ABSTRACT
Megachurches are increasingly difficult to ignore. By the latest count there are approximately 1,200 Protestant churches in the country with weekly attendance of at least 2,000 people, and by every account these very large churches have proliferated in recent decades. The basic idea behind the conceptual shift from megachurches themselves to the size distributions in which they are embedded is that a size distribution is a visible trace left by a process that underlies and produces that distribution. Denominations always have gathered data about their churches’ size, and many now keep those data in an electronic from that makes it easy to generate and examine the distribution. An African American church in a northern city experienced dramatic growth during the pastoral leadership of a ‘“remarkable man.” A Disciples of Christ church in Missouri built a “plain but commodious church building designed to house numerous activities.”.
