2022 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
Life.Church
Life.Church Edmond, OK - Craig Groeschel
● Largest
2
Church of the Highlands
Church of the Highlands Birmingham, AL - Chris Hodges
● Largest
3
Lakewood Church
Lakewood Church Houston, TX - Joel Osteen
● Largest
4
Crossroads Church
Crossroads Church Cincinnati, OH - Brian Tome
● Largest
5
CCV (Christ's Church of the Valley)
CCV (Christ's Church of the Valley) Peoria, AZ - Ashley Wooldridge
● Fastest ● Largest
6
Saddleback Church
Saddleback Church Lake Forest, CA - Andy Wood
● Largest
7
Elevation Church
Elevation Church Matthews, NC - Steven Furtick
● Largest
8
Southeast Christian Church
Southeast Christian Church Louisville, KY - Kyle Idleman
● Largest ● Reproducing
9
Christ Fellowship Church
Christ Fellowship Church Palm Beach Gardens, FL - Todd Mullins
● Largest
10
North Point Ministries
North Point Ministries Alpharetta, GA - Andy Stanley
● Largest
11
Fellowship Church
Fellowship Church Grapevine, TX - Ed Young
● Largest
12
Central Church
Central Church Henderson, NV - Jud Wilhite
● Largest
13
Mount Zion Baptist Church
Mount Zion Baptist Church Nashville, TN - Joseph W. Walker III
● Largest
14
Gateway Church
Gateway Church Southlake, TX -
● Fastest ● Largest
15
Bayside Church
Bayside Church Roseville, CA - Ray Johnston
● Largest
16
Dream City Church
Dream City Church Phoenix, AZ - Luke Barnett
● Largest
17
LCBC Church
LCBC Church Manheim, PA - Jason Mitchell
● Largest
18
Woodlands Church
Woodlands Church The Woodlands, TX - Kerry Shook
● Largest
19
Rock Church
Rock Church San Diego, CA - Miles McPherson
● Largest
20
12Stone Church
12Stone Church Lawrenceville, GA - Kevin Myers
● Largest