FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New National Study Finds America’s Megachurches Have Rebounded Strongly After the Pandemic.
HARTFORD, Conn. — Five years after COVID-19 disrupted religious life across the country, America’s largest Protestant churches have not only recovered—they are reporting renewed vitality, financial strength, expanding ministry, and growing optimism about the future, according to a major new study released by Warren Bird and Scott Thumma.
The report, Megachurch Resurgence: How Big-Attendance Churches Rebounded After the Pandemic, is based on a comprehensive study of America’s largest churches. The research surveyed 589 Protestant congregations with weekly attendance of 900 or more, including 331 megachurches (i.e., churches with worship attendances approaching 2,000 and higher), and continues a 25-year longitudinal study tracking changes among the nation’s largest congregations. Access the report and related materials at https://hirr.hartfordinternational.edu/research/megachurch-research/
Among the report’s headline findings:
- Two-thirds (67%) of megachurches now exceed their pre-pandemic attendance, while 84% report their congregation is stronger today than before COVID.
- Eighty-six percent describe themselves as thriving and optimistic about their future.
- Financial health has improved significantly, with giving increasing faster than both inflation and attendance.
- Racial diversity continues to grow, with 66% of megachurches now qualifying as multiracial, compared to 56% five years ago.
- Community engagement remains central, with nearly nine in ten churches actively serving their surrounding communities and most opening their facilities for nonprofit, educational, civic, or community use.
- Leadership development has become increasingly intentional, as more than three-quarters operate ministry residency or leadership development programs.
“During the pandemic there was considerable speculation that large churches had permanently lost momentum,” said Scott Thumma, retired professor of sociology of religion at Hartford International University and former director of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research. “Instead, we found that most megachurches have demonstrated remarkable resilience. Many have emerged stronger than before—not simply because attendance returned, but because they have renewed their focus on discipleship, leadership development, innovation, and community engagement.”
The research also challenges several common assumptions about megachurches.
Rather than becoming increasingly isolated, these congregations report expanding their investment in local communities through service projects, partnerships, and shared facilities. Rather than relying solely on attractional programming, many report increasing emphasis on discipleship, developing young adults, leadership formation, and mobilizing members for ministry.
“Our findings suggest that America’s largest churches continue to function as laboratories of innovation,” said Warren Bird, co-author of the report. “Many of the ministry practices that eventually spread throughout American churches—whether multisite ministry, leadership residencies, digital engagement, or new approaches to discipleship—often appear first in these larger congregations.”
The report also found that megachurches remain significant within American Protestantism despite representing less than one percent of all Protestant congregations. Approximately 1,850 megachurches now attract roughly one in every six Protestant worshipers in the United States on a typical weekend.
“The story emerging from this research is not simply one of recovery,” Thumma said. “It is a story of adaptation. These churches have navigated extraordinary disruption and, in many cases, used it as an opportunity to rethink ministry, invest in people, and strengthen their mission.”
The full 52-page report includes detailed findings on attendance trends, congregational vitality, finances, leadership, racial diversity, multisite ministry, church planting, community engagement, conflict, and denominational identity.
About the Study
The survey was conducted between August and November 2025 and includes responses from 589 U.S. Protestant churches with weekly attendance of 900 or more. Results for the 331 megachurches were weighted to represent the national population of these large Protestant Christian churches.
Media Contact
Warren Bird, Ph.D. Scott Thumma, Ph.D.
Researcher and Co-author Professor of Sociology of Religion and Co-author
[email protected] [email protected]
View the report at https://hirr.hartfordinternational.edu/research/megachurch-research/