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The biggest Baptist Church in America?

Discussion in 'Baptist History' started by Bro. Ruben, Jan 4, 2006.

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  1. Bro. Ruben

    Bro. Ruben New Member

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    1. Congregationally
    2. Biggest Baptist Chapel
    3. The most beautiful Baptist chapel in America

    Just curious. [​IMG]

    Thanks.
     
    #1 Bro. Ruben, Jan 4, 2006
  2. Ben W

    Ben W Active Member
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    #2 Ben W, Jan 7, 2006
  3. Brother Ian

    Brother Ian Active Member

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    The biggest I know if is First Baptist Jacksonville. It has been reported they have 26,000 members.
    http://www.fbcjax.com/
     
    #3 Brother Ian, Jan 7, 2006
  4. Bro. Ruben

    Bro. Ruben New Member

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    Gee, that's real huge.

    PRAISE THE LORD!!!
     
    #4 Bro. Ruben, Jan 7, 2006
  5. Dr. Bob

    Dr. Bob Administrator
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    Believe Saddleback has 80,000 members, with about 40,000+ active. They had 35,000 MEMBERS (not just attenders) at their 25th anniversary service this year.

    I was there for Easter. Think they were at about 30,000 then, but that was a lot of visitors and kids

    Remember, SOME Baptist churches base their number on SUNDAY SCHOOL statistics, not baptized members. That is truly deceptive and dishonest when compared to other churches that report their membership as "their membership" and not a bunch of kids bussed in from Timbuktu . .
     
    #5 Dr. Bob, Jan 7, 2006
  6. Bro. James

    Bro. James Well-Known Member
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    The largest "Christian" group is not Baptist.

    What is significant about the numbers?

    The biggest=the soundest?

    "...not of works, lest any man should boast." Eph. Ch. 2.

    Selah,

    Bro. James
     
    #6 Bro. James, Jan 8, 2006
  7. Bro. Ruben

    Bro. Ruben New Member

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    Thanks for the info Dr. Bob!!!

    Bro. James: I did ask out of curiousity. You know, here in Saudi where I am right now, each time our attendance reaches about 20-25 we are already glad. We can't be more than that to avoid being noticed by the religious police and eventually may end up in jail.

    How much more thinking of attending a church with 40 thousand members.

    Nobody claims that the "largest" group is Baptist. Nor the biggest is the soundest. I wonder why the verse "...not of works, lest any man should boast." Eph. Ch. 2. must be included, too.

    It was a question out of curiousity. That's all.

    God bless you anyhow.
     
    #7 Bro. Ruben, Jan 8, 2006
  8. rsr

    rsr <b> 7,000 posts club</b>
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    Curiosity is not a bad thing.

    Probably the most comprehensive database has been compiled by Scott Thumma of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research (although the institute admits its database is incomplete. In addition, the numbers are based on self reporting, which makes it less than sterling as a research tool.

    However, given those caveats, I would refer you to the database, which, unfortunately, is not very user friendly. The figures are from March 2005 and are for average attendance. I have browsed it and noted several Baptist churches, including:

    Houston Second Baptist Church, 18,000
    Grapevine Fellowship, Grapevine, Texas, 16,000
    Saddleback Valley Community Church, 15,000
    Bellevue BC, Cordova, Tenn., 14,000
    FBC Hammond, Ind., 12,000
    FBC Orlando, Fla., 10,000
    Brentwood Baptist, Houston, 8,000
    FBC Houston, 8,000
    Jacksonville, Fla., FBC, 7,200
    Memorial BC, Killeen, Texas, 7,200
    North Phoenix BC, 6,500
    FBC Atlanta, 6,155

    I may have missed some. The entire list is at:

    MEGACHURCHES BY DENOMINATION
     
    #8 rsr, Jan 8, 2006
  9. Bro. James

    Bro. James Well-Known Member
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    Not trying to squelch curiosity in one sense, but I hasten to point out that Eve's curiosity developed into begile.

    Someone pointed out already that the "stats" are skewed--which is the case for most any statistical statement. Unsolicited observation: the bigger the numbers, the more carnal, nominal, the church.

    A Bible statistic: when Jesus was arrested in the garden, ALL of His disciples forsook Him and fled.

    A statistical question: when Jesus was crucified, how many disciples were present?

    Point to ponder: who is at the head of a "Megachurch"? What does the term "Rick Warren's Church mean?

    Shalom,

    Bro. James
     
    #9 Bro. James, Jan 9, 2006
  10. Pastor_Bob

    Pastor_Bob Well-Known Member

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    It is a sad and misleading practice, but many pastors who are into numbers actually count their extra-curricular ministries as a part of their attendance.

    For example, if they had 15 at the county jail service and 35 at the nursing home service, they would add 50 to their total attendance and say "We had 125 attend our services this week." When in reality, they only had 75 actually come to church.
     
    #10 Pastor_Bob, Jan 9, 2006
  11. Kiffen

    Kiffen Member

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    Very True, Pastor Bob.
     
    #11 Kiffen, Jan 9, 2006
  12. Squire Robertsson

    Squire Robertsson Administrator
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    All things being equal, it is the same usage as employed by our Russian brethren. The Russian language makes an idiom like Calvary Baptist Church impossibley conveluted. That and the Russians simply call a metting house a House of Prayer. So, if there is more than one EC-B conrgegation in a town, the question "Which do you go to?" Will be answered, "I go to Ivanov's or Gorbachov's." Not that any body is trying to put the pastor on a pedestal, but just going along with Old Russian Custom.
     
    #12 Squire Robertsson, Jan 9, 2006
  13. Bro. James

    Bro. James Well-Known Member
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    Curiously, we have not heard much from the followers of Herbert W. Armstrong and Garner Ted since they died.

    Many humans will faithfully follow something/ someone--usually not God. It is usually the self--Humanism. There are many who seem to be worshipping the Pontifex Maximus, others some defrocked vicar. There are millions who worship faith healers and others who have prayer clothes, and holy oil--for sale of course.

    Beware the wolves dressed like sheep.

    Selah,

    Bro. James
     
    #13 Bro. James, Jan 10, 2006
  14. gb93433

    gb93433 Active Member
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    I think Saddleback is the largest.
     
    #14 gb93433, Jan 10, 2006
  15. MatthewHenry

    MatthewHenry New Member

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    barring some glaring exceptions, any Church that's huge, is usually compromising the Gospel in some way, shape or fashion.

    Just an opinion.

    MH
     
    #15 MatthewHenry, Jan 10, 2006
  16. webdog

    webdog Active Member
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    Would you say this about the early church in Acts? I recall it grew by the thousands in a matter of days.
     
    #16 webdog, Jan 10, 2006
  17. Johnv

    Johnv New Member

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    And it's an opinion not based in any croncrete facts. I've been to large churches that are dead on scripturally, and been to more than my fair share of small churches that are so far off the scriptural mark, it's a wonder they haven't fallen into the road.

    There are always problem with the comparison between large churches and small churches. There seems to be a presumption that, if a church is bigger than [insert subjective number here], it must therefore be compromising the gospel. Then, there's the issue of what exactly constitutes compromising the gospel. In most cases, it's not an issue of real compromise, it's an issue of that church simply having a specific mission or ministry that some who walk through the door might not nave any particular interest in. In some other instances, it's been my observation that condemnation of churches based on size is often the result of closet envy or covetousness.

    My personal observation has been that whether a church is compromising the gospel os not is usually not tied into their size or popularity. But for some reason, the biggies that are tru compromisers are the ones we remember.
     
    #17 Johnv, Jan 10, 2006
  18. Pastor J

    Pastor J New Member

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    I can't imagine pastoring a church of 40,000 people. There is no physical way the pastor could know everyone. My preference would be a church of about 150 - 300.
     
    #18 Pastor J, Jan 10, 2006
  19. Johnv

    Johnv New Member

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    Part of it is perception. It depends on where you live. I live in the OC, a semi-metropolitan, semi-suburban region of the country. Churches with memberships of 1200 or more are the norm. Yet in other regions of the US, they would be considered megachurches.
     
    #19 Johnv, Jan 10, 2006
  20. I'm4Given

    I'm4Given New Member

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    We have around 200 for services on Sundays, which is were we get our count, not Sunday School. The other Baptist Church in town has around 30 members. They consider us to be a megachurch.
    Just putting in my two cents.
     
    #20 I'm4Given, Jan 10, 2006
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