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TechnoratiThe researchers found that divided loyalties impact the level of commitment to the church.
Roughly 90 percent of megachurch participants claimed regular worship service attendance but those from the USCLS sample were slightly more likely to attend services weekly or at least two to three times a month.
Additionally, megachurch attendees are less committed financially than those in a typical church with 32 percent saying they contribute nothing or give just a small amount when they can. While a third of both groups give a tithe (10 percent of income) or more, the megachurch giving figures are overall significantly below those for churches of all sizes.
Although their contributions are small, their level of giving has actually increased since attending the megachurch. Forty percent said they were giving more at the megachurch than at their previous church.
Other findings show that almost half (45 percent) of megachurch participants said they never volunteered and only 60 percent participate in small groups.
Nevertheless, the report pointed out that even the marginal participants are hardly uninvolved spectators.
Seventy percent of megachurch participants practice personal devotions daily or often during the week and 87 percent have invited at least one person to church in the last year, the survey found.
"[T]hese findings suggest that many participants are interacting with the megachurches on their own terms, to meet their own individualized needs," the researchers state in their report, noting that megachurches offer a multitude of choices and avenues by which churchgoers' spiritual needs can be met.
"As such, involvement at these (and perhaps all) churches may be less about creating an idealized plan to move someone toward commitment and more about providing many ways by which people could craft their unique, customized spiritual experience to meet their needs," the researchers add.
Most (62 percent) megachurch attendees said they experienced much spiritual growth in the past year with 42 percent attributing that growth to their involvement in the church.
Forty-five percent strongly agreed that their spiritual needs were being met and only 14 percent expressed a level of dissatisfaction with their spiritual growth at the megachurches.
Moreover, over two-thirds of attendees said their church is making a strong effort to get them involved and nearly three quarters agreed that their megachurches were making strong efforts to train, develop and coach leaders. Sixty-one percent also said they feel encouraged to discover and use their gifts and skills and 73 percent said they felt a sense of belonging to their church.
And the longer they attend the megachurch, the higher their commitment becomes.
The survey showed that regular attendance, involvement, and financial contributions increased with time. Fewer people reported "much growth" in their faith after five years of attendance but they were still more likely to experience spiritual growth than those in churches of all sizes.
The 12 megachurches studied in the survey, conducted January to August 2008, were intentionally chosen to parallel the diversity among all U.S. megachurches as closely as possible. The survey was supplemented with site visits, interviews and other data collection efforts.
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