Singapore’s megachurches have been known as some of the largest worldwide, but recently there has been some disenchantment about these mammoth congregations and the movement of some ex-members toward mainline churches, writes Robbie B. H. Goh in the current issue of the journal Studies in World Christianity (31:2). Singapore and other global South countries (such as the Philippines, South Korea, and Indonesia) have seen the rapid growth of megachurches over the past decades. Such megachurches in Singapore as City Harvest Church, New Creation Church, and Faith Community Baptist Church were known internationally due to their combination of evangelical zeal, prosperity teachings, and seeker- and market-based strategies. Although there have not been surveys of megachurch membership in Singapore, Goh writes that the prominent flow of Christians from mainline churches to megachurches has slowed in recent years. He cites a study of 144 churches in Singapore in 2022 that found a movement of worshippers changing churches during the Covid pandemic, with “very large churches” experiencing an average outflow of 17 percent, compared to an average outflow for all other churches of just 7 percent. A small minority of churches (just 14) reported an increase of attendees compared to pre-Covid years, and these tended to be smaller churches with less than 250 pre-Covid worshippers.
Goh adds that the flow from large to smaller churches documented in this study does jibe with anecdotal reports from mainline pastors about ex-worshippers’ concerns and disenchantment with big-church models. While these pastors point to megachurch scandals and controversies that have led to this exodus, such as City Harvest’s alleged misappropriation of funds, they also cite a more general dissatisfaction with the lack of intimacy in large church settings and the dominance of the lead pastor. An earlier qualitative study by Goh (in 2018) showed similar attitudes accounting for why megachurch worshippers were making the transition to mainline churches. Additional reasons voiced by them were the celebrity status of pastors and the alleged controlling and abusive nature of cell groups, and even shallow and selective treatment of the Bible in preaching and teaching. But Goh acknowledges that the losses in Singapore’s megachurches are not necessarily seen in other countries, particularly in their American birthplace. He argues that there is a distinctive church market in Singapore that has facilitated this shift. Mainline churches, largely Anglican and Methodist, are similar to megachurches in their use of contemporary worship and even their adoption of a cell church format—and are not in a state of decline as in the U.S. Indeed, overall church membership is stable and even growing in Singapore. Goh also adds that there is a greater liberalization and more social outreach in American megachurches, preventing a significant flow of members to mainline churches.
(Studies in World Christianity, https://www.euppublishing.com/journal/swc)
