Church Sexual Abuse Not Limited to Megachurch Size, Experts Say

Recent federal investigations have sparked renewed discussions about institutional safeguards, regardless of congregation size. But some are challenging the notion that church size contributes to the problem.

The Hartford Institute for Religious Research defines a megachurch as any Protestant Christian church that draws 2,000 or more people during a weekend. Many churches around the world fit that description, and they receive considerable criticism over a wide range of issues.

“But looking closer, it’s interesting that in a significant number of cases, the sexual abuse, extramarital affair or other behaviors, actually took place long before those pastors led large churches,” says Phil Cooke, a Christian media expert. “In a number of cases, they weren’t even senior pastors; they were young youth leaders, local evangelists or in another ministry role early in their career.”

Recent church abuse investigations demonstrate that abuse can occur in any setting, while comprehensive investigations show the need for stronger institutional safeguards.

“Of course, that doesn’t excuse their behavior, sin or illegal actions, but it does point to the fact that we shouldn’t always default to a large church being central to the problem. Certainly, having access to the financial resources of a large church might help you cover up the issue, pay off a victim or hire big-time lawyers to defend you, but that doesn’t seem to have been the case in a significant number of recent stories.”

Megachurches are not new, Cooke said. By 1860, Dwight L. Moody’s Sunday school was drawing 1,000 children each week. He eventually built a 1,500-seat sanctuary in Chicago and dedicated it in 1864. That sanctuary was completely destroyed in 1871 during the Great Chicago Fire. So, they launched a campaign to build a new building that held 10,000 people. It was renamed Chicago Avenue Church in 1876.

Around the same time, in London, Charles Spurgeon preached to capacity crowds everywhere he went. At the time of his death in 1892, the membership at his church, the Metropolitan Tabernacle, was more than 5,300.

“Honestly, every church needs to be on guard to expose sexual abuse, financial mismanagement, incompetence, celebrity worship and other damaging behavior, but if we always default to the problem being a ‘megachurch issue,’ it’s not often helpful,” Cooke said. “In fact, in my experience, for every large church that has a leader caught in some serious sin, there are many more small churches with the same issues. Large churches aren’t perfect, but neither are small churches. It’s a good reminder that sin is a problem of the heart, not the size of the building.”