Top 10 Megachurches Making a Global Impact

Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas is the largest congregation in the United States, with approximately 52,000 weekly attendees at its former NBA arena campus and millions more reached through television broadcasts in over 100 countries. Pastor Joel Osteen has made Lakewood synonymous with prosperity-inflected, positive-confession Christianity that is as beloved by its followers as it is criticized by Reformed theologians. Despite controversies — most notably the 2017 Hurricane Harvey shelter debate — Lakewood remains the most-watched American church in the world. Osteen's books have sold over 10 million copies.

Rick Warren founded Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California in 1980 with no members, no building, and no money — and built it into the eighth-largest church in America, with 22,000 weekly attendees and a global network of 12,000+ affiliated churches. Warren's PEACE Plan for global poverty, disease, and illiteracy mobilized thousands of ordinary church members as international development workers. Following Warren's retirement and subsequent controversies over the ordination of women, the Southern Baptist Convention disfellowshipped Saddleback in 2023 — but its global influence on church planting and community development remains enormous.

Church of the Highlands launched in Birmingham, Alabama in 2001 under Pastor Chris Hodges with 34 people in a school auditorium. It is now the largest church in Alabama and one of the ten largest in America, with over 50,000 weekly attendees across more than 25 campuses. The church runs Dream Centers addressing poverty, addiction, and homelessness in communities across the state, and its ARC (Association of Related Churches) church-planting network has helped plant over 1,000 churches nationwide. Its model of multi-site church planting with strong local community investment has become a widely studied template.

Transformation Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma is led by Pastor Michael Todd, whose Relationship Goals sermon series went viral in 2019 with over 100 million views and launched his national profile. The church has grown dramatically since Todd became senior pastor in 2015, and its YouTube channel is one of the fastest-growing of any church in America. Transformation Church is distinctive for its multicultural congregation, its engagement with hip-hop culture, and Michael Todd's willingness to preach on relationships, sexuality, and mental health with a candor unusual in evangelical contexts. It represents a new generation of American megachurch.

Steven Furtick planted Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2006 with 121 founding members and has grown it to over 26,000 weekly attendees across campuses in six states plus online. Elevation Worship's music — produced from Elevation's own recording label — is streamed hundreds of millions of times annually and used in churches worldwide. Furtick is simultaneously one of the most gifted communicators in evangelicalism and one of its most controversial figures, criticized for his preaching style, his conspicuous wealth, and occasional theological heterodoxy. The church's growth has been extraordinary and its cultural reach through music unparalleled.

Tim Keller planted Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan in 1989 when most church planting wisdom said secular urban centers were post-Christian dead zones. Redeemer grew to over 5,000 attendees — remarkable for any Manhattan congregation — and spawned dozens of daughter churches across the most expensive real estate market in America. More significantly, Keller became the most intellectually credible evangelical voice of his generation, whose books, sermons, and The Reason for God apologetics reached secular elites in ways no other Christian communicator could. Keller died in May 2023, but his theological legacy continues through Redeemer City to City.

Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas was founded by Robert Morris in 2000 and has grown into one of the largest churches in America, with over 100,000 weekly attendees across multiple campuses and a television ministry reaching millions. Gateway is one of the leading producers of Christian resources, hosting conferences, a Bible college, and a worship arts program that has launched several prominent worship artists including Kari Jobe and Cody Carnes. In 2024, Morris resigned following allegations of sexual abuse that dated back decades, a crisis that tested the church's institutional resilience deeply.

Life.Church in Edmond, Oklahoma has pioneered digital Christianity more systematically than any other megachurch in the world. Founded by Craig Groeschel in 1996, it now operates 40+ physical campuses across 10 states but is perhaps best known for creating and giving away the YouVersion Bible App — a free platform with over 650 million downloads that has made it the most-used Bible platform in human history. Life.Church also freely releases its full church management software, its sermon series, and its curriculum to any church in the world. It is the most generous institution in American Christianity.

Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois was founded by Bill Hybels in 1975 and became the template for the seeker-sensitive megachurch movement — big productions, relevant programming, and a deliberate strategy to reach people alienated from traditional church. At its peak Willow Creek drew 25,000 weekly and its Global Leadership Summit was broadcast to 400,000 leaders in 130 countries. The church suffered devastating institutional crisis following Hybels's 2018 resignation amid pervasive sexual misconduct allegations, and the subsequent board resignations gutted its leadership. Its road to recovery is long, but its historical influence on how megachurches do church remains foundational.

Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas is the largest congregation in the United States, with approximately 52,000 weekly attendees at its former NBA arena campus and millions more reached through television broadcasts in over 100 countries. Pastor Joel Osteen has made Lakewood synonymous with prosperity-inflected, positive-confession Christianity that is as beloved by its followers as it is criticized by Reformed theologians. Despite controversies — most notably the 2017 Hurricane Harvey shelter debate — Lakewood remains the most-watched American church in the world. Osteen's books have sold over 10 million copies.

Rick Warren founded Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California in 1980 with no members, no building, and no money — and built it into the eighth-largest church in America, with 22,000 weekly attendees and a global network of 12,000+ affiliated churches. Warren's PEACE Plan for global poverty, disease, and illiteracy mobilized thousands of ordinary church members as international development workers. Following Warren's retirement and subsequent controversies over the ordination of women, the Southern Baptist Convention disfellowshipped Saddleback in 2023 — but its global influence on church planting and community development remains enormous.

Church of the Highlands launched in Birmingham, Alabama in 2001 under Pastor Chris Hodges with 34 people in a school auditorium. It is now the largest church in Alabama and one of the ten largest in America, with over 50,000 weekly attendees across more than 25 campuses. The church runs Dream Centers addressing poverty, addiction, and homelessness in communities across the state, and its ARC (Association of Related Churches) church-planting network has helped plant over 1,000 churches nationwide. Its model of multi-site church planting with strong local community investment has become a widely studied template.

Transformation Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma is led by Pastor Michael Todd, whose Relationship Goals sermon series went viral in 2019 with over 100 million views and launched his national profile. The church has grown dramatically since Todd became senior pastor in 2015, and its YouTube channel is one of the fastest-growing of any church in America. Transformation Church is distinctive for its multicultural congregation, its engagement with hip-hop culture, and Michael Todd's willingness to preach on relationships, sexuality, and mental health with a candor unusual in evangelical contexts. It represents a new generation of American megachurch.

Steven Furtick planted Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2006 with 121 founding members and has grown it to over 26,000 weekly attendees across campuses in six states plus online. Elevation Worship's music — produced from Elevation's own recording label — is streamed hundreds of millions of times annually and used in churches worldwide. Furtick is simultaneously one of the most gifted communicators in evangelicalism and one of its most controversial figures, criticized for his preaching style, his conspicuous wealth, and occasional theological heterodoxy. The church's growth has been extraordinary and its cultural reach through music unparalleled.

Tim Keller planted Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan in 1989 when most church planting wisdom said secular urban centers were post-Christian dead zones. Redeemer grew to over 5,000 attendees — remarkable for any Manhattan congregation — and spawned dozens of daughter churches across the most expensive real estate market in America. More significantly, Keller became the most intellectually credible evangelical voice of his generation, whose books, sermons, and The Reason for God apologetics reached secular elites in ways no other Christian communicator could. Keller died in May 2023, but his theological legacy continues through Redeemer City to City.

Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas was founded by Robert Morris in 2000 and has grown into one of the largest churches in America, with over 100,000 weekly attendees across multiple campuses and a television ministry reaching millions. Gateway is one of the leading producers of Christian resources, hosting conferences, a Bible college, and a worship arts program that has launched several prominent worship artists including Kari Jobe and Cody Carnes. In 2024, Morris resigned following allegations of sexual abuse that dated back decades, a crisis that tested the church's institutional resilience deeply.

Life.Church in Edmond, Oklahoma has pioneered digital Christianity more systematically than any other megachurch in the world. Founded by Craig Groeschel in 1996, it now operates 40+ physical campuses across 10 states but is perhaps best known for creating and giving away the YouVersion Bible App — a free platform with over 650 million downloads that has made it the most-used Bible platform in human history. Life.Church also freely releases its full church management software, its sermon series, and its curriculum to any church in the world. It is the most generous institution in American Christianity.

Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois was founded by Bill Hybels in 1975 and became the template for the seeker-sensitive megachurch movement — big productions, relevant programming, and a deliberate strategy to reach people alienated from traditional church. At its peak Willow Creek drew 25,000 weekly and its Global Leadership Summit was broadcast to 400,000 leaders in 130 countries. The church suffered devastating institutional crisis following Hybels's 2018 resignation amid pervasive sexual misconduct allegations, and the subsequent board resignations gutted its leadership. Its road to recovery is long, but its historical influence on how megachurches do church remains foundational.