Northwest Indiana Church Listed as Largest In State

According to Outreach magazine's "Outreach 100" for 2008, First Baptist Church of Hammond was listed as the largest church in the state of Indiana, and is currently ranked 19 in size nationwide. The same article lists First Baptist Church as the largest Independent Baptist church in the country. Additionally, the study ranked the church among the 100 fastest growing in the country, with a 14% growth over the previous year.

 

In the spring of 2007, First Baptist Church of Hammond had an average weekly attendance of 12,000. During the spring of this year, the church averaged 13,678 in attendance. Most recently, First Baptist has seen well in excess of 16,000 attending weekly during the first 2 Sundays of its fall campaign.

 

Outreach magazine lists several common denominators in its survey of the largest churches. The article says that many of the top 100 were "reaching their community, engaging the hurting and those far from Christ." Outreach also contends that the statistics go beyond numbers. "Behind the numbers on these lists are stories of changed lives, renewed churches, and transformed communities."

 

Where we're at on the "Outreach 100."