List of the largest evangelical churches

This list of the largest evangelical megachurches contains evangelical Christian megachurches by weekly attendance. Large churches from other denominations, like Catholicism, are not included as they are not deemed to belong to the megachurch phenomenon which by definition is part of Protestantism. The list is not exhaustive, there are large annual changes, and there are difficulties to compare the churches as different methods to count can be used.

Characteristics The term megachurch is used for churches with regular attendance of 2,000 people. When it has more than 10,000 people who gather together, the term gigachurch is sometimes used.Alicia Budich, cbsnews.com, From Megachurch to "Gigachurch", USA, April 6, 2012Ed Stetzer, Megachurch Research - Terminology, Christian Today, USA, October 9, 2008Ruth Gledhill, Church growth: World's largest churches are getting bigger, Christian Today, USA, September 08, 2016

Statistics Exponential counts 270 evangelical megachurches worldwide (excluding Canada and the United States). The Hartford Institute counts over 1,800 megachurches in the United States Hartford Institute, Database of Megachurches in the U.S., hirr.hartfordinternational.edu, USA, accessed February 5, 2025 and 35 in Canada.Hartford Institute, Megachurches of Canada, hartfordinstitute.org, USA, accessed February 5, 2025

Outreach Magazine is a magazine which publishes annually a list of evangelical Christian megachurches in USA.Outreach Magazine, 2023 Largest Participating Churches, outreach100.com, USA, retrieved November 2, 2023

Data accuracy The numbers reported are not accurate by any means, as attendance and membership may be defined very differently.Do Pastors Exaggerate Attendance Figures? Attendance may include people that are not legally members of the church, not baptised, non-believers, children, and may even belong to other churches. Some churches include their, sometimes loosely, affiliated churches in other places and even people that attend by electronic media. As many have several services on one day, there may be some overlap, with people attending more than one service. The exact number of people is seldom counted, thus estimation errors can occur. There is an obvious psychological boost from reporting growing numbers, "success", for enhanced credibility and motivation to support the work. The megachurches may quite be different from traditional evangelical congregations where clear membership records are maintained, to define who has legal right to vote in the church assembly, who can be appointed to public offices and who belongs to the flock under direct pastoral care, and the pastor can often be replaced. The megachurches are often formed around a strong leader that stays in charge for decades, it is often like his "own personal enterprise", many times with limited economic transparency, a tendency that has been questioned in various countries.Kathy Lohr, Senator Probes Megachurches' Finances, npr.org, DECEMBER 4, 2007JESSILYN LANCASTER, Controversial Megachurch Pastor Won't Discuss Finances Because of Jesus, charismanews.com, November 12, 2015Nicola Menzie, Are Prosperity Preachers Destroying the Traditional Black Church? A Review of 'Black Church Inc', christianpost.com, June 24, 2014 In notable cases the headship has been passed on from father to son, like in Lakewood Church. Many megachurches have had an affiliation to a denomination, but have become independent, thus outside the denominational supervision that is common for non-independent congregations. Thus, in cases of irregularities, a pastor may continue without disciplinary measures, due to their sheer power, and any disappointed members may leave but new people keep coming in, with reduced effect on attendance.Jeremy Weber, Will Europe's Third-Largest Church Punish Pastor for Multiple Affairs?, christianitytoday.com, USA, May 17, 2016

Hence, due to inaccuracies, the same church can sometimes be reported to have attendance and membership counts that differ 5–10 times, depending on how reporting is done and who is doing it, e.g. Yoido Full Gospel Church can sometimes be mentioned with attendance numbers over 800,000.

List The list below is of the largest Evangelical megachurches with weekly attendance of more than 30,000 people.

NameAssociationDenomination CityCountryAverage weekly attendanceDeeper Life Bible Church No Pentecostalism Lagos Nigeria 555,000 Yoido Full Gospel Church Assemblies of God Pentecostalism Seoul South Korea 480,000Warren Bird, World Megachurches, exponential.org, accessed February 5, 2025 Jesus Is Lord Church No Nondenominational Christianity BulacanPhilippines 333,506 Finer details can be found in the Statistical Tables on the web pageCalvary Temple No Nondenominational Christianity HyderabadIndia 330,000Michael Brown, How one church In India provided more than 3million meals during the pandemic, christianpost.com, 26 May 2020Victory Christian Fellowship Every Nation Churches, Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches Nondenominational Christianity Manila Philippines 295,000Christ's Commission Fellowship Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches Nondenominational Christianity Pasig Philippines 243,000Nginden Bethany Church Bethany Indonesian Church Charismatic Christianity Surabaya Indonesia 140,000Dunamis International Gospel CentreNoPentecostalismAbujaNigeria100,000Life.Church Evangelical Covenant Church Nondenominational Christianity Edmond United States 76,000 New Life Fellowship Association New Life Fellowship Association Nondenominational Christianity Mumbai India 70,000Church of the Highlands No Nondenominational Christianity Birmingham United States 60,000 Faith Tabernacle Living Faith Church Worldwide Charismatic Christianity Lagos Nigeria 50,000Igreja Batista da Lagoinha Convenção Batista Nacional (Baptist World Alliance) Baptist Belo HorizonteBrazil 50,000Mision Cristiana Elim Internacional No Pentecostalism San SalvadorEl Salvador 50,000Redeemed Christian Church of God No Pentecostalism Lagos Nigeria 50,000Lakewood Church No Nondenominational Christianity Houston United States 45,000 North Point Community Church No Nondenominational Christianity Alpharetta United States 43,830 Comunidad Cristiana Agua Viva No Charismatic Christianity Lima Peru 42,000New Life Assembly of God General Council of the Assemblies of God of India (Assemblies of God) Pentecostalism Chennai India 40,000Word of Hope Christian Family Church Assemblies of God, Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches Pentecostalism Manila Philippines 32,500

List of the largest evangelical churches

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