Almost 40 percent of the 50 most influential churches in the United States are not affiliated with a denomination-and size apparently equates to influence.

Those are among the interesting findings coming out of a survey of more than 2,000 Protestant pastors conducted earlier this year. The Church Report magazine says this year's list of "the most Influential churches in America" reflects a general consensus among the pastors surveyed that while those churches on the list do not all share the same view of all biblical doctrine, they do represent "the passion and sense of missions mandated in the New Testament." Another common factor, says the report, is that the most influential churches do not view themselves as better than others. "Each just considers itself as a church wanting to be pleasing and useful to God and their understanding of His mandates to them."

Apparently the number of congregants is an indicator of influence-in the eyes of pastors, anyway-as is the notoriety of a church's senior pastor. Heading the list are five mega-churches that currently average more than 16,000 weekend attendees and that are consistently found among America's fastest growing churches each year. And in each case, the church is led by a pastor whose name is familiar in the evangelical community and among readers of Christian books: Willow Creek Community Church (Bill Hybels; South Barrington, IL); Saddleback Church (Rick Warren; Lake Forest, CA); North Point Community Church (Andy Stanley; Alpharetta, GA); Fellowship Church (Ed Young, Jr.; Grapevine, TX); and Lakewood Church (Joel Osteen; Houston, TX).

More than half of the pastors surveyed included these five churches among the ten they were asked to identify as the most influential. In all, pastors recommended 83 different churches. Pastors of those churches include Ted Haggard, Jerry Falwell, David Jeremiah, John MacArthur, John Piper, Tony Evans, John Ortberg, Max Lucado, and Kirbyjon Caldwell.

In terms of numbers among the 50, churches affiliated with mainline denominations or networks of churches did not fare nearly as well as those considered to be non-denominational. Eighteen of the 50 were categorized as "non-affiliated."

Source: Jody Brown of Agape Press

Persecution of Christians on the Rise

DRESDEN (ANS) - The number of persecuted Christians is on the rise worldwide, according to Professor Thomas Schirrmacher, director of the Religious Liberty Commission of the German Evangelical Alliance.

Three in four cases of severe persecution are targeted at Christians, said Schirrmacher in a lecture at a gathering of the Protestant Association of the Christian Democratic Union in Dresden.

According to Schirrmacher, at least 55,000 Christians are killed each year for religious reasons. Christians in India, Indonesia and Pakistan run the highest risk of losing their lives.

Schirrmacher encouraged politicians to increase their support for religious freedom. Politicians are often reluctant to address the persecution and discrimination of Christians in Islamic countries in case this may jeopardize religious dialogue.

Many Chinese intellectuals, for instance, regard the Christian faith as "trendy," said Schirrmacher. The number of worshippers in China exceeds the Sunday service attendance in Europe. Since 1970 the number of Christians has tripled in Africa and Asia and doubled in Latin America.

Because of the decreasing numbers in Europe these developments are not very noticeable on a world scale. Christianity grows annually by 1.25 percent, roughly in line with the population growth of 1.22 percent.

Source:2006 ASSIST News Service.