25 Largest Churches in America

[MineralMan]

84. No doubt.

Marketing is how all those mega-churches have succeeded. They put on quite a show at their services. Jesus is the star, or at least a supporting character in them. In many cases, it's Elmer Gantry writ large. These days, it's more important to have an MBA than an advanced degree from a seminary, I think.

There's a "prosperity gospel" mega-church in my area. The pastor of that one has a daily one-minute ad on the morning TV news on the largest station in the Twin Cities. He produces a new ad every day for that spot, which is broadcast just before the CBS Morning News takes over from the local news broadcast. It's a little mini-sermon, but the word "Jesus" almost never is spoken. Instead the pastor dispenses some homespun advice on living and displays the URL of their website.

It's an interesting exercise in marketing, I think. The cost of doing that daily minute is quite high, I'd think, given air time costs and production costs. It's been going on for over a year now, so it must be successful in growing his congregation and his own revenues.

I'm tempted to attend services there one Sunday, just to see if they bother to talk about religion much at all or if it's just an entertaining fundraising service.