When I speak to mainline Protestants about church life, I usually get questions, often only half-formulated, about megachurches. “What about those, what do you call them, megachurches?” “Isn’t that the problem with those megachurches?” “Isn’t that what megachurches do?”
With megachurches come megacrowds, megamoney and, increasingly, mega–security concerns.
The crowds—anywhere from 2,000 to 20,000 worshipers each weekend—can be an attractive target for a deranged shooter. Overflowing offering plates are tempting to thieves, and well-known preachers can become high-profile targets.