When asked about the role mega churches play in their denominations the top answer from evangelical leaders responding to the July Evangelical Leaders Survey was “None.”  That’s because many evangelical denominations have few if any very large churches.

Todd Bassett, former National Commander of the Salvation Army in the United States was very specific: “Of our 1329 churches, very few would have a congregation that exceeds 300 to 400.”  Kerry R. Ritts, of the Primitive Methodist Church, USA, explained that “We are a small denomination with no mega churches.”

Larger denominations like the Assemblies of God have a significant number of large congregations. Acknowledging that mega churches have “a very important role,” the Assemblies of God General Superintendent George Wood said that 191 of the denomination’s largest churches have 378,450 in Sunday attendance which is 21.4 percent of the total attendance of all the denomination’s churches.  That means that 1.5 percent of the churches have more than one-fifth of all the parishioners.

There was a mixed evaluation of America’s evangelical mega churches.  Compliments focused on mega church innovation, leadership, financial support of ministries, solid evangelical theology and especially “church planting” where large churches start new churches.  Criticisms included competition with smaller churches, self-reliance and lack of cooperation with other churches.

Speaking for the Worldwide Church of God, Joseph Tkach said that mega churches play no role in his denomination.  “We view them as a modern invention that does not follow the pattern of the early church. And of course, we do not view all of the mega churches as being the same. Some are exceptionally good and some are not.”

“The numbers show that mega churches are relatively few in America.  They make up less than one percent of the total number of congregations.  However, they have a disproportionate influence and visibility.  They are the leaders to which pastors and other church leaders look for how to do church,” according to Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals.

Bert Waggoner of The Vineyard USA summarized this disproportionate influence: “They help resource the movement with leaders and other creative resources. They make significant financial contributions. They provide venues for our larger meetings. They lead the movement in church planting. They give visibility and recognition to the movement. The quality of leadership in the mega churches raises the leadership quality in the movement.”

The Evangelical Leaders Survey is a monthly poll of the board of directors of the National Association of Evangelicals.  They include the CEOs of 60 denominations and representatives of a broad array of evangelical organizations including missions, universities, publishers and churches.

From Randy Mitchell

Living in the Midwest, we get to experience God’s handy work as temperatures rise in the middle of summer and we literally feel the effects of God turning up the heat.

Have you ever considered the idea that God turns up the heat at different times and through certain circumstances in our own lives to get our attention?  I’m convinced that God is not apathetic toward us.  I believe that there is one thing that could never be said of God, and that He is indifferent.

God is neither apathetic nor indifferent toward you.  He would go any length to prove that to you.  Anyone that would offer His Son to pay for your sin is serious about wanting you to know that how much He cares about you and about the plans He has for your life.  The Bible provides us a record of events and situations where God turned up the heat as it were, as an attention getter to prove that He could be trusted in every circumstance, face the reality of their sinful behavior and move men from wandering through life without purpose to important roles of leadership.

I remember from my childhood watching my grandmother and my mother can vegetables from our garden and make homemade jelly.

Adding to the misery of homes without air conditioning would be the heat and steam coming from burners on the kitchen stove that were boiling the imperfections from grapes and raspberries that would later be the jelly I would enjoy on my biscuits or toast at breakfast in days to come.  The product was worth the process.  The heat of the moment produced a product that was beneficial to many people.  The same is true in real life situations.  The heat of the moment can be the process by which god choose to change us.  The change is not just for our benefit, but for other lives He desires to impact.

The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah spoke boldly to the people of his day to remind them that God is interested in the activities our lives and that He already knows and cares enough about it get our attention and get us looking to Him.

You live in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,” declares the LORD.  Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty says: “See, I will refine and test them, for what else can I do because of the sin of my people?  Jeremiah 9:6-7 NIV

Randy Mitchell is Senior Pastor at Flack Memorial in Excelsior Springs, MO

by Dan Reiland

When they told us we could climb a 1,000 foot waterfall I had images of Niagara Falls in my mind and thought, “That’s not such a good idea.” Convinced otherwise by my family, it turned out to be one of the highlights of our vacation.

We were in Ocho Rios, Jamaica and signed up for the waterfall climb (Dunn’s River Falls) and beach party. It was way too much fun. In some of the most natural and beautiful Jamaican landscape (I would call it “friendly jungle”) we gathered up with about twenty others, paid our money, and got assigned our guides.

The falls were huge, with fast moving water over large boulders. But the naturally-terraced effect with pools of water to play a few times up the climb made it easy enough even for little kids. Well, mostly easy. There were a few scraped ankles and bruised toes, but hey, we need something to make it sound really cool.

The main guide, a tall and fit Jamaican with a great sense of humor stood before us and said “I am your leader, if you do what I tell you and follow me you will get soaking wet and have a great time.” We all stood there and just looked at him. He said, Hey Mon, this is Jamaica and you’re going to have fun… when I talk to you, you respond with a big and loud “Yeah Mon!!” So we did and there was something oddly fun about a bunch of out-of-shape Americans pretending to be Jamaicans that did make the whole thing more fun!!

He then instructed us that we were to hold hands and form this sort of long line of people connected by a rope – the rope being made of our hands and arms. It was counterintuitive at first, but it was only when we let go and picked our own rocks to climb on did we slip some and scrape a knee. OK, that I slipped and scrapped a knee. The kids seemed to do fine as the “big kids” dragged them up the rocks they couldn’t quite get themselves.

Only a preacher would come up with leadership thoughts as he made his way up this fun climb! So, are you ready Mon? Here’s where you say “Yeah Mon!”

Someone who has traveled only one step farther than you knows something valuable that you don’t yet know.
It’s difficult to put a price tag on experience, even when it’s only a few seconds beyond what you have accomplished. Every step mattered in our climb up the falls. A little to the left and you slip, a little to the right and you step in a deep hole. The leader went first and each person followed – one step at a time.

As a leader you don’t have to know all the answers, you just need to know the next step and take it successfully. If you do, others can safely follow. Trust is a big deal. They are counting on you to make the right choices.

If you are following, don’t expect your leader to know the entire plan – just the next step. The only reason our Jamaican guide knew every step so well is because he had completed this trip hundreds of times. This is the luxury of a leader repeating his journey. This is not the life of a church leader who, if they are truly making progress, is constantly navigating new waters.

It’s not the steepness of the climb it’s the speed of the water.
There were only a couple sections that were steep and long enough to make you quietly think… “Okay, here we go.” The surprising thing was that those sections weren’t really that big a deal. The real issue was the speed of the water. You would think that the water would run faster down the steeper sections, but the way it bounced off the boulders made it play unexpected tricks on you. I quickly learned that you can see the boulders but you can’t see the current.

Isn’t that the way it is in leadership? It’s what you can’t see that can trip you up, cause you to lose footing and stumble. It might be a turn in a relationship, a flip in the economy or change in current culture. You didn’t see it coming and boom. This is why I stay in touch with my mentors. They see things I don’t see and keep me from stepping in places I shouldn’t.

When you want to let go and climb on your own, it’s probably a mistake.
My first instinct was to let go of the person’s hand in front of me and try to grab onto the next rock to stabilize myself. Each time I did that, I lost my footing. There was a reason the guide lead us the way he did. Many leaders are entrepreneurs. They are visionaries and cut their own path. That’s good, but within limits. All good leaders must be willing to take a hand and be a good follower at some point. (And usually this is required at many points.)

It’s great when a leader steps out to find his or her own path, but there is something about the body of Christ and being a Christ-follower that puts boundaries on a leader’s climb. It’s interesting to note that it’s rarely at the lower levels of the climb that leaders get in trouble. It’s often after some success that leaders begin to call their own shots and then fall. Note to self. Keep holding on, first to the Father, then to others who have traveled before you and with you.

The person behind you is depending on you.
This one seems obvious, but when the water is cold and you’ve slipped a couple times, it’s easy to focus on getting yourself to the top – forgetting about the person behind you.

This happened a few times to our crew. I won’t say which one, but one of my kids said: “The person behind me was too slow, if I held on to them, I’d either stop the whole group or get pulled back down.” In the immediate moment that seemed true. But from the big picture it couldn’t be farther from the truth. It was in the letting go that everyone had to stop and wait. Holding on cost us all a few seconds, letting go cost minutes.

Each person was counting on the person in front of them to hold on and not let go. The guy in front of me let go only once, and I immediately lost confidence in him for the remainder of the trip. It wasn’t a big deal, this was a fun waterfall climb, but it made me think about situations that were serious and much was at stake. I want to count on the person in front of me.

So let me ask you. Can the person behind you count on you to hold on?

What looks difficult at the bottom will often seem much easier at the top.
When we all got to the top of the falls, the climb seemed infinitely easier than when we looked up from the bottom. In fact, from the bottom, you couldn’t see even half of what was to come. After getting to the top it seemed like a piece of cake. It was definitely fun, but there was no real passion to do it a second time.

Leadership depends on us raising up other leaders. To be a good leader of leaders, a good leadership mentor, you must be willing to go back to the starting point and help others make the climb. One of the things that made the Jamaican guides so good was they gave each group 100% of their enthusiasm. For them, it was up the waterfall one more time. For us, it was a once in a lifetime family memory. You do the math.

That’s what leaders do, add passion to the trip. We inspire even when we’ve been there and done that. And that’s good news, because we’re all counting on someone to do the same for us! Yeah, Mon!

This article is used by permission from Dr. Dan Reiland’s free monthly e-newsletter, “The Pastor’s Coach,” available at www.INJOY.com. This information cannot be used for resale in any manner. Copyright 2008, INJOY 3760 Peachtree Crest Dr, Ste A, Duluth, GA 30097