Church leaders say the spiritual hunger of today’s youth has benefited the growth of church congregations.

Dwight J. Gorbold, reverend of Baptist Campus Ministry, 449 Normal Road, said youths are starting to become their own religious organizers.

People age 25 and under are joining what is known as an “emerging church,” he said.

An emerging church meets in an apartment or house and does their own study, prayer or meditation, he said.

It’s the baby-boomers who are sucked into the “plastic, cold, artificial entertainment of mega-churches,” he said.

“It’s a trend on its way out,” Gorbold said of megachurches.

Megachurches are organizations with weekly sessions attended by more than a thousand people.

The great thing about the emerging church is their hands-on ministry and direct participation in charitable organizations, which isn’t seen in a lot of institutionalized churches, he said.

One of NIU’s college ministry groups, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, a non-denominational student-run movement that covers more than 500 colleges and universities nationwide, has grown as well.

Mindy Suich, InterVarsity leadership team president, said NIU’s chapter currently has 80 members compared to the 60 members they had five years ago.

According to Suich, people come to InterVarsity because “they’re looking for something more.”

Senior accountancy major Adam Spoolstra said he goes to InterVarsity to ask hard questions and seek answers about his faith with other members.

“It’s a place of encouragement and growth in faith,” he said.

Campus minister Pat Mulheran of Newman Catholic Student Center, 512 Normal Road, said the media hype of megachurches doesn’t have the longevity traditional churches offer.

The Newman Center addresses the same youth or student-based issues but with the knowledge of longevity of more than 2,000 years, she said.

The Center’s attendance also has risen in the past year.

Once a month, the church orders pizza nuggets after the 9 p.m. mass.

“We’ve doubled our order this semester,” Mulheran said.

Along with the growing number of religious young people is the growing number of megachurches.

According to the megachurches 2005 survey conducted by Hartford Seminary’s Hartford Institute for Religion Research and Leadership Network, the number of weekly attendance at megachurches has nearly doubled in the past five years.

Cally Parkinson, communication services director at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, said about 20,000 congregates attend the weekly service among three regional sites.

The percentage of youth differ among the separate locations of the church, but there has been a noticeable influx of attendees ranging from ages 20 to 30, she said.

“They come for the same reason other people come,” Parkinson said. People are searching for a challenging message relating to their life, she said.

Suzy Wong, a member of Heartland Community Church in Rockford, said she’s been attending the megachurch for the past nine months because it offers a contemporary way of worshipping.

The church targets younger people and appeals to the desire of a non-traditional way of church attendance.

The church offers music, modern technology, a new speaker every week and warm social gatherings to create a laid-back atmosphere where one can feel comfortable worshipping, she said.

Wong said it reminded her of a college ministry group she used to attend that directly targeted the spiritual needs and questions of her and her peers.