Megachurches, predominantly Evangelical Protestant communities that gather an average of 2,000 worshipers each week, are going through a period of turbulence.

As a result, these structures are crumbling, and demand is declining.

Several recent examples illustrate this phenomenon. Willow Creek Community Church, located near Chicago (Illinois), is one of the largest megachurches in the country. It draws up to 25,000 people each week. But over the past five years, attendance has been steadily declining.

"Willow is about half the size it was before COVID-19, which is quite in line with churches across the country," declared its lead pastor, Dave Dummitt, in 2022.

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The journal, which is reviewed by the Vatican Secretariat of State, accused some American Catholics of building an alliance of "hate" with evangelicals who backed the president.

Johnnie Moore, a leader of Trump's evangelical advisory board and a spokesman for some of its members, said he sought the meeting with the Pope and Vatican officials to address "efforts to divide Catholics and Evangelicals".

"We think it would be of great benefit to sit together and to discuss these things. Then, when we disagree we can do it within the context of friendship," Moore said in his letter to Francis.

The article, entitled "Evangelical Fundamentalism and Catholic Integralism: A Surprising Ecumenism," was published on 13 July. It warns the political alliance between some American Catholics and Evangelical Protestants had "gradually radicalised".

The articles' authors Antonio Spadaro, SJ and Presbyterian minister Reverend Marcelo Figueroa say today the alliance promotes conflict and hatred and a "xenophobic and Islamophobic vision that wants walls and purifying deportations".

The article has prompted an outpouring of criticism from conservative American Catholics and Evangelicals, who contend it grossly misrepresents their views to make a political point. The article's authors have stood by their conclusions, re-posting the piece regularly on Twitter over the last month.

Source

• LifeSite
• Catholic Herald
• Image: YouTube