First seen around Sunbelt cities, huge evangelical churches now attract thousands of worshippers in Western New York
By JAY TOKASZ News Staff Reporter 3/6/2005
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Ronald J. Colleran/Buffalo News Wayne Cooper of Hamburg, his wife, Sandy, and son, Jeremy, participate in a Sunday service at Hamburg Wesleyan Church.
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Under dimmed lighting, the Rev. Karl Eastlack tickles the piano keys, praying with his eyes closed, on a stage large enough to hold the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.
In a few moments, the lights come back and Eastlack switches gears, asking worshippers to introduce themselves.
About 1,000 people in attendance on a chilly January morning turn to each other, shake hands and exchange hellos and how-are-yous.
It's no meaningless gesture. For years, Eastern Hills Wesleyan Church in Clarence has attracted new faces - so many that members in 2001 opened a mammoth 2,240-seat sanctuary, the largest in Western New York.
Experiencing similar growth, The Chapel in Amherst is scheduled in May to open an auditorium-style sanctuary for 2,000 people.
In worship - as in shopping, dining and driving - big is getting even bigger.
Once limited to the sprawling environs of Sunbelt cities, evangelical megachurches attracting thousands of worshippers are now as much a part of the Western New York landscape as Super Wal-Marts, super-sized french fries and oversized SUVs.
On McKinley Parkway, the Wesleyan Church of Hamburg attracts nearly 2,000 worshippers to its four weekend services.
The Tabernacle in Orchard Park lists a membership of about 3,800 people and sees an average of 2,300 on weekends, said senior pastor Tommy Reid.
With size comes influence, and some experts believe megachurches are having a subtle, but profound impact on matters such as style of worship, church architecture and the political sway exerted by conservative Christian pastors on the electorate.
Before the 11 a.m. service at Eastern Hills Wesleyan, hundreds of people mingle inside a sky-lighted atrium, some sitting at coffee tables, others on benches and sofas.
Eastlack delivers a sermon about the value of the Bible.
"Until we had the Bible, it seemed that God was unknowable," he said.
Two large video screens above the stage provide closer views of the pastor.
The talk also gets beamed into an intimate side chapel. Its earth-toned walls give it a Starbuck's feel, and indeed, worshippers here sip coffee and listen to acoustic Christian music.
Critics see "McChurch' Critics deride such approaches to worship as "McChurch" or "devotional lite," but one of the hallmarks of a megachurch is its ability to connect with people in a less-traditional fashion.
Heavy investment in multimedia has become standard. All of the local megachurches have extensive, easy-to-navigate Web sites.
The Chapel uses a boom camera and splices crowd shots with images from the stage during its services. It broadcasts on WKBW/Channel 7 on Sundays. Eastlack offers a weekly radio message on WBEN and other stations. Reid's television show and video productions are well-known across the country.
Music is also key. Instead of an organ, megachurches feature full bands, with drums, electric guitars and keyboards, singing a variety of tunes, including some loud Christian rock.
"That's what's on their radio presets," noted the Rev. Greg McClain, pastor of Hamburg Wesleyan. "People ought to be able to worship God using music they're comfortable with and they enjoy."
And sermons are usually devoid of ecclesiastical language.
Eastlack has been known to use bizarre props on stage for effect. In a sermon about conquering fear, he wrapped a 15-foot python around his neck. Eastlack said he's still deathly afraid of snakes.
He illustrated a message of giving one's all by showing up in sweatpants with a towel around his neck, a la Sylvester Stallone in "Rocky," and downing raw eggs from a glass.
"I got sick the next night," he said. "It was bad."
The pastor makes no apologies for what some might see as antics.
"It's just a fun way to engage senses and awareness," he said. "Does church have to be dry and yawning and you can't wait for it to be over?"
Some Eastern Hills regulars privately grumble about the theatrics. They wish Eastlack would delve more deeply into the meaning of Scripture during his sermons, rather than wowing new visitors with watered-down theology, said one member who has attended the church for several years but did not want his name used.
Eastlack and other megachurch pastors admit they struggle crafting their weekly sermons for an audience of varied Bible and church knowledge.
"When people first come out," he said, "they're not nearly as concerned with the depth of theology as finding a way to God."
Dozens of ministries Megachurches deal with the dilemma by offering dozens of ministries during the week, including intensive Bible studies and a variety of men's and women's groups.
The Buffalo-Niagara region remains heavily Roman Catholic, according to a national religious census by the Glenmary Research Center, and has a small number of "unchurched" residents - meaning most people living here identify with a church or faith group and regularly attend worship. But local megachurch pastors deny that they compete with each other. They also believe there is plenty of opportunity to expand membership and win souls for Jesus.
"One of the most fertile harvest fields," the Rev. Al Cockrell, co-pastor of The Chapel, describes the region.
He believes there are "tens of thousands" of people in Western New York yet to be reached.
"There's plenty of room," added McClain, pointing to the capacity of his Hamburg sanctuary, which seats about 1,500.
Exactly who flocks to these huge worship centers isn't always clear, but at least some of them have Roman Catholic backgrounds. And some of the megachurches cater to them by offering occasional Communion during services that otherwise are devoid of Catholic liturgical touches.
Eastlack estimated as many as 40 percent of Eastern Hills attendees are or were Roman Catholics.
They include people like Margaret Dossett, 79, a former Catholic Sunday school teacher who joined Eastern Hills in 1991, following the lead of her children.
"They wanted something more. They were so bored," she said. "We wanted to be all in one church. This satisfied everyone."
"It was hard for me to break away," said Dossett, who attended Catholic schools and a Catholic college.
But she raves about her new spiritual home and its many facets. "It addresses every need that we find," she said.
Eric and Kathy Armenat were longtime parishioners of a Catholic church in Lancaster but recognized their participation was eroding.
Kathy Armenat, 45, came across Eastern Hills Wesleyan through the church's annual "Road to Bethlehem" Christmas program.
When the couple attended their first service together about two years ago, Eric Armenat, 46, figured he would "kind of sneak in and nobody will really notice and I can come and go as I please."
And his first impression of the service, he admitted, was of "a bunch of wealthy people entertaining themselves."
The Armenats came back anyway and within four months were covenant members.
"It has a feel to it that I've never experienced in any church I've ever been in," said Eric Armenat, an executive at a local aerospace company.
Plenty of amenities Hamburg Wesleyan attracts what McClain calls the "underchurched," people who have the experience of worship but are unsatisfied in some way. Among them are several ex-Catholics.
Many are couples with young children. Megachurches offer plenty of amenities, including child care during services, to make it easy to attend and get comfortable.
In the Buffalo-Niagara region, among several denominations, only the Wesleyan church made any sizable gain in adherents between 1990 and 2000.
The denomination's presence grew from 2,687 people to more than 15,000 - almost all of it attributable to the megachurches in Hamburg and Clarence.
During that same time, the Catholic population in Erie and Niagara counties slipped from 666,747 to 622,786. Mainline Protestant denominations such as the United Methodist Church and the Presbyterian Church USA also experienced membership declines, according to the Glenmary Research Center.
The Rev. Francis X. Mazur, the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo's ecumenical officer and pastor of St. Gerard parish, said he doesn't doubt some disgruntled Catholics were attracted to area megachurches, although he doesn't have an estimate of how many.
Mazur acknowledged that megachurches are winning over young people with their aggressive outreach programs, and Catholic parishes need to do a better job ministering to teenagers. He also attributed some of the growth in megachurches to their emphasis on the moral certitude of the Bible.
"People like to be told what (they are) supposed to do. I see that more and more," said Mazur. "The Catholic Church teaches that not all answers come from Scripture, but . . . people want answers, not questions."
Mainline Protestant churches are keenly aware of the megachurch phenomenon, as well.
While denominations such as the United Methodists, Presbyterians and Lutherans wrangle with internal politics, bureaucracies and splits, megachurches have focused on "being at the cutting edge" of worship and ministry, said the Rev. Merle Showers, district community minister of the Buffalo district of the United Methodist Church.
Showers believes interpretation of Scripture has a lot to do with the growth of megachurches, particularly over the past several years, when terrorism, war and a shaky economy have created unease and uncertainty in people.
"There's security, there's a feeling of solidness, a base, when you can read something and trust it's exactly what it says," Showers said.
Western New York may be a "churched" culture, but residents are more likely than ever to experiment spiritually, too.
People here are no longer bound to a single church, said Reid of Orchard Park's Tabernacle, who is widely considered the dean of local evangelicals. Reid cited research by the Rev. Robert Schuler, a national church growth pioneer, who suggests that the average person now has a relationship with four churches.
Some visit all four Pastors of the four megachurches acknowledged a local "circuit" of Christians who visit all of them at various times.
"Religious life is not what it was 50 years ago. It's incredibly fluid in a way that megachurches fit very well with," said Scott Thumma, a sociologist at the Hartford Institute for Religion Research who has studied megachurches for more than a decade.
Thumma maintains a database of more than 850 Protestant megachurches across the United States.
If Catholic churches were included, the list would top 2,500, said Thumma. It would likely include Diocese of Buffalo parishes such as St. Gregory the Great in Williamsville, St. Amelia in the Town of Tonawanda and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in Orchard Park, which typically attract thousands of parishioners on weekends.
As fewer priests become available, some observers predict megasized parishes will become more commonplace in many U.S. Catholic dioceses.
But the megachurch - with its complex organizational structure of pastors and team leaders, all led by a charismatic senior minister - is primarily a Protestant phenomenon, said Thumma.
There is little research about the actual membership of such large churches.
Thumma estimates about a third of attendees make up a large base of "marginal members" necessary to sustain the huge turnout and raise funds. While not extremely active, they nonetheless serve as church ambassadors and "walking bulletin boards."
Another quarter, he estimated, are somewhere in the middle with their participation.
The most active members make up about 40 percent of those in attendance on a given Sunday, Thumma said. And they tend to be very active, putting in at least five hours a week of volunteer time at the church.
Knack for raising funds What all of the megachurches locally share is a knack for raising money.
The Chapel is spending $15 million on its new facility. Eastern Hills, which spent $9.8 million on its new sanctuary in 2001, now wants to raise $8.4 million more for an expanded children's ministry area, more restrooms, a 350-seat chapel for weddings, offices for pastors and staff and a new smaller theater/worship venue.
Hamburg Wesleyan's recent additions and renovations, completed in 2002, cost $14.5 million, and the church is nearly finished with a new $2.75 million youth center.
The Tabernacle experienced its growth spurt years ago, but in recent years spent more than $1 million on a prayer tower and is wrapping up several hundred thousand dollars worth of interior renovations to the sanctuary and office space.
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