Megachurches

“Following in the footsteps of the formerly multi-campus Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, The Village Church in Texas, led by Pastor Matt Chandler, has announced the end of their multisite model in favor of making each campus an autonomous church by 2022.” CPost

Babylon Bee: Church technicians admitted they had fabricated Peterson using advanced computer-generated imagery and state-of-the-art holopgraphic projection technology, incorporating personality and mannerisms of the most revered celebrity pastors to make sure the new CGI pastor was virtually flawless.

“We will be updating many aspects of the physical plant including cosmetic improvements and upgrading the media infrastructure so as to have satellite simulcast from our main campus” CPost

“A large church in Alabama is one step closer to creating its own police force, a move that seems to be without precedent in the U.S. The state’s Senate has approved legislation that would give church police officers the same powers other law enforcement officers have in Alabama.” NPR

Veteran religion reporter Kenneth A. Briggs is author of “The Invisible Bestseller: Searching for the Bible in America.”

“But looking deeper into this situation … is Noble’s church part of the problem? Is its ultra-contemporary worship emphasis – in which pastors are hailed as rock star gurus – displacing real religious substance? And are those who attend these heavily-secularized services en masse merely feeding a ‘feeling’ as opposed to feeding their souls?”

“The revelation came as the megachurch, which boasts more than 30,000 members in 17 cities in South Carolina, is in the final stage of two more expansions.” USA Today/Independent Mail

Deep divide dooms onetime megachurch North Heights Lutheran

North Heights Lutheran has been in a “downward death spiral” for more than a decade due to a bloated staff, overbuilding, exaggerated membership numbers and expenses far outweighing income

“As much as I wish folks would listen to the entire message, it really doesn’t diminish the absurdity of what I said.”

The gift is one of the largest ever given to a church in Minnesota. In fact, no larger gift was given to any church in the nation in 2015, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy.