The New Mega Church
I want to be part of a mega church. And no I’m not abandoning my desire for a growing emerging church. Let me explain.
I love the church. I say that because part of the journey I am on is to look at the structures that produces spiritual growth, and often times people think I mean “church”. But to me the church is people and I’m not criticizing people. I love people. I am beginning to see my Father’s reflection in everyone I see. But the structure needs work. Structures hinder or release people to ministry. Structures produce or deny fruit. Structure is what makes the organization. Take an automobile engine. Remove the spark plugs and the car won’t run. The structure is broken. Put em back in and the structure does what it is supposed to do. It’s a basic principle in nature.
Over the last thirty years the church has become fascinated with the mega church and it has taken on new importance. As the church begins to study the nature of organization, it is beginning to engage practices that allow it to use resources effectively, to a certain extent. And one thing that has emerged is the mega church. It’s nice to have large buildings that allows people a lot of people to gather. It’s nice to have six different pastors reaching out to distinct groups of people. It’s nice having a kids program with all the bells, whistles, and padded playmats.
I actually grew up in one of the very first mega churches in California and it was a lot of fun. There were 7,500 people on average on a Sunday morning service. This was in 1975. I loved coming to a youth group with 400 people around me. It made looking at girls easier. 
And to a great extent it became a large family. I knew the youth interns loved me because they really spent time with me. And as I reminisce I realize that it was people that made the difference. No building or program could ever have the same impact as people.
And this realization helps point to the true definition of mega for the church. The first century church grew rapidly, mostly because it didn’t have a centralized structure to control it, to get in the way. It was a disparate group of people following the leading of the Holy Spirit. I’m sure there were elders leading the way and not everything was perfect but the structure supported growth. The church in China is another great example. No centralized controlling body.
And then about two years ago I found people like Rick McKinley, at Imago Dei who are helping to redefine what mega means. The distinction is not one of large buildings and numbers of people, but one of impact. They are releasing people to ministry, to be the hands an feet of Jesus. And this is the kind of mega church I want to be part of. I want to be part of a church that is releasing its people to ministry and trusting them to follow the Holy Spirit, and supporting them a long the way. This is the power of the organization. To design structures that support people doing effective ministry.
So I want to be part of a mega church because I believe this is what we are called to do.
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Crystal Renaud
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evangelistbillybolitho
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Paul
