Geography

Thom Rainer has a blogpost on some recent data he has received concerning church attendance size at SBC churches with 1000 or more in attendance. There are 603 on the list, but Thom points out the numbers are self-reported by churches that chose to respond.

Still, it is an interesting list. The state of Texas is well-represented, as is pretty much all of the Southeast. California churches appear a number of times and there are a small number of locations outside the Texas, California, or the Southeast that also appear on the roster. A church in New Mexico claims the 23rd spot, and a church in Pago Pago, American Samoa shows up at number 34. The rest of the top 50 are from Texas, California, or the Southeast, with a church from Kansas at number 51.

Some have said everything's bigger in Texas and this list does not appear to dispel that notion. The top two places are claimed by Houston-area churches, 4th and 5th place by Dallas/Fort Worth- area churches, with Houston-area fellowships assigned to nine of the top 50 spots and DFW-area assemblies garnering 5 places out of the top 50. Texas churches hold 16 of the top 50 positions.

I knew there were a lot of Baptists in this state, but there are a LOT of Baptists in this state!