Majority of U.S. Megachurches Now Multiracial, New Data Says

Popular megachurch Lakewood Church in Houston, pre-pandemic. Creative Commons photo.

A pre-pandemic study of megachurches in the U.S. shows that these congregations are growing in diversity and size — and that many were already well on their way to having online worship programs before the pandemic hit. 

The study, conducted by Dr. Scott Thumma and Dr. Warren Bird with the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, ECFA, and Leadership Network, took place in early 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic changed attendance, practice and financial standing of many churches. It serves as the most recent update in a long-term series of surveys that has been conducted every five years since 2000. 

COVID-19 has changed church attendance plenty on its own. According to data from Barma, those who attended church at least monthly prior to COVID-19 have experienced a change; 34% were engaging in digital “church hopping,” and 32% say they did not stream church online at all. 

Of the churches surveyed, 58% report being multiracial — compare that to 21% of churches that said the same thing in 2000, and 47% in 2015. 

The study defined “multiracial” to mean that 20% or more of the church’s congregation is made up of minority worshippers. A megachurch is defined in the study by two main characteristics: a Protestant denomination and 1,800 average attenders or more pre-pandemic. The survey analyzes responses from 582 churches that fit this description. 

Some of the diversity comes with a growth of church population — the median of church attendance has increased from 3,800 adults and children each weekend in 2015 to 4,200 in 2020 — but it more likely arises from intentional effort within churches to draw in and incorporate diverse congregants.

When asked, “Is [the congregation] striving to be diverse (e.g. racially, ethnically, socio-economically)?” 87% agreed or strongly agreed. 

Dr. Warren Bird, Vice President of Research and Equipping at ECFA, told Religion Unplugged that this strategic development of diversity can happen in many ways, including “intentionality on hiring a multiracial staff, on building a church board that reflects diversity, and on platforming various races in worship teams, announcements, and speaking.” 

“For the best authenticity to happen,” he said, “this usually starts with church leaders broadening their personal friendship base to be more racially diverse.”

The populations of megachurches are also politically diverse. Many believe that churches — particularly evangelical Christian megachurches — are solid voter blocs for one political party, but data doesn’t fully reflect that. 

Only 7% of megachurches describe themselves as liberal, moderate or progressive, while the other 93% choose more conservative descriptors: 65% identified themselves as evangelical, 12% as missional and others. 

But 66% of respondents disagree with the statement that “almost everyone in this congregation has the same political position,” with 30% of this number those who say they strongly disagree.  

Despite these numbers — or maybe because of them — megachurches are not politically active inside their doors or within the community: 63% of respondents agree with the statement that “this congregation avoids discussing political issues when it gathers.” 

Less than 20% of churches engaged in any of six political activities listed by researchers (distributing voter guides, making an effort to get people registered to vote, encouraging people to vote during an election, discussing politics, organizing or participating in a demonstration or march or organizing or participating in efforts to lobby elected officials of any sort). Only four churches total were engaged in all six. 

Such data contradicts common accounts of churches who supposedly serve as campaign centers for certain political candidates. These churches exist, but they do not encapsulate the experience of attending a megachurch. 

Additionally, on matters of church security, 48% reported that their congregation was very concerned about personal safety when they gathered; 45% were “somewhat concerned.” 

How concerned these churches were about safety correlated with how much security they implemented during services, most measures implemented within the last five years. Now, over 80% of megachurches have volunteer security teams, alarm systems and security cameras. Two-thirds of these churches also employ professional security teams. 

Read: God And Guns: Why American Churchgoers Are Packing Heat

The ways in which megachurches interact with society — in terms of diversity, politics and security — are important particularly as they continue to expand.

Data shows that megachurches are increasingly becoming “multisite,” with more than one church location for the same church. This is true for 70% of churches now, compared to only 23% in 2000. Since 2015, 47% of megachurches have opened a new branch location, and many of these have several branches (45% have four or more).

This growth extends into online spheres as well. Even before the pandemic required it, 84% of churches were live streaming their services. Beyond live streaming, 54% have “online campus worship,” which are spaces fully devoted to online worship, often staffed with individual teams and given alternate resources. 

For example, megachurch Hillsong currently has a different online worship service for each of its locations, options in some locations to host an in-person watch party, virtual “Connect Groups” and weekly devotionals. 

Of course, the pandemic has increased the levels of online worship. According to data from LifeWay Research in April, 97% of churches were offering some form of online worship service: 45% of these didn’t offer an online service previously, but did so because of COVID-19. Additionally, some (16%) have added the option for online giving. 

Researchers from the Hartford Institute think this is a trend likely to continue. 

“It is highly likely that the role of online worship will continue at a much higher level as we emerge from the pandemic than when we entered it,” Bird said. 

Jillian Cheney is a Poynter-Koch fellow for Religion Unplugged who loves consuming good culture and writing about it. She also reports on American Protestantism and Evangelical Christianity. You can find her on Twitter @_jilliancheney.