[Sly Fox]

TRBC is slipping down the list again this year:

Top fifty influential congregations in the US
Leading the list is Willow Creek Community Church of Barrington IL on the outskirts of Chicago.

Wednesday, July 19, 2006
by Martin Barillas

A list of the 50 most influential non-Catholic churches in the US was released earlier this week by www.thechurchreport.com, based on a survey of non-Catholic pastors. Two thousand US pastors were asked which churches they feel are most influential. These congregations and their pastors were found to best “represent the passion and sense of mission mandated in the New Testament” according to the report.

Leading the list is Willow Creek Community Church of Barrington IL on the outskirts of Chicago. The next four, in order of precedence, are: Saddleback Church of Lake Forest CA (led by Rick Warren), North Point Community Church of Alpharetta GA (led by Andy Stanley), Fellowship Church of Grapevine TX (led by Ed Young, Jr.) and Lakewood Church of Houston TX (led by Joel Osteen).

Jason T. Christy, CEO of Christy Media – which publishes The Church Report Magazine, The CR Daily and thechurchreport.com – congratulated Willow Creek and said that “this list is very unique in that it is pastors honoring other pastors.”

Pastor Osteen’s congregation claims to be the nation’s largest Christian congregation, having 46,000 adult attendees every week. Pastor Warren’s congregation is heralded as the largest Southern Baptist Congregation in the world, averaging 20,000 attendees per weekend.

For viewers of Christian-oriented television and publishing, the above names would not come as a surprise. Ed Young Jr. (scion of Dr. Ed Young – pastor of Second Baptist Church of Houston TX, one of the largest non-Catholic US congregations), and Joel Osteen are seen by millions of viewers in the US and elsewhere. Rick Warren has been featured as one of “15 Leaders who make America Great”, and is the author of hugely accepted books such as “The Purpose Driven Life” and “The Purpose Driven Church.” Warren and Osteen have been chastised by some evangelical observers for deviating from accepted tenets of fundamentalist doctrine.

In eighth place is Potter’s House, Dallas TX, led by T.D. Jakes, who is sometimes referred to as “the next Billy Graham.” Other notables include: 27th place Jerry Falwell – founder of the Moral Majority and Liberty University and pastor of 24,000- member Thomas Road Baptist Church of Lynchburg VA, 46th place Max Lucado – author of fifty books and pastor of Oak Hills Church of San Antonio TX

The only female pastor listed is Paula White of the Without Walls Church in Tampa FL who is listed as number 30 in the pack of 50. Pastor White is Mississippi-born and the leader of a church with multiple ministries in several countries including Nigeria and the Philippines. She recently paired with Pastor T.D. Jakes to offer aid to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Of the fifty congregations and pastors listed, 18 are not affiliated with any mainline church group. These include North Point Church, Fellowship Church, and Lakewood Church. The two top-ranked churches, Willow Creek and Saddleback, are affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, while a total of 5 out of 50 are affiliated with that denomination in the Church Report. There were 5 congregations of the Christian Church or Church of Christ represented, while United Methodists account for 3. Other mainline churches represented were Trinity Episcopal of Manhattan NY, 2 congregation of the Presbyterian Church of America, and 1 Presbyterian Church (USA) Congregation. The top five churches listed tend towards an evangelical or fundamentalist theology.

http://www.speroforum.com/site/article. ... +in+the+US

Frankly, I didn't know Ed Jr's church wasn't officially in the SBC. But I can assure you its merely a technicality if in fact it is not. And how Ed Sr's church didn't make the Top 50 is baffling. Last I checked, Second Baptist was still the largest church in America affiliated with a denomination.

[Sly Fox]

Here's the direct link to the Top 50:

The Church Report's 50 Most Influential Churches

1. Willow Creek Community - Bill Hybels' church in Suburban Chicago
2. Saddleback Church - Rick Warren
3. Northpoint Community Church - Suburban Atlanta
4. Fellowship Church - Ed Young Jr's church in Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex
5. Lakewood - Joel Osteen
6. Southeast Christian - Louisville
7. Life Church - Edmond, OK
8. Potter's House - TD Jakes' church in Dallas
9. Brooklyn Tabernackle - Jim Cymbala
10. North Coast - Vista, CA

Some Other Ntables from Liberty perspective:

19. First Baptist of Jacksonville - Jerry Vines's old church that sends a ton of kids our way
24. First Baptist of Hammond, IN - Yes, that is Jack Hyles' old church. I'm not kidding.
27. Thomas Road - I think we know this church's story
41. Fellowship of the Woodlands - Patterned after Ed Jr's church. They advertise incessantly down here on television
44. Oak Cliff Bible Church - Tony Evans' church in Dallas
46. Oak Hills - Max Lucado's church in San Antonio

[Libertine]

Tabernacle.

[Sly Fox]

Its great to know I have so many people able to help alert me to my typos.



Seriously, what do yo guys think of this list? It supposedly comes form surveys of pastors & church leaders across the nation.

[Libertine]

I've honestly never even heard of most of these and the ones that I have heard of is only because they wrote a book.

[SuperJon]

I can understand why TRBC is falling. Jerry's getting older and there's some new younger preachers who people can relate to better.

[phoenix]

I have a problem with the list -- it seems to measure how influential the pastor is versus how influential the church is. I had no idea where a lot of the names on that list pastored (or even that some of them did!), so I can't say that their church is very influential at all. The pastor, certainly, but not the church.

[Sly Fox]

I admit I'm not familiar with the church in Alpharetta, but th eother five churches all are influential based on the techniques they use. Willow Creek & Saddleback both championed the small/cell group concept. Ed Jr popularized the showy object lessons and Joel Osteen has pushed the big central church with discipleship cells all around town.

Considering what Second Baptist is doing with starting satellite "campuses" in cinemas I would've thought it would have gotten more votes. Perhaps the success or failure of this venture might be part of its national presence into the future.

[Jasmen8182]

I learned something new- we have a couple "Hermie and Friends" videos for kids and some of his books but I didn't realize he has a church in TX.

[Sly Fox]

I'm Buzby, I'm the king of the bees. B-U-Z-B-Y.

Yeah he's a Church of Christ guy with a good-sized church in the Alamo City.

[bigsmooth]

this survey is ridiculous. I think TRBC is a great church. so what if jerry is getting older, he still preaches with vigor, and since the new church has opened, he seems more refreshed. TRBC's mission is still the same and they are still reaching central virginia and surrounding areas for Christ, which is all that matters to me.

[thesportscritic]

Not sure why they have the article on the top churches. the main reason is for the cause of Christ and reaching out to those who are not saved and even those who are saved. If a church is doing that then I think it is a church that is influential.

[TDDance234]

I got offered an internship a few summers ago with Fellowship of the Woodlands. They have some good stuff going on down there.

[Sly Fox]

Yeah, I've been on their campus the past couple of days for the Willow Creek Leadership Summit. They are trying toi play catch-up to their explosive growth.

[Ed Dantes]

What's interesting to note is how many of the traditional denominations, such as "Episcopalian" or "Presbyterian" or "Methodist" or "Assemblies of God" are not really strongly represented, but instead you see things such as "Non-Affliated" as the top denomination. I think this is definitely the way that Christianity is going, you're getting further away from the structure that something like a denomination brings, and just getting back to the basics of evangelism. The church I go to where I live is non-denominational (although I think it would be referred to as "evangelical"). It's job is basically to a) reach as many people for Christ as possible and B) help those people to grow spiritually. It's a young church, by far younger than TRBC, but it sticks to the things that make Christianity important.

And I think it's a good thing.

[Sly Fox]

That's Willow Creek & Saddleback model that many churches are following. Both are Baptist by heritage theologically with progressive business and worship models. That's why they were given the distinction of most influential.

[TallyW]

The list seems to be fairly accurate. I'm actually surprised to see TRBC as high as they are. Thomas Road as a church has next to no 'best practices' in the church world whereas many on this list have nationally known best practices (i.e. Willow Creek, Saddleback, North Point and Fellowship) TRBC's influence is mainly over older Pastors and congregations and the influence is mostly in the area of political involvement. As far as the leaders who are influencing Pastors in the pulpit and the board room you have to look to those in the top 5 area. Obviously there are some up and coming churches mentioned on this list that actually hold more influence but it will take time for the polls to catch up to reality because the masses haven't caught on just yet.

My thoughts on the top 7: (I was going for 10 but got tired of typing) If you're interested in any of the others, I'll be glad to give my .02

1. Willow Creek Community - They just transitioned to a new lead Pastor (Gene Apples)who serves under Hybels and they have been multi-site for a long time. Gene is no slacker.. he was a mega church pastor from Las Vegas before Bill asked him to come to Chicago. The influence here is mainly their WCA- Willow Creek Association. Sly mentioned a conference they just held. They do national conferences very regularly. They also are known for their use of the arts in their services.

2. Saddleback Church - Rick Warren. Rick has gone from the Purpose Driven Church idea to the Purpose Driven Country model. He has been putting together a "peace" plan for impoverished countries. LINK: http://www.saddlebackfamily.com/peace/

3. Northpoint Community Church - Northpoint deserves this spot. They do not have a "network" to speak of but yet they are a seriously influential church. Northpoint is Pastored by Andy Stanley (Charles Stanley's son) and they are the church behind "Passion" the band and the movement. They are home to ministry materials for EVERY age group. They have one of the best children's departments in the nation and everything they do is reproducable no matter the size. The also are tied to Catalyst Conferences, many books, youth camps called "Big Stuf" in Panama City Beach, FL. This is probably the most well rounded staff out of any in the top 10. They have amazing leaders who could all Pastor big churches on their own but choose to stay together and influence the kingdom from there in Alpharetta.


4. Fellowship Church - Ed Young has an amazing ministry in Dallas. They have 4 campuses in Dallas and just recently opened a campus in MIAMI, FL of all places. Ed Young only recently (3 yrs?) has become a national figure. His circle of influence continues to grow. Liberty actually has a few peeps on staff there (as well as about every other church on this list). Ed Young is actuall not a JR. His middle name is different from his fathers. He's known for Creativity and his church hits the Dallas crowd well. Fellowship has a network of Pastors at CreativePastors.com

5. Lakewood - Joel Osteen. To be honest, this one surprises me. This may seriously be one of those things when something is so large that it creates its own orbit. Lakewood is undoubtably the largest church in the nation and continues to grow every day... but if this survey was "influence", I'd say they hold near the least amount of influence on the list. The television ministry and the TRANSFER growth of Lakewood from the Houston churches aside... I can't see a thing that Lakewood does to equip Pastors around the country.


6. Southeast Christian - Louisville I know next to nothing about this church. I'm shocked they are on this list.

7. Life Church - Edmond, OK -- Fantastic church on the rise. They too will move up this list in the years to come. They have nailed the idea of Sattalite campuses and have two in PHOENIX, AZ. Over 100 people committed to MOVE from Oklahoma to Pheonix to help get these new churches started. They purchase satalite time to beam their servies over to the other campuses. They also now offer a FREE service to Pastors where they give away all of their sermon and branding material. They are leading the way in OPEN SOURCE church stuff. At this point there are a few people following their lead but it may be a while before we see a genuinely open-source system among Pastors. Life Church is doing an amazing work. LifeChurch.tv/open is where you can see the stuff they are giving away. Their Pastor also just wrote a book about personal vision called Chazown: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159052 ... e&n=283155

[Sly Fox]

I think the reason that Lakewood is considered so influential is their efforts to become racially diverse (you wouldn't believe what it is like attending the services at the old Compaq Center) and their model of being a seeker-specific church.

Frankly, I'm a little surprised Second Baptist here in Houston didn't make the list. The SBC is using their movie theatre satellite model as test for use across the nation similar to what Life is doing from Okie-land.

[Jasmen8182]

A friend from my church is supposed to be going to Boston to hear Joel soon.

[Sly Fox]

He's a tremendous communicator. Your friend will enjoy it.