As none of the organized religions share my personal beliefs, I currently do not attend a church. In my youth, I was much less self conscious about my hypocracy, and used to regularly attend whatever church in my area had the best "Sunday School" or "Youth Group." I learned to snorkel, waterski, went camping, and many other activities with Church groups. The youth sports leagues for basketball and volleyball did not exist outside of the school districts until the local churches started them. These things really benefited my local community.
These programs tought community involvement, charitable giving, offered informal counseling to teens, and gave my parents some peace of mind that I couldn't get into too much trouble if the group was meeting on Church property (and at very least they knew where I was).
While I'm not too crazy about any particular religion, I support my local churches, and appreciate all the social programs they offer.
This is why I hate the idea of a MegaChurch.
(more after the fold)
While I'm no expert, it seems the church should serve two or three goals. (1) Teach religion, (2) Improve their image by providing services to the community, and (3) Encourage membership growth.
Church's are a great place for meeting other members of your community, they are always looking for people who have time they can afford to volunteer and a great place to find volunteers. Church's are also a great place to raise funds for local causes.
The MegaChurch in my view is the Wallmart of Church. I live near the "Crystal Cathedral" in Garden Grove, California (where Rev. Shular and his son work). When people come in from out of town, my parents sometimes take them to this "church" just to see what a specaticle it is. I also live about 20-30 minutes from the headquarters for TBN (in Irvine.) This is another enormous building.
As this is a major metropolitan area, I doubt there are local churches which are hurt by the existence of these monoliths, but when I hear of a MegaChurch in Tennesee or Kentucky, I think, how many local churches will that close down.
Is there any kind of resistence to these MegaChurchs, and if there is, will they take help from an Agnostic?