The new mega churches: huge congregations with spectacular structures spread across the U.S - African American congregations and churches - Statistical Data Included

Ebony, Dec, 2001

ONE sits on a tree-shaded suburban plot that could hold a small college. Another could comfortably accommodate an NBA final for it is in fact the former home of the Los Angeles Lakers. Still another owns "twin churches" and a helicopter that transports its pastors to different services on the same Sunday.

These and the other megachurches pictured on the following pages are representative examples of a new trend in Black America that has caused conversions, talk and some controversy from Los Angeles to Atlanta and from New York to New Orleans.

Although the new megachurches differ in style and orientation, most are characterized by congregations of from 10,000 to 25,000 and spectacular buildings which house sanctuaries, day-care centers, bookstores, and health centers. Most resound with crowds and activities seven days a week, and most own businesses, subdivisions, and separate community activity buildings.

Some religious experts have questioned the emphasis on monumentality and have suggested that there is a danger of losing the gospel in the big sanctuaries and the wide variety of programs. But the male and female pastors of the new megachurches, almost all of whom have TV pastorates and feature high-tech video along with foot-tapping music, say they are creating a new church for a new century, and that a congregation can't do its full duty to its parishioners if it doesn't minister to all their needs.

WORD OF FAITH INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN CENTER Location: Southfield, Michigan Founded: 1979 Pastor: BISHOP KEITH A. BUTLER

THE Word of Faith International Christian Center opened in 1979 in a storefront building in Detroit with 60 people in attendance. Today, Word of Faith is an international ministry with a membership of over 18,000 in a 5,000-seat sanctuary on 110 acres in Southfield, Mich., outside of Detroit. The church has a Bible Training Center, children's, married couples and singles ministries, and Faith Christian Academy (preschool through high school). The church also offers men's and women's ministries, music ministry and the Kingdom Business Association to teach Christian businesspeople how to apply Christian principles in the workplace.

Bishop Keith Butler's wife, the Rev. Deborah L. Butler, is minister of the church, and their son, the Rev. Keith A. Butler II, is co-pastor. The couple have founded more than a dozen churches as far west as Phoenix, as far east as Philadelphia and as far south as Jackson, Miss. They have 65 churches in Africa, 15 churches in Pakistan, and two churches in Bulgaria and Hungary. There is a Bible School in London, and there are plans to open a church in Birmingham, England.

"Churches become large because they are meeting the needs of many people," Bishop Butler says. "We draw people from a 100-mile radius every Sunday, and we really offer cradle-to-grave service. We preach the gospel of Jesus," he says, adding, "Our philosophy hasn't changed; we're just better and bigger."

THE NEW LIGHT CHRISTIAN CENTER CHURCH Location: Houston Founded: 1984 Pastor: PASTOR IRA V. HILLIARD

THE New Light Christian Center Church started with 23 members in 1984 and now declares a congregation of 20,000 members. With a steady increase of 250 new members per month, Pastor Ira V. Hilliard predicts that membership rolls will swell to 50,000 within the next few years. His wife, Dr. Bridget Hilliard, oversees the women's ministry and has a national TV program. One of the defining qualities of this megachurch is its identical North and South locations, which have twin campuses and soon-to-be-completed 5,000-seat arenas. Each Sunday, Pastor Ira Hilliard delivers two sermons to the North location, and then travels via helicopter to the South location to continue spreading the gospel. New Light also has extension churches in Beaumont and Austin, Texas.

The ever-expanding megachurch has its own construction department, a free 90-day drug rehabilitation program for the general public, and a 24-hour transponder satellite system that allows various churches to tap into New Light's services on its closed-circuit uplinks. The megachurch, which has an operating budget of $20 million, plans to develop high-rise and low-rise housing and a 125-acre camp for teens.

Pastor Ira Hilliard says the megachurch phenomenon in the Black community can he explained by a combination of spiritual thirst, political awareness, the need for economic development and a new breed of ministries that teach the word of God with simplicity. He predicts the megachurch marvel will keep getting bigger. "The church is to help you live your life, and your life is much more than a Sunday morning experience," he says. "If you address the needs of the people, the people will come."

THE Jericho City of Praise Church claims more than 15,000 members and worships in a 200,000-square-foot, $36 million complex, complete with a 10,000-seat sanctuary. The church started in 1969 when Pastor Peebles' husband, the late Bishop James R. Peebles Sr., borrowed $7,500 from their credit union to build their first church to hold 31 members, many of whom were children. The church grew in the '70s into its current seven-building, 115-acre facility, which includes Jericho Christian Academy, a kindergarten through 12th grade school with more than 600 students, and Jericho Christian Training Center and College, an accredited, four-year college founded in 1978 with more than 3,000 students. The church also has an early childhood development center, 62 different ministries and plans to build a new 450-unit senior citizen center, which will also be located at Jericho's massive confines. Jericho will also create new ministries for families, substance abuse and the seriously ill. Despite all these programs, Pastor Peebles says that Jericho is simply a place of prayer and worship. "I believe that we stand for the word of God," Pastor Peeble's says. "It's not so much the megachurch per se, whether large or small, people are flocking to, but they are seeking the truth, and that is the word of God."