Mega-churches have lessons for Catholics

If a "mega-church" is one with 7,000 or more members, says Sister Monica Murphy, CSJ, then the first such gathering was the group that listened to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount.

Today, mega-churches of various denominations are cropping up all over the country, so Catholics would do well to look at what makes them so successful.

At this year's Parish Convening, Sister Monica will lead a workshop titled, "What can we learn from the new mega-churches?"

Big places

Sister Monica pointed to large congregations like that of Northway Fellowship Church in Malta, which rented out the Pepsi Arena in Albany for its Easter services this year, as being similar to mega-churches in style.

In fact, Catholic parishes like St. Pius X in Loudonville or St. Edward the Confessor in Clifton Park are also similar to mega-churches in that they serve very large congregations, she noted.

Some Catholics tend to criticize mega-churches for their use of upbeat, contemporary music at liturgies, she said, or complain that the churches "don't ask anything of anyone." But Sister Monica does not plan to be critical of other denominations during her workshop.

Instead, her focus will be "to find out what is attractive about mega-churches and their celebrations: in particular, the music, the hospitality [and] the homilies. Why are people coming in droves? They must be doing something right."

Pluses

In researching mega-churches, Sister Monica discovered that they work hard at serving different age groups, particularly young people. She said that Catholic parishes could take a page from this in focusing more on 20- and 30-somethings, perhaps by holding monthly liturgies geared toward them.

Good music also attracts people to mega-churches, she found. Although some Catholics believe that music is not an essential part of the liturgy, they see music as "a really big thing in people's lives. It speaks to their emotions. Music is uplifting to people's spirits, as much as the Word."

Finally, good preparation for homilies is helpful. Sister Monica said that Catholic clergy who preside over several Masses each weekend have less preparation time than leaders of some mega-churches, which may have more persons in ministry with whom to split preaching duties.

What to copy

The bottom line, said Sister Monica, is that some aspects of mega-churches could translate well to Catholic parishes -- and such changes are positive for the Church.

"It's critical that we grow," she stated. Catholics who attend her workshop, she added, may leave asking themselves, "'What might I do better, that's more life-giving? The message is there; maybe I just haven't wrapped it correctly.'"

(Sister Monica is director of Pyramid Life Center in Paradox and a counselor at Catholic Central High School in Troy.)

(10/12/06)