didn’t feel scammy at all, just a nice group of folks giving it up for the lord for an hour.

  8. I’m not a regular churchgoer of any flavor, but I can see why some people like it. The whole experience is very polished and contemporary, from professional musicians, to lighting and production, to kids’ programs, to “relatable” sermons, to small groups and classes for all different ages and affinity groups. The scale of a big church gives it more resources in every area, and for the sort of evangelical protestant who prefers a relaxed, modern vibe (no liturgy, hymns, etc.), they deliver it well.

  9. I’m not a regular attendee though my parents are after they moved South and my in-laws regularly attended one for a while as well. I’ve gone to many Sunday masses there.

    They are really not bizarre IMO. It’s just a different style of worship. I’d say the allure is to have a much more upbeat worship that feels more positive, energetic and uplifting. They heavily use live music to amp everyone up as if you’re in a concert. Then the preachers are typically more energetic as well. It’s all about having a more positive rock concert type energy to the service.

    If you think about the classic, traditionally black and southern gospel music churches you can compare those as the intimate soul music in a lounge version of worship whereas mega churches are the arena rock genre of worship. It’s worshiping with Aretha Franklin in a cocktail bar vs Creed at halftime show at the cowboys game.

    Neither is really my thing as I much prefer to focus on the sermon and the message rather than the music which doesn’t resonate with me as much.

    In any case, they’re not scams. They’re just like any other church. They don’t collect donations/tithe in any different way. They’ll pass the collection trays down aisles just the same. If anything they’re less pushy about it as they don’t do the traditional thing of playing instrumentals while focusing your attention on the fact that they’re collecting. They sort of just pass it around at some seemingly random point in the service. You have to go out of your way to give them more money and it seems that is mostly tied to their Sunday school and other fundraising recreational events that any church does.

    They just operate in a different style that is much more modern with emphasis on rock music and more energetic preaching to connect with their community. They also just happen to be much larger. They have larger buildings that bring in more people and they make it much more modern and larger in scope n every aspect.

  11. My dear friend has been taken hostage and manipulated by one of these. She believes she has changed for the better, and while she has in some ways, this lifestyle has become a new set of shackles and source of feelings of guilt and inadequacy. She’s been my best friend for 30 years and I will be there to help her pick up her pieces when this is done.

  12. > Honestly, from afar they just seem like scams

    How’s the view from inside that glass house? Lol

    But to answer your question, I’m Methodist and don’t necessarily like mega churches, but I’m 30 years old and in the cities where I’ve lived they’re often the only place I can find an actual group of people in the 25-35 demographic.

    I’ve nominally joined one before for the Bible study groups for that reason.

  13. There are a lot of small local churches down south that people attend, most southern Christians do attend those.

    As an fellow cultural (ex-)Catholic from NY, the Church has plenty of it’s own issues.

    It’s all a scam.

  14. There’s a contigent of people in these churches who spent time in small churches doing most of the work, plus having to deal with gossip and judgment. They go to these mega churches so they can hide yet still be able to tell anyone that asks that they attend a church.

  15. I have been to a couple.

    As a Catholic they are anathema to me.

    That said, I see the appeal. Huge upbeat rock concert for Christ vibes. I can see the appeal. But to me that is the opposite of good worship.

    That said, the ones I have been to aren’t scams. They have very strong communities. They have all kinds of outreach and those involved are very earnest. The few that do seem kind of scammy and more like a self help cult usually make the news but the ones I have actually been to don’t feel like that.

    But in the end, I have to say they are definitely protestant nonsense and people should repent and return to mother church. It’s more boring but better for your immortal soul.

  16. The vatican is a supreme mega church. Any catholic basilica would be a mega church as well. The money to maintain them has to come from somewhere.

  17. I am not a regular church goer. I do not attend a mega church, which I define as members in the thousands. My church is barely over 1k.

    I’ve been to Catholic Mass many times. I could argue that you’re the one being scammed. Every single Catholic church follows the same schedule. This is the liturgy for this week and no matter what church you attend you know you’re hearing the same thing. Sounds like the mega-iest mega church I know.

    Mega churches, by which you mean, Protestant churches, have contemporary sounding music, maybe some live music with drums, guitars, possibly a flute, etc. There’s a relatable message from the pastor. They have children’s programs. At my church, children don’t attend the service until they’re 10 years old. They have their own service geared towards their age group going on concurrently in another part of the building.

    It’s a different way of doing things but hardly a scam.

  18. I mean you’re a member of the largest denomination in the world with thousands of k-12 and colleges around the world. Sounds pretty big to me.

    You being an Irish-italian potato-pastafarian at this point in history is minimal to you being catholic or the size church you attend. Plenty of people in the southeast are Irish mixers and blends that attend Baptist and Baptist lite churches. Even Latin Americans attend these churches. Or heck there’s Spanish only seventh day adventist churches!

    Some mega churches are scammy. Others like the ones Charles Stanley led are not. But you probably wouldn’t right him off in that category since his preaching style doesn’t fit that of Northside (his son) or Joel olsteen. Which is on another scale of mega.

    I grew up in the lutheran church. A very large lutheran church by southeast standards. About 300 ppl attending on Sundays across two services. High church like you are used to in the catholic church. Lots of order, gold, floral, silver, fancy crucifixes, robes, etc. Spouse is also lutheran. Very small congregation. And very old. I was fortunate enough to have a youth of about 12-20 kids. So we had a good group. She did not. We didn’t want to be in a church where we are the youngest members. Or in a congregation that may say the *sparkle creed* and then we all go to hell for blasphemy.

    Our current church isn’t mega. But it has probably 800ppl attending across two services. We tried a mega church in Columbia in shandon baptist and they had a pastor leave. First time in their 100+ yr history that happened so that threw the place for a loop.

  19. I agree with you regarding megachurches. But, seriously, you might want to look at the conduct of the Catholic church while you’re at it.

    After all, the slow-rolling scandal of priests molesting children continues with fresh revelations every day, outrages committed with the knowledge of whatever diocese in which they preyed. Paying off families and shipping offending priests to new, unsuspecting parishes is about the farthest thing possible from moral behavior.

    It’s hard to believe that this scandal has been going on for decades now from the time the first revelations came to light. You would have thought that any organization with a conscience would have reacted in horror to this sickening mess, made a full disclosure, and handed the guilty parties over to the police.

    Instead, it has been year after year of denials, coverups, and a general delaying action. When states such as Michigan are having to invoke the RICO statute in order to get at church records regarding sexual assault, then you have a deeply corrupt organization completely at odds with what it preaches in the pulpit.

    I guess what I’m saying is that while a megachurch seems like a scam, the Catholic church is proved without a doubt to be a massive organization in the business of abetting child molesters. By not turning over offending priests to the law, it basically held down the victims for them. By paying hush money to the families and shipping the priest elsewhere, it drove the getaway car.

    And every dollar you stick into the collection plate helps, in a small way, fund its activities.

    My recommendation is that you really need to stick to your own knitting, the way the Apostle Paul counseled in his letter to the Romans. Focus on reforming where you go to church on Sunday. Quit hiding behind the weird and smug ‘Mother Church’ baloney and realize that you are deeply invested in an organization that has proved guilty time and again of outrages far worse than merely lining the pockets of its clergy.

    The megachurches will, individually, fall victim to their own hubris. Your church, on the other hand, seems to lack any kind of shame at all. And its leadership is abetted by the flock who is unable or unwilling to effect meaningful change.

    Those with ears to hear, as the Gospel says, let them hear.

  20. What about the mega churches that are not in the South? Are you OK with those?

    What about Catholic mega churches? Are you OK with those?

    [One of the most famous megachurches of all time is not Southern, and is now a Catholic cathedral](https://archive.is/fosLE):

    > The Catholic Church bought the building in 2011 and spent the past two years transforming the space, from the installation of 11,000 sail-shaped quatrefoil window shades that also help with the acoustics to the addition of a Carrara marble altar from Italy. A 1,000-pound crucifix forged from blackened steel and encrusted with jewels is the centerpiece of the renovated sanctuary, which seats nearly 3,000 people.

    Past the number of folks it can accommodate, that altar and crucifix sound pretty “mega” to me.

  21. > Southerners are ridiculous people who do ridiculous stuff. I don’t “get” this particular thing, so it must be a scam.

    This is your post.

  22. I know a guy who goes to a megachurch.

    He’s pretty nuts. He thinks dinosaurs aren’t real and the world is only 5,000 years old, so I don’t think he has a sensible reason for attending a megachurch lol

    I mean, of course they’re scams? What church isn’t a scam?

  23. All churches are scams, but some are more scammy than others. When in doubt, look at how the church leaders live. Do they have a private jet? Scam. A 20 million buck mansion? Scam. They live in the Vatican and eat dinner off 14th century gold plates but took a vow of “poverty”? Scam.

    Then there’s the less popular religions, commonly called “cults”. Those dudes are REAL grifters. Have to give them all your money? Cult. Can’t shag your wife but the leader can? Cult. Multiple wives? Cult. Do they hand you a snake when you walk in? Cult.

    Two main differences between a cult and a religion – what they do if you try to leave, and how many people are involved. A religion is just a cult on steroids. You leave and the congregation shuns you? Cult. You got 20 followers and your church is called “The First Apostolic Church of the Blood of the Holy Lamb? Cult. You have millions of followers and call yourself “Catholic” or “Presbyterian” or “Muslim”? Religion.

  25. All mega churches are not the same. There are weird mega churches and weird small churches. (There are some bloody *weird* small churches.)

    People go to mega churches for the same reason they go to any other church — they like the pastor or the programs. Or it’s the most convenient.

  26. Simple, I have Aspergers and I dropped out of school. The comfort that one of those ‘megachurches’ given me is now why I can finally have hope in life, live my dream life, and have overall life satisfaction.

    It works for me.

  27. “Megachurch” is a pretty broad category. Basically, it could mean any large Protestant church – typically with architecture that says “convention center” more than “ornate religious space.” Opting for functional religious architecture has been a Protestant thing ever since the Puritans started building white town churches in Massachusetts 400 years ago.

    Unlike smaller churches, you need the resources to handle 5-10K people walking through your doors on a single day, so there’s a lot of AV equipment, childcare space, and so on. Some of these churches are new so all the facilities are nice; others seem dated. But the costs to keep the lights on per member probably isn’t too different from a 500-1,000 member Methodist or Episcopal church.

    Some megachurch pastors preach the prosperity gospel, which you might consider a scam. Others are super Calvinist. Still others are charismatic/Pentecostal and are all about speaking in tongues.

  28. I grew up going to a megachurch in the Midwest, the product of a bunch of ex-Catholics. I converted to Catholicism about five years ago by my own free will – and to the chagrin of my family members – and am now a devout Catholic.

    For my family, it was about still being strongly Christian but also being anti-Catholic and kind of just needing a place to go to church where they could also be anonymous, plus we have a famous megachurch (Willow Creek) right here where we live. I saw another comment saying they think it’s about being able to meet people, and I thought that was so interesting because for my family, it was the opposite – anonymity. You go to church, you leave, you’re lost in the crowd. I never personally loved that lack of connection at church, but I’m also a black sheep type in general amongst my family members.

    To me now, as a Catholic, my old megachurch just seems like Church: The Concert. lol

  29. I occasionally went to Lakewood while I lived in Houston, mainly when I needed a changeup from my liberal Quaker meeting.

    * Unlike smaller services I have been to, I felt no pressure to give anything when the collections came around.
    * The anonymity eases my anxiety. If I don’t want to talk to anyone the whole time, I don’t have to.
    * I prefer the absence of liturgy, though that can be found in churches of many sizes.
    * When you approach with an open mind, it is a moving experience to be surrounded by so many people experiencing their faith at once.

  30. I go to what is technically a mega church, but it’s not your stereotypical mega church. It’s really just your average church that happens to be large, if that makes sense. The pastor isn’t a rock star, there isn’t a fog machine behind the worship band and it doesn’t give off…weird vibes like another mega church in town which shall go unnamed.

    In short, I go because I like the pastor and where his heart is.

  31. My in laws used to go to one, and I went once or twice for Christmas. I think what appealed to them was most like … production value? I was totally creeped out by the whole thing but they did put a lot of money and effort into the service.

  32. I go to a small mainline protestant church, but my town has 2 or 3 of these “freedom center” types of churches that have attracted a lot of young families over the last decade or so. I think what they like best is the sense of community. My church has like 40 regularly active members, with most of them being 70+. Not a lot of other youth for my kids to get to know, and it’s sort of pathetic. I still go because it’s the church I grew up in and i like all the people, but an outsider coming in would think it’s cringey as f*ck. So I think people just like the community of those megachurches. It feels more alive.

  33. The appeal is the social aspect. It’s the Amazon of church, a one stop shop experience.

    You can get rid of the kids for a few hours. They will be entertained with games, fun and snacks.

    Teenagers have their own place to hang out. They too will be entertained and will not be your problem for a while.

    Single college, single parent, married, widow, divorced, senior citizen… whatever group you are, there is a program, class, group or activity for you. If there isn’t, tell someone you exist and they will make one.

    Come in, get rid of the burden of the kids for a while, sit down and tune in or tune out for a while.

    That’s why.

  34. I live down the street from a famous mega church. Really enjoy driving over cones they put out on public street every Sunday. Been there a couple of times, they are saving people from a second god that is half goat, half human. Mostly attend for funeral services they make up stuff about how the deceased fought against socialism. Which of course if it was true I wouldn’t be paying respects

  35. One of the big differences between the Catholic Church and a megachurch comes from their approach to salvation.

    The Catholics believe that the way to salvation is through the church. Participation in the church itself becomes important, and it’s equally important that the church itself is structured to provide proper guidance. Thus, the whole bureaucracy of priests and bishops to archbishops and cardinals to the Pope is an important system of checks and balances to ensure that the preached message is the correct one, and that the support the church receives can be used effectively by the church.

    So, when the Catholic sees the megachurch, where the structure reaches the head pastor and… just ends, it can look like a scam. The checks and balances generated through centuries of building the organization just aren’t there. Where does the authority come from?

    Most southern megachurches are Baptist in attitude, and the idea of salvation comes from having a personal relationship with Christ. What this means is that the path to salvation is direct from Christ to individual, and the church doesn’t actually directly matter. The church is how people can come together in their love of Christ, how they can support each other, build outreach from there, etc. But it’s not the source of salvation. It doesn’t need the checks and balances, because the salvation dwells within each person.

    Of course, neither structure is perfect, and there’s plenty of ways for corruption to appear within the solid Catholic foundation or the loose Baptist congregation. But both have their ways of working.

  37. I used to go to a Mega church back when I was a Christian.

    Honestly…the energy in a Mega church is like nothing else. Unlike most churches that just leave you tired, the preachers in a Mega church just give you energy. Which is obviously by design, can’t have a crowd of thousands if the preacher isn’t charismatic and even funny at times.

    And there were a whole lot of other reasons. Since it had so many people, we could almost always count on running into friends and acquaintances in the lobby. The church band was genuinely talented. They had a cafe if my parents needed coffee before service. And every Christmas, they had a very well put together recreation of Bethlehem.

    Look, don’t think I’m defending Mega churches for even a second, those places are absolutely businesses that take advantage of religion and pay 0 taxes. I’m just pointing out reasons why they appeal to people (which is part of the problem, they’re just so much appealing).

  38. I grew up going to a small mega church. The pastor was only a millionaire, not multi. It was always don’t forget to tithe and the preacher promoting his marriage seminars. My mom finally stopped making me go when I would just fall asleep every Sunday. My sister goes to Kenneth Copelands church. I don’t see how they don’t see a literal fucking demon in him. I was truely disgusted when they paid like 8k to go to their “Bible college” program out of our inheritance money from our grandma who sadly would of supported it all the way. On the other hand I used mine to travel Asia and whore on Asian girls and ladyboys. Money well spent :’)

  40. My cousin goes to a mega church. When she became a single mom, a lot of smaller churches were very judgmental. The mega church welcomed her without judgment. Easy choice to make for her.

  41. I agree with your impression.

    I don’t go to a megachurch; I’m Catholic. But I did used to go to a small parish (like maybe 200 total parishioners), and then switched to the Basilica in Minneapolis (> 200 people every mass).

    It was mostly to blend into the crowd. I didn’t like the fact that people recognized me or took interest in my life. I know that sounds antisocial. But I don’t go for nosy nancies or to socialize. I go to pray, receive the Eucharist, and leave. When I’m one of hundreds, it’s easier to do that.

  43. Do the Catholic Churches not seem like scams? Lol. But the mega churches are a lot more “fun” than a long boring Catholic mass. I don’t go to either but I kinda get it.

  44. I live on Cape Cod and we have a mega church here.

    Whenever I hear people talk about it, they talk about community, and how fun the services are, and how welcoming it is, and all those other uplifting, fun things.

    I asked one of them what their teachings are, and they couldn’t describe them. The best they could come up with was some kind of Bible based generic church that’s not tied to any denomination.

    That is true, but what they don’t mention, and I suspect a lot of the people who go there don’t realize, is that it is a fundamentalist church, led by a pastor who was trained in the Baptist denomination. They believe in being saved in the dunk tank, and the infallible word of God in the Bible.

    They leave off a lot of things because this is Massachusetts and they don’t want to come out and say they’re anti-gay or anything like that but come on. I’m watching a documentary on Hillsong right now and it’s the same thing.

    Maybe I am being extra weird, but it also kind of freaks me out how they actively seek out 12 steppers and other people in recovery.

    [Cape Cod Church](https://www.capecodchurch.com/)

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