All About the Benjamins

Outreach magazine just recently released its annual Special Issue featuring the list of America's 100 Largest Churches and 100 Fastest Growing Churches. Of course, people have many different reactions to such a statistical breakdown of spirituality. Some see numbers as the indisputable, tell-all indicator. Others feel that numbers are in no way indicative of overall health. Still others, like myself, are somewhere in the middle.

In either case, the issue is always a fascinating one. They define "fastest growing" as a church's membership increase by percentage and raw numbers in the past year. The fastest growing church in America this time last year was Iglesia Cristiana Segadores de Vida in Hollywood, FL. It originally started as a house-church system and has spawned into the 69th overall largest church in the U.S.

Here are the current top 10 largest churches in America:

1. Lakewood Church - Houston, TX

2. Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX

3. North Point Community Church - Alpharetta (Atlanta), GA

4. Willow Creek Community Church - South Barrington (Chicago), IL

5. Lifechurch.tv - Edmond (Ok. City), OK

6. West Angeles Cathedral - Los Angeles, CA

7. Fellowship Church - Grapevine, TX

8. Saddleback Church - Lake Forest, CA

9. Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale - Fort Lauderale, FL

10. The Potter's House - Dallas, TX

There is so much more to be said about all of this, so stay tuned. Also give your feedback on this concept. One thing that immediately hit me when looking at the list was the fact of Houston, TX featuring the 2 largest churches in America. As I noticed that, the comment that was made by some after Katrina hit New Orleans came to mind - remember when some misinformed Christians insisted New Orleans was hit directly as a result of the city's illicit sin? Surely in some way natural disasters are a result of sin's presence in the world at large and are a result of man's fall - but let's be honest all of our cities are deserving in that case. Further, if that is the criteria for where hurricane's make landfall it's interesting that Ike would choose Houston - home to the 2 largest Christian churches...