2018 Largest Participating Churches

The shape of the American megachurch is constantly shifting.
What are the churches at the forefront of the movement and how are they innovating?

Each year, the Lifeway Research team surveys churches, verifies the numbers, calculates the results and compiles the lists. In preparation for this annual report, they solicited participation from more than 10,000 churches. Through the process, they were contacted multiple times by email and fax. This is a self-reported survey, based on attendance averages, not membership. Churches that participated answered questions about their 2024 in-person, weekend attendance averages for February and March as compared to their 2023 numbers. The final Fastest-Growing rankings reflect an average of numerical gain and percentage gain.

To provide as complete of a list as possible for the Largest Churches, in addition to the Lifeway Research survey, we drew numbers from Hartford Institute for Religion Research—which is not a survey, but is secondary research drawn from publicly available attendance data. This included the church's own website, year-end reports, public interviews and attendance reporting in sermons online. We integrated that public data with the self-reported survey from Lifeway. Whenever the survey and the public data reported on the same church, we reported the church's response to the survey. Although we go to great lengths to confirm data, the information is reported by pastors, staff or church officers, or was publicly available at the time the information was collected. The timing of these attendance estimates varies. As such, the reporting reflects their perception and the attendance figures they have published on the internet or disclosed in services. And, of course, this is a survey (for those who responded) or a wire:publicly available number (for those on the Hartford site, HIRR.Hartsem.edu ). This is not an investigation of those numbers, but is a survey and list.

Explore the Outreach 100 study and how your church can participate in the coming years »
Denomination
See Different Year
1
Church of the Highlands
Church of the Highlands Birmingham, AL - Chris Hodges
● Fastest ● Largest
2
North Point Ministries
North Point Ministries Alpharetta, GA - Andy Stanley
● Largest
3
Crossroads Church
Crossroads Church Cincinnati, OH - Brian Tome
● Fastest ● Largest
4
CCV (Christ's Church of the Valley)
CCV (Christ's Church of the Valley) Peoria, AZ - Ashley Wooldridge
● Fastest ● Largest
5
Christ Fellowship Church
Christ Fellowship Church Palm Beach Gardens, FL - Todd Mullins
● Fastest ● Largest
6
Gateway Church
Gateway Church Southlake, TX -
● Largest
7
Elevation Church
Elevation Church Matthews, NC - Steven Furtick
● Largest
8
Saddleback Church
Saddleback Church Lake Forest, CA - Andy Wood
● Largest
9
Southeast Christian Church
Southeast Christian Church Louisville, KY - Kyle Idleman
● Largest ● Reproducing
10
Eagle Brook Church
Eagle Brook Church Centerville, MN - Jason Strand
● Largest
11
Second Baptist Church
Second Baptist Church Houston, TX - H. Edwin Young
● Largest
12
Mount Zion Baptist Church
Mount Zion Baptist Church Nashville, TN - Joseph W. Walker III
● Fastest ● Largest
13
Flatirons Community Church
Flatirons Community Church Lafayette, CO - Jim Burgen
● Largest
14
LCBC Church
LCBC Church Manheim, PA - Jason Mitchell
● Fastest ● Largest
15
Bayside Church
Bayside Church Roseville, CA - Ray Johnston
● Largest
16
12Stone Church
12Stone Church Lawrenceville, GA - Kevin Myers
● Largest
17
New Life Church
New Life Church Conway, AR - Rick Bezet
● Fastest ● Largest
18
Celebration Church
Celebration Church Jacksonville, FL - Stovall Weems
● Fastest ● Largest
19
Community Bible Church
Community Bible Church San Antonio, TX - Ed Newton
● Fastest ● Largest ● Reproducing
20
Family Christian Center
Family Christian Center Munster, IN - Steve Munsey
● Largest