If you think huge building capacity, large church attendance, and membership when you hear the term megachurch, you are absolutely right. The Hartford Institute for Religious Research describes a megachurch as any protestant church with a sustained weekly attendance of 2000 persons or more in its worship services counting all adults and children. In this list, we swept through all 7 continents to bring you.
Top 15 megachurches in the world visited by 1000’s daily
1. Yoido Full Gospel Church
The Yoido full gospel church, popularly dubbed the largest megachurch on earth is an answer to the prayers of thousands of believers in South Korea. Affiliated to the Assemblies of God church, it is believed to have over 450,000 members. It is located in the heart of South Korea in the city of Seoul. It was founded by Pastor David Yonggi Cho who is now retired in 1958. The church is blessed with countless testimonies of healing miracles and an awareness of the presence of God. The church is currently headed by Senior Pastor Young Hoon Lee.
2. Calvary Temple Church
Calvary temple church is another booming church in Asia with a total membership of over 300,000 members. It is situated in Hyderabad, India, and is headed by the very respected Dr. Satish Kumar. At Calvary Temple, they believe that God is the source of love, peace, and joy, and as such everyone should be connected to their creator. This is why they have been in the limelight recently for their generous display of love and affection towards covid 19 patients. With India being terribly hit by the pandemic, the church opened its arms coved 19 patients without regard for their race or religion. It has converted a part of its building to an isolation center and fed thousands of families since the pandemic started.
3. Living Faith Church
Living faith church also known as Winners Chapel is the largest megachurch in Nigeria. With thousands of branches spread across the African continent and beyond, the church has over five million members in total. It was founded by Bishop David Oyedepo and is situated in the city of Lagos, Nigeria. The main campus currently seats 50,000 even though they have a weekly attendance of over 200,000 people. The church is also set to commence the building of her 100,000 seat capacity Ark.
4. Bethany church of God
5. Onnuri (All Nations) Community Church
The Onnuri Community Church is another megachurch doing amazing things in the city of Seoul, Korea. The church is a Presbyterian church founded by Pastor Ha Yong-Jo who passed away in 2011. Pastor Ha Yong Jo started the church with just 12 families in 1984. He aimed to model the church after the book of Acts. The church is passionate about missions and has maintained membership and weekly attendance of over 75,000 people while sending out thousands of missionaries. The church is currently overseen by pastor Jae Hoon Lee.
6. Lakewood Church, Houston
If you haven’t heard of the Lakewood church, then you must have probably heard of the popular televangelist Joel Osteen. At this point, we aren’t even sure who is more popular. It is without a doubt though that the Lakewood church is one of the largest churches in America. The church has over 50000 people attending services every week and at the same time boasts of millions of viewers and subscribers online. The church was founded in 1959 by John and Dodie Osteen, parents of Joel Osteen. Joel Osteen assumed the role of senior pastor after his father’s passing. He now pastors the Lakewood church in partnership with his lovely wife Victoria Osteen.
7. Deeper Christian Life ministries
The Deeper Christian Life Ministries is commonly referred to as ‘Deeper Life’ among Nigerians. It is unarguably one of the largest megachurches in Africa. It is situated in the city of Lagos, Nigeria. The church was founded by Pastor William Kumuyi in 1973. To date, Pastor Kumuyi is still very active in ministry. The headquarters is located in the Gbagada area of Lagos and has a seating capacity of 30,000 people. The church has a weekly attendance of 65,000 people with over a thousand branches scattered in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America.
8. Redeemed Christian church of God
The Redeemed Christian church of God was founded by Reverend Josiah Akindayomi in 1952 as a men’s fellowship with just 12 men. The fellowship eventually metamorphosed into the Redeemed Christian Church. The reverend was called to glory in 1980 and was succeeded by Pastor E. A Adeboye who is being used mightily by God not just in Nigeria but all over the world. The church is situated in Lagos, Nigeria and through its mini-city can host millions of worshippers at one meeting.
9. Pyungkang Cheil Presbyterian church
Korea is blessed with so many churches actively sharing the gospel and contributing positively to the growth of the communities around them. The PyungkangChell Presbyterian Church is one of those churches. It was founded by Abraham Park Yoonsik in 1964 with a congregation of barely 30 people at its first gathering. Today it is home to thousands of members with a weekly attendance of about 60000 people. The church is located in the city of Seoul and is currently pastored by Reverend YooJong Hoon. The church runs several facilities such as a seminary, a museum housing biblical artifacts called the Abraham Park Kenneth Vine Collection, and a Christian academy for grade school children.
10. Hillsong Australia
Hillsong is located in the beautiful city of Sydney, New South Wales. It was founded by Brian Houston in 1983. He began with 40 people in a school hall but today the church has over ten thousand members globally with a weekly attendance of 38,000 people. You might be more familiar with Hillsong music but we assure you that spirit-filled worship isn’t all there is to Hillsong. The church runs several ministries for kids, youths, women, and everyone called to a leadership capacity in one form or the other. Pastor Brian is married to his beautiful wife Pastor Bobbie Houston and they have 3 amazing children and a growing number of grandchildren.
11. Victory Metro East
Victory Metro Manila was founded by Steve and Deborah Murrell in 1984. It is an evangelical church dedicated to building disciples and honoring God. It is located in Manila, Philippines, and caters to about 65,000 attendees every week. The church which began as a summer mission trip with 65 American university students now has churches planted all over the Philippines along with several Victory groups meeting weekly in campuses coffee shops, homes, and offices.
12. New life Fellowship Association
The New Life Fellowship Association started in the early 60s when two missionary families decided to begin a fellowship in India. In no time, the community grew and Pastors Susai and Florence Joseph were ordained as leaders of the fellowship. Today the church prides itself on meeting the holistic needs of people both social and spiritual. They do some of this through the New Life Medical and Educational Trust(NLMET) which caters to the housing, employment, health care, and educational needs of people. The church has a weekly attendance of over 70000 people.
13. DOXADEO
Doxadeo means the glory of the lord and it is a beautiful church with headquarters located in Pretoria, South Africa. The church believes it has been called to bring faith, love, and hope back to the cities. It was founded by Pastor Alan Platt in 1996 and today has multiple campuses in New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Germany while catering to over 30000 attendees every week.
14. Christ Commission Fellowship
The Christ Commission Fellowship is another megachurch in Asia located in Ortigas Center, the Philippines with a sustained weekly attendance of 55000 members. The mission of the church is to create a movement of committed followers of Jesus Christ meeting in small groups and transforming lives, families, and nations to the glory of God. The church was founded by Pastor Peter Tan-Chi in 1984 and has continuously dedicated itself to building lives and transforming communities in the name of Jesus Christ.
15. Mision Christiana Elim (Elim Christian Mission)
Known locally as Elim Central Church, Elim Christian Mission is located in San Salvador, El Salvador. The church was founded by Sergio Daniel Solórzano Aldana in 1977 with just 9 people. The aim was to create another branch of the original Elim Christian mission in Guatemala. It is however important to note that due to certain conflicts in doctrinal beliefs, the Elim Christian Mission severed its affiliation with the one in Guatemala. The Church has since witnessed explosive growth catering to almost a hundred thousand members at some point. Today the church has branches in Australia, Belgium, Canada, The United States, Mexico, Guatemala, and several other countries all under the able leadership of Pastor Mario Vega.