In case you needed more evidence that Americans love all things BIG, Leadership Network has released a new report: North American Megachurches Are Holding Steady During the “Great Recession”
According to the study, megachurches are continuing to see attendance and giving rise even during the recession. (For those of you leading small congregations, insert salt into your wounds now.) And it appears the bigger your church is the more likely you are to see these increases. In the current economic environment churches are falling prey to Darwinism’s survival of the fittest…or at least the survival of the biggest.
Highlights from the survey after the jump…
The survey defines a megachurch as weekly attendance of 2,000 or more.
81 percent of megachurches have increased attendance in 2010
67 percent increased their budgets
64 percent of megachurches gave their staffs a pay increase
4 percent cut salaries in 2010
71 percent of megachurch leaders said the economy was having “no impact” or a “slightly negative” impact on the church.
Check out the full survey at Leadership Network’s website.