Image from Hartford Report cover
United Methodist Focus | July 16, 2026
The Hartford Institute for Religion Research consistently produces reports about congregational life in the United States that show trends important for church leaders to understand. Their Faith Communities Today research provides snapshots of congregations of all sizes across religious traditions in the country at five-year intervals. One special area of expertise with which they are associated is their analysis of trends among the very largest congregations, sometimes called megachurches. These are churches with in-person weekly attendance of 2,000 or more.
Warren Bird and Scott Thumma have tracked the growth of these very large churches throughout the 21st century. Such large churches go far back in American church life, but there was an increase in their numbers beginning in the 1970s and 1980s. The authors point out that in the last 50 years these large churches, still representing less than 1 percent of the roughly 335,000 Protestant churches in the United States, are where over 10 million people worship, about 17 percent of worshipers per weekend.
Some who are seeking a congregation may be drawn to these larger churches, while others may seek smaller churches. Most churchgoers will not find it helpful to suggest that one size is “better” than another. Each has its strengths, and research suggests that there are common elements as well as differences among churches of varying sizes.
The question is, “What can we learn from one another?” And the resources of this recent study offer one opportunity to focus upon possible learnings, this time related to the five-year journeys of congregations following the pandemic.
A recent Hartford Institute report, Megachurch Resurgence: How Big-Attendance Churches Rebounded After the Pandemic, seeks especially to assess how large churches are doing after the pandemic. This is one component of Hartford’s important larger study of the pandemic’s impact on all congregations, Exploring the Pandemic Impact on Congregations: Innovation Amidst and Beyond COVID-19.
Our goal in this article is to see if there are things churches of all sizes might learn from these findings that report on very large churches. Those in smaller churches often find it hard to imagine what such large churches are like. It is common to think of megachurches as different enough from our own smaller churches as to be irrelevant to how we do things.
This study offers a chance for learning as it relates to a challenge all churches have faced following the hardships of the pandemic. And it can also lead congregations to consider whether the disaster of the pandemic may have led to new ways of being in ministry.
Trends Megachurches and Smaller Churches Have in Common
Frequency of attendance. Churches of all sizes report a decline in the frequency of worship attendance. This is a trend that precedes the pandemic and is a major factor in the decline in average worship attendance over two decades. For United Methodists, the consistent attendance decline began in 2002 after strong attendance patterns in the 1990s. The Hartford survey found that for megachurches, 68 percent of attenders come once a month compared to 5 percent who attend 3 or more Sundays a month. While the frequency of attendance is down since 2020 for megachurches, their overall reach has expanded so they typically showed higher attendance even if less frequent. The decline in frequency is present but not nearly so great for small churches. While frequency of attendance is down across all church sizes, churches smaller than megachurches show less proportional decline in the rate of attendance.
Conflict. During the pandemic, 88 percent of megachurches stopped meeting in person, as did most churches of all sizes. Across all churches, the study found that “the longer a congregation disrupted their normal pattern of worship, the more detrimental it was to their eventual flourishing.” Those who think that their churches were alone in experiencing dissent over their Covid response should know that only 5 percent of megachurches had no conflict about their pandemic response.
Primary Source of income. Megachurches receive 91 percent of their income from the tithes and offerings of individuals and families. Churches of all sizes also receive most of their income from the same source.
Some Ways Megachurches Differ from Smaller Churches
Less Likely to Be Denominationally Affiliated. There has been a significant increase in the number of megachurches identifying as “independent or non-denominational” in the past five years with fewer listing a denominational affiliation. This change corresponds to the increased numbers of non-denominational churches in the country as well. However, the presence of nondenominational churches is higher among megachurches than among all congregations in the country. Religion statistician Ryan Burge, in a separate research report, estimates that 4 percent of megachurches identify themselves with a mainline denomination. According to 2024 denominational statistics, United Methodist churches reporting average in-person worship attendance of 2,000 or more included Resurrection, Leawood, Kansas; The Gathering, St. Louis; St. Luke’s, Indianapolis; Highland Park, Dallas; and New Covenant, The Villages, Florida.
Long term pastor. The lead pastor of megachurches has served in that role for 15 years, the same as in 2000. Such long-term pastoral tenure is uncommon for smaller congregations.
Electronic giving. Most churches had to find ways to offer new ways of giving during the pandemic. For many churches, it became the time to introduce electronic methods of giving to their congregations. Now one reason to continue to encourage and enhance automated giving is that it fits the way increasing numbers of people of all ages handle their finances. The megachurch research indicates that these churches receive a median of 75 percent of their income through automated means. While churches of all sizes reported significantly increased use of electronic giving by 2025, churches of all sizes receive closer to 40 percent of their income by automated means.
Some Ways Megachurches Report Faring Better Than Other Churches
One answer to how the largest churches appear to be doing five years after the pandemic is they have “come back,” with over 80 percent saying they are thriving.
Growing. While there is a slight increase in the percentage of churches reporting increased worship attendance in 2025 from previous years where decline was so pronounced, the rate of growth is much higher for the very large churches. The median growth rate for megachurches between 2020 and 2025 was 20 percent, the same as it had been between 2015 and 2020. Smaller churches have a lower growth rate. Research has long shown that the likelihood of attendance growth tends to decline with the size of churches.
Finances. While the median income grew for all size congregations since before the pandemic at a rate that exceeded the rate of inflation, when asked to rate the financial health of their congregations in 2025, 53 percent of megachurches said it was excellent compared to 34 percent for churches of all sizes.
Racial diversity. Megachurch racial diversity has continued to increase. In 2025, 66 percent of megachurches were multiracial. Multiracial is defined as no one race comprising 80 percent or more of a congregation. This study confirms other research that shows that racial diversity tends to increase as churches become larger. However, the presence of congregations comprised totally of one race continues to decline across all church sizes.
Vitality and strength. Congregational vitality and strength compared to before the pandemic is reported stronger for 84 percent of megachurches whereas for churches of all sizes, 58 percent say theirs is stronger. The survey did not define “vitality and strength,” leaving the definition to those responding to the survey.
Large Church Priorities That Many Churches of All Sizes Value
Small groups. Virtually all megachurches make small groups a priority. Fully 94 percent report that small groups are “central to our strategy of Christian nurture and spiritual formation.” However, the researchers note that megachurches struggle to make small groups work as they hope, with only 40 percent of regularly participating adults being part of a small group.
Evangelism. Megachurches make evangelism a top priority, including being especially good at incorporating new people. Since the pandemic, churches of all sizes have experienced people not returning and new people attending. This is true even in churches that are not growing. However, megachurches continue to find ways to reach new people in enough numbers to counter the trend of less frequent worship attendance found among churches of all sizes. This study of megachurches found, interestingly, that what is often called the “attractional model” of church is still effective for many of the megachurches. In addition to a focus on worship experiences that draw those not normally attending church, this model includes a priority of involving their regular participants in reaching new people.
Community engagement. Closely tied with evangelism efforts is another feature of megachurches: the engagement with their larger community and especially the use of their facilities to serve the community. Today churches of all sizes are realizing the assets they may already possess that could be a blessing to others around them, including the use of their facilities. Churches that thrive today are not isolated from their communities but deeply immersed in them, no matter the size of the congregations.
Laboratories of innovation. This is a term Bird and Thumma use to capture one of the main reasons megachurches have experienced such a strong comeback from their pandemic shutdowns. Trying new things and experimenting is equally available to churches of all sizes. In fact, even the smallest of congregations demonstrated trying new things because of the pandemic in ways not often associated with churches of their size. The lesson for today for all churches is that creativity and openness to try new things is equally important today as it was in 2020. The pandemic may be over, but there are challenges religious life faces today that present comparable challenges.
One question asked in the megachurch survey was, “What’s an out-of-the-box idea your church has been trying that is bearing good fruit?” The areas of focus for these reported experiments were clustered around “creative community engagement, reimagined discipleship structures, new uses of church facilities, and unconventional outreach strategies.” The single most common theme was “using church facilities and property as community assets rather than simply worship venues.” Churches reported on transforming church property into community assets, including parks, community centers, clinics, schools, childcare partnerships, and gathering spaces. Many churches also highlighted creative community engagement initiatives such as school partnerships, community service projects, refugee support, prison ministry, and neighborhood-based outreach. While some innovation involved technology, “most fruitful innovations generally focused on building relationships, serving communities, and creating new pathways for discipleship and leadership development.”
What about Each Church Now?
How, then, can churches of all sizes learn from this study? A number of learnings have been suggested in the summaries above that any congregation can examine to discern its relevance to their own settings.
And what about your church? In addition to these ideas, you can identify churches of about the same size or just larger than your congregation. Ask each of them what different things they have done in the past five years. Which ones are bearing fruit? What have they learned even from initiatives that did not work out? Then assess what you learn as you take into account your congregation’s context and culture. What new ideas do these stories spark in your imagination? Then, think not in terms of “doing something different” but rather of “trying something” or “conducting an experiment.” People are far more willing to try something new if they are not asked to commit to it forever. Leaders also need a graceful “out” if things do not bear the intended fruit anticipated.
With almost 20 percent of today’s megachurches founded since 2000, it appears that very large churches will be a growing part of the nation’s religious landscape. Instead of seeing such churches as competitors, each congregation can look for clues that fit their own church, quite apart from size. Your church may already be utilizing some of the practices made more common by megachurches without even being aware it.
The question can continue to guide our ministries in congregations of every size: “What can we learn from one another?”
Notes
Megachurch Resurgence: How Big-Attendance Churches Rebounded After the Pandemic by Warren Bird, Ph.D., and Scott Thumma, Ph.D., Hartford Institute for Religion Research, 2026.
“Ryan Burge … estimates” Ryan Burge, “America’s Largest Churches: Over a Decade of Data,” Graphs about Religion Substack newsletter, June 25, 2026.
The Rev. Lovett H. Weems Jr.
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United Methodist Focus is the Substack blog of the Rev. Dr. Lovett H. Weems, Jr., distinguished professor of church leadership emeritus at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC. He came to Wesley in 2003 as the founding director of the Wesley’s Lewis Center for Church Leadership after eighteen years as president of Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City. Previously he was a pastor in Mississippi for many years. He is the author of many books on church leadership that have had a broad appeal to a large constituency of leaders in both the public and private sectors.