Not that we have too many of them in New England, but there’s an interesting survey out about the people who attend a megachurch, defined as a church with 2,000 members. From the Christian Post:

The report – “Not Who You Think They Are: The Real Story of People Who Attend America’s Megachurches” – is based on data from a national survey that drew 24,900 responses from 12 carefully selected megachurches across the country. It is claimed to be the largest national representative study of megachurch attendees conducted by any researchers to date….

Although megachurches have nearly twice as many new attendees, most of the new people are already Christians and came from another church. Seventy-seven percent said they have been long-time committed Christ followers for seven or more years and only 2 percent said they are not a follower. Also, 18 percent had not attended church for a while before coming to the megachurch and just 6 percent said they never went to church previously.

Most megachurch attendees (82 percent) come at the invitation of a friend, family member or co-worker, the study found. Only 19 percent said they saw the church or viewed media about it and came on their own.

Only 16 percent said they viewed the church’s website before attending.

Examining what attracts people to megachurches, the survey found that the worship style, senior pastor, and reputation of the church, respectively, were the strongest factors in initial attraction.

Those three items were also most influential in having people stay. The senior pastor, however, proved to be the strongest factor that kept people coming back.

The entire report can be read here at the website of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research.

You can also read and download the report as a PDF document here: National Survey of Megachurch Attenders.