Compiled by Warren Bird 8/10/2007 - Theology, Church, Culture



last updated June 9, 2009

U.S. Protestant Church Seating Capacities Over 5,000

|Church Name (Pastor) |City |State |Seating Capacity |Comment |

|Lakewood Church |Houston |TX |16,000 |Moved there July 2005 (converted sports arena); previous |

|(Joel Osteen) | | | |facility about 30 miles west seated 8,000 |

|Salem Baptist Church of |Chicago |IL |10,008 |Moved July 2005; doubles as venue for public concerts and |

|Chicago | | | |similar events |

|(James Meeks) | | | | |

|Crenshaw Christian Center |Los Angeles |CA |10,000 |In 1981, it purchased the 32-acre former campus of |

|( Fred Price) | | | |Pepperdine University, which became its permanent church |

| | | | |location |

|Southeast Christian (Dave |Louisville |KY |9,200 |Has three levels; completed December 1998 |

|Stone) | | | | |

|First Baptist Church (Mac |Jacksonville |FL |9,000 |Completed 1993 |

|Brunson) | | | | |

|Without Walls Central Church|Lakeland |FL |9,000 |Completed 1985. At one time it was considered America’s |

|(Scott Thomas) | | | |largest church sanctuary. It was built for Carpenter’s |

| | | | |Home Church, where Carl Strader was long-time pastor. In |

| | | | |2005 the financially strapped congregation sold to Without|

| | | | |Walls Church. |

|Potters House (T.D. Jakes) |Dallas |TX |8,000 |One section is wired for laptops with ethernet plugs and |

| | | | |electric plugs |

|World Changers (Creflo |Atlanta |GA |8,000 |Also has 3,000-seat overflow in separate building – a |

|Dollar) | | | |large banquet hall with large projection screen |

|Cathedral of Chapel Hill |Decatur |GA |7,700 |Completed 1991. One of the America’s first sanctuaries of |

|(Donnie Earl Paulk) | | | |this size; attendance only about 1,000 in 2009 due to |

| | | | |previous pastor’s moral scandals; facility put on “for |

| | | | |sale” market in late 2008. |

|First Baptist Church (Johnny|Woodstock |GA |7,500 |Completed 1987 |

|Hunt) | | | | |

|First Baptist Church (Jack |Hammond |IN |7,500 |Completed 2005 |

|Schaap) | | | | |

|Willow Creek (Bill Hybels) |South Barrington |IL |7,095 |Completed 2004 |

|New Birth Missionary Baptist|Lithonia |GA |7,000 |Completed May 2000 |

|Church (Eddie Long) | | | | |

|Glory Church of Jesus Christ | Los Angeles |CA |7,000 |Korean American congregation; location is the former Grand |

|(Richard Seunghoon Shin) | | | |Olympic Auditorium, began using in 2005 |

|Ministerio International el |Kendall |FL |7,000 |Completed October 2006; previous location was a converted |

|Rey Jesus (Guillermo | | | |synagogue that seats 1,000 |

|Maldonado) | | | | |

|Bellevue Baptist Church |Cordova |TN |7,000 |Former pastor Adrian Rogers led the congregation in 1989 to|

|(Steve Gaines) | | | |an $80 million complex in Cordova that includes its current|

| | | | |large auditorium. The 400-acre property is probably the |

| | | | |largest acreage of any church in the United States. |

|Prestonwood Baptist Church |Plano |TX |7,000 |Completed December 1998 |

|(Jack Graham) | | | | |

|First Assembly of God (Tommy |Phoenix |AZ |6,500 |Completed 1985 |

|Barnett) | | | | |

|Second Baptist Church (Ed |Houston |TX |6,200 |Completed 1986, being upgraded in 2010 to seat 6,500 and |

|Young Sr.) | | | |include projection screens |

|Thomas Road Baptist Church |Lynchburg |VA |6,000 |Completed July 2006, expandable to 12,000 |

|(Jonathan Falwell) | | | | |

|Bethany World Prayer Center |Baker |LA |6,000 |Completed 1985 |

|(Larry Stockstill) | | | | |

|First Baptist Church (David |Orlando |FL |5,500 |Completed 1985 |

|Uth) | | | | |

|First Southern Baptist Church|Del City |OK |5,500 | |

|Angelus Temple (Matthew |Los Angeles |CA |5,300 |Completed 1923, currently the oldest still-used megachurch |

|Barnett) | | | |structure |

|Rock Church (Anne Gimenez) |Virginia Beach |VA |5,200 |Completed 1997 |

|Idlewild Baptist Church (Ken |Lutz |FL |5,152 |Completed 2005 |

|Whitten) | | | | |

|Overlake Christian Church |Redmond |WA |5,100 | |

|(Mike Howerton) | | | | |

|Shoreline Christian Center |Austin |TX |5,000 |Completed 1998 |

|(Robert Koke) | | | | |

|Jericho City of Praise (Betty|Landham |MD |5,000 |Completed December 1997 |

|Peebles) | | | | |

|Calvary Assembly of God |Winter Park |FL |5,000 |Completed 1987 |

|(George Cope) | | | | |

|Hope Presbyterian Church |Cordova |TN |5,000 |Completed 2008 |

|(Craig Strickland) | | | | |

Coming In Future

Faithful Central Bible Church (Kenneth Ulmer), Inglewood, CA, purchased a 17,500-seat arena, the Great Western Forum, in Dec. 2000. Construction has halted due to dispute with unions and with landlord.

Highlighting the growing strength of Christianity in the Global South, Africa's largest evangelical church plans to build a 10,000-seat megachurch complex near Dallas, Texas . Nigeria-based Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), a Pentecostal/charismatic movement founded in 1952, which has congregations in 90 countries around the world and more than 200 parishes in the U.S. … Among the top concerns of the denomination is reviving Christianity in the West, according to Dr. Afe Adogame, a Nigerian who studies and teaches in Germany, and spent three years studying the RCCG at Harvard. … The Church's General Overseer, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye…. Today, the parishes extend across the nation. There are 25,000 members in 292 churches across the U.S. and an estimated membership of 2 million to 5 million worldwide. Their mission statement includes having a church within a 5 minute walk of every city in developing countries, and a 5 minute drive to a church in a developed nation. (SOURCE: 7/18/05 Christian Post)

Please send corrections or additions to:

Warren Bird, PH.D

Director of Research

Warren.Bird@



................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download