To help church leaders and Pastors understand how churches

operate at different sizes and implement required changes

to transition to a desirable future .

Church Sizes
Dynamics
AND
 Church Size Dynamics
Through the following learning activities you will be able to:

Recognize the dynamics associated with your church size

Identify the implication of your current church size upon

the function of pastors, governance and congregational life

Consider the next phase of your development/growth

Agree on key transitions that would assist

the church’s growth into the desired future

Create an action plan for the transition

workbook
 In this training booklet, you will have three main
sections that will enable you to reflect on your
church dynamics and plan a desirable future

reflection
Structure
imagination
action
 REFLECTION
CURRENT CHURCH SITUATION

What are some of the fea- How are your church’s current
tures that describe your characteristics or dynamics
church at the moment? differ from the generic char-
acteristics of a similar size
church?
Congregational Life: How does your
congregation operate? How do people relate to
one another?

Governance: How does the congregation Having watched the video,

make decisions? How do leaders lead?
what size church are you
Pastoral Role: What are the implications of currently reflecting in your
size?
ministry? (e.g., You may be a
Growth: How do people join the congregation? program church but maybe
you are functioning as a
Transition: how does the congregation move
from one size to the next? family church)

UNDERSTANDING
YOUR CHURCH
IMAGINATION
FUTURE HOPES & DREAMS

What hopes and dreams had God placed in your heart

regarding the future of your church?

Based on the following process of imagination, can you determine

any emerging themes?

• Reflect on your vision statement

• Reflect on the Word, promises, prophetic image re your church
• Create a profile for your community (if you haven’t already!)
• How can you be Good News to your community?
• Analyze your strength, weaknesses, opportunities & threats
• What can you do better than others (distinctive advantage).
• What unique ministry might God be calling
your congregation into?
ACTION POINTS

Based on your responses Transitions to be made in our church structure and

to the previous activities, governance:
consider a few transitions

Transitions to be made in our pastoring roles and

responsibilities:

Transitions to be made in our ministry operations to

generate growth:

What are some of the barriers that could hinder the implemen-
tation of the above mentioned transitions?
Considering the transitions articulated
in the video, what are some transitions
your church needs to make tmove
forward to the next level?
 CONTENTS

Introduction ..............................................................1

The Family Church: 0-50............................................3

The Pastoral Church: 50-150....................................10

The Program Church: 150-350 ................................17

The Corporation Church: 350-500+ ........................26

A SELECTED AND ANNOTATED

BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................33
 INTRODUCTION

Who has not been seduced by the fantasy of a perfect

program that will solve the problems of all churches
everywhere? Our experience tells us that such an idea leads to
frustration. Why? The purpose of this presentation is to
demonstrate how one important factor, the size of
congregations, prevents us from using one program and one
style of leadership for all church situations.
The size of a congregation acts as a key variable in those
factors that determine the structure, functions, and style of
relationships in its group life. For ease of analysis we will
assign four categories of size to differentiate a pattern: small,
medium, large, and extra large.

The small church will have up to 50 members active and

attending worship with some regularity. This size we will
call the FAMILY CHURCH.

The medium size church will have from 50-150 active

members and will be identified as the PASTORAL
CHURCH.

The large church will have 150-350 active members and it

becomes the PROGRAM CHURCH.

The extra large church, called the CORPORATION

CHURCH, includes an active membership of 350-500
and over.

One gauge of active membership is the average attendance

at worship over a one-year period. We are not interested here
in the number of communicants or baptized persons on the
record. The following analysis assumes that each numerical
range represents a membership that demonstrates a
commitment and maintains a vitality in both their worship
and work.
SIZING UP A CONGREGATION 1
 There is no intent in this presentation to attach any stigma
or respectability to size as such. On the contrary, it is assumed
that any size church is the right size, and any size church can
attract and assimilate new members. However, the basic
hypothesis is that the most effective means of carrying out a
new member ministry varies with the size of the congregation.
The hypothesis does not mean to deny the importance of
other variables, such as context, available resources, local
history, institutional and systemic cycles, etc. In the real
situation no one variable can be isolated.
This presentation draws on available research* and my
own careful observations. It uses these to answer five
questions in each category according to the variable of size.

1. What is the basic structure of each type of church: family,

pastoral, program, and corporation?
2. How does each category typically attract new members?
3. What are the predominant characteristics of entry for the
new member?
4. What are the basic needs of the new member in each size
congregation?
5. How might a church most effectively meet those basic
needs of a new member?

*Refer to the Selected and Annotated Bibliography

2 SIZING UP A CONGREGATION
 THE FAMILY CHURCH
0-50
ACTIVE MEMBERS
Usual Context: Rural Areas, some
Urban Centers, and Small Towns

1. The Structure of the Family Church

The relatively recent, but classic description of the

“family” church comes from the writings of Carl Dudley,
Making the Small Church Effective. Dudley points out that
the small church has the basic dynamics of a one-cell unit,
such as a family with strong parental figures in control of the
norms and changes in the family life. The priest and/or
deacon in this situation will function as chaplain but not as
the primal father. If this is not understood, much of the
clerical ministry is spent in frustration and in conflict with the
well-established patriarchs and matriarchs. A sense of mutual
ministry and cooperation gives the small church an effective
leadership in which each type of leader offers the appropriate
gift in the church family. When this harmony exists, the small

SIZING UP A CONGREGATION 3
church offers rich rewards of familial support and a profound
sense of belonging.

Members who can get into the family are loved and cared
for intimately, but how do newcomers make their way into
this close, and sometimes closed, family? The “gatekeepers”
serve the role of a cheerful, welcoming, kind person who is
ready for casual conversation. A gatekeeper opens the door,
but it is the patriarch and matriarch who sanction a place in
the family for the newcomer. The method of assimilation is
more like adoption than simple social acceptance. The
adoption will take longer than social acceptance, but the
eventual bond with the new church family will be very strong.

2. Attracting New Members to a Family Church

a. Persons in small communities are attracted to a church
that services its neighbors in significant ways. Such a
community values, trusts, and will affiliate more readily
with a church that demonstrates the commandment of
Christ to “love your neighbor as yourself.”

b. Being a true servant church is best achieved in a small

church through defining and concentrating on a special
vocation for the congregation in the community. This
vocation must meet a visible need and can arise out of any
one of the five basic functions of a congregation: social
service, worship, education, evangelism, and pastoral care.
It is essential that the vocation be given time to emerge
and form so that it will have integrity and excellence. In a
small community, reputation is primary and passage of
time is secondary.

c. The requirements in money, volunteer time, and

personnel for the vocation should match with the
resources in the congregation. The vocation is. a long-
term commitment on the part of the whole congregation;

4 SIZING UP A CONGREGATION
 consequently a large percentage of the active membership
should share in discovering and defining the vocation.

d. When a congregation, such as one in an urban setting,

dedicates itself to a social service for a socio-economic
level in the community that does not attend the worship
services, it may create two tensions:

(1) The new socio-economic group will not respond by

becoming members of the immediate congregation. This
disconnection might be interpreted falsely as failure. The
mission of the church is not, in all circumstances,
demonstrated by an increase in membership.
(2) One of the persons who is helped by the church may
elect to attend a church gathering but does not feel
accepted as an equal in worship and fellowship.

These two tensions require further teaching in the skills of

incorporating new members with different styles of life. With
such training most churches can make an intentional, even if
not natural, effort to broaden their social, economic, and
ethnic profile. Also, it has been found that new members are
attracted to a congregation that is loving and caring in the
Spirit of Christ although the newcomer may not be the direct
recipient of that service. These new members say to
themselves, “Those people are the kind I want to be around.”

e. Examples of small church vocations in their relation to five

basic functions of a congregation:

(1) Service: in a seaport town a small church has

established and maintained, for decades, an excellent
seamen’s center. In an inner city, a small group has
housed, in church property, hostels for battered women
and children. Another urban church gives its time to
services that help Asian immigrants adjust to their new
environment.

SIZING UP A CONGREGATION 5
 (2) Worship: in an older suburban area two small churches
offer a vocation in two different styles of worship, one
charismatic and the other very “high church.” They draw
people from a larger perimeter than their immediate
neighborhood.

(3) Education: a small rural church offers an excellent

“Vacation Bible School” for children of all denominations.
A small white church joined with a small black
congregation to support a remedial training program in
the community for the underachieving student when the
government programs were withdrawn.

(4) Evangelism: a small and new congregation in a new

area of town planned a unique way of getting acquainted
with newcomers in the new development. They made
homemade wine and homemade bread which were taken
in a welcome basket with a simple note inside explaining
the meaning of bread and wine as a symbol in civilization
and in the Episcopal Church.

(5) Pastoral Care: a little mission has a new hospital built

near it because of the growing population of exurbia, the
joining of a country town with the advance of a larger
population center. ,They developed their congregation
into hospital calling teams to assist other Episcopal
parishes and often other denominations in giving a fuller
visitation program to patients.

Your congregation has a special vocation, too. When

found, it will give new excitement and purpose to the mission
of the small church.

6 SIZING UP A CONGREGATION
3. Characteristics of Entry into a Family Church
a. New members come predominantly through the strong
family and friendship ties that have existed for generations.
In some small communities it is better to think about
family units being the newcomer rather than simply
individuals. In the social environment of many small
towns, a major change in patterns of behavior, such as
joining a church, is a decision that is made in unit
strength-come one, come all, and all the aunts, uncles,
and cousins might follow too.

b. A newcomer will probably already be known by someone

in the church and by the “gatekeeper.” If a crisis is
involved, the chances are that the whole community
knows it by the “grapevine.” Having grace and sensitivity
in new relationships at church will be extremely
important.

c. Beyond the immediate circumstances, true adoption into

the church family will be long-term, but we do not want
it to become too long!

4. Basic Needs of the Newcomer in the Family Church

a. The newcomer needs information about the heritage and
particular traditions of this congregation in order to fit in
comfortably and knowledgeably. Not to know what
everyone else assumes is a conversational barrier, at least,
and often more.

b. Acceptance and recognition beyond the ritual of contact

with the “gatekeeper” is particularly needed outside of the
church gatherings. Here is perhaps the only legitimate
possibility for “street corner” evangelism. When the
newcomer is seen at the local grocer, service station, cafe,
etc., it is necessary that the church members be warm and
responsive in this normal daily contact.

SIZING UP A CONGREGATION 7
c. Church leaders need to arrange gradual and intentional
association with the “patriarchs and matriarchs.”

d. The newcomer needs safe opportunities and safe persons

for discussing the “new siblings” and the new relationship
in the new church family. All will not always go easily, and
the newness will cause awkward moments.

5. Suggestions for Responding to the Basic Needs

a. Plan a one-to-one visit with a “retired” patriarch and/or
matriarch, who functions now as the family-lore teller, in
order for the newcomer to have a good experience with
the heritage of the congregation.

b. Make available to the newcomer a brief history and

membership roster.

c. Identify the family and close friends of the newcomer who

are already in the church. Help these members become
aware of the way smaller churches receive, and relate to, a
new person. Ask these church members explicitly to accept
the ministry of being a guide for the newcomer in getting
acquainted and in learning about the life of the
congregation.

d. Be interested in, and learn about, the new person. Find

out by respectful listening about work responsibilities,
hobbies, community contacts, family ties, association in
clubs, schools, other churches, etc. In these polite probes,
search for significant contact points with other church
members, particularly patriarchs and matriarchs.

e. Recruit support for encouraging and appreciating the new

person at every point in community life where a church
member associates with the newcomer. Specifically ask the
church member to make a reasonable effort at building a

8 SIZING UP A CONGREGATION
 friendly and caring relationship with the newcomer. It is
important that these church members on special
assignment identify and seek out the new person at church
gatherings.

f. The priest and deacon in the small church have the

opportunity to offer a special type of contact. Because the
parishioners are giving regular friendship, the priest can be
a spiritual guide and confessor when the new person wants
to share something in confidence. The clergy can say
clearly and appropriately, “If difficulties occur in coming
into our family, please let us talk about it. I’ll be
confidential and support you in working through the
situation.”

6. Summary of the Category: Small Church-0-50

The family church is able to attract new members, even
with limited resources, by becoming visible and distinctive in
its community through the development of a vocation. This
specialized ministry becomes a major mission focus and
represents a particular contribution to the life of that
community.

When new members are drawn to the congregation, they

need the church to share its heritage, friendship circle, and
public acceptance by the leadership. The clergy, patriarchs,
and matriarchs can be a critical link between the newcomer
and the congregation by discreetly seeking intentional
commitments to befriend the new person.

The small church, whether established recently or long

ago, possesses the dynamics of a family that follows the lead
and temperament of a few patriarchs and matriarchs. It is
difficult to gain adoption into the rather closed network of
close relationships in this family. Nevertheless, well-informed
“gatekeepers” and sensitive “chaplains” can provide easier
entry for the newcomer.

SIZING UP A CONGREGATION 9
 THE PASTORAL CHURCH
50-150
ACTIVE MEMBERS
Usual Context: Towns and Suburbia

1. The Structure of the Pastoral Church

a. The pastoral church finds it needs more cohesive

leadership due to the increase of size over and against the
more intimate one-cellular structure. This size of
congregation encompasses 2 to 3 cells of quite intense
relations. These cells tend to function as layers or circles
which revolve around a pastoral care center. The
leadership circle replaces the patriarchs and matriarchs of
the family church; however, it still includes these long-
time members and prominent personalities. A new
structure has evolved because the leaders have needed to
select a leader. Consequently, an incipient hierarchy
emerges in the centralizing of authority in one
patriarch/matriarch. In the congregational style of our

10 SIZING UP A CONGREGATION
 culture this individual is usually a paid professional with
the credentials of higher education and/or ordination.

b. The power and effectiveness of the leadership circle will

depend largely on good communication with the
congregation and the ability of the central leader to
delegate authority, assign responsibility, and recognize the
accomplishments of others. Without such skills, the central
pastoral function weakens the entire structure. The clergy
person becomes exhausted, overworked, isolated, attacked
by other leaders, and harmony in the fellowship circle
degenerates. Also, the potential for expansion in the
membership circle depreciates rapidly.

c. The membership looks first to the central leader for

direction, inspiration, and pastoral care. This place of high
honor for the central pastor provides dangers and
opportunities at the same time. The demand upon the
pastor can become oppressive. However, most members
will respond with loyalty to a reasonable level of attention
and guidance from this central figure. Conversely, often
the leadership circle offers the central pastor little latitude
for error and poor judgment. One moment the leader is
treated as a peer and the next as a pontiff. This central
leader must be skillful in acquiring and using power with
wisdom and grace. Meek as a lamb and wise as a fox.
Normally, the pastor at the center is like the noble
shepherd in charge of the flock. On occasion, one of the
sheep turns out to be a wolf in wool.

d. The leadership required is predominantly pastoral because

there are so many relationships to watch over in this very
large family. Conflict management means survival. If this
congregation becomes larger in size, the internal dynamics
will change because it will no longer be possible to
operate as a super-family with a “big daddy.”

SIZING UP A CONGREGATION 11
2. The Characteristics of Entry into a Pastoral Church
a. Newcomers in this type of pastor-centered church will
expect attention from the clergy person because this is the
common pattern in the existing membership. A new
person naturally acquires this pervasive attitude.
Consequently, new member ministry could become
limited to the central pastor.

b. In the pastoral church most newcomers find their way into

the membership circle through the pastoral work of the
clergy person. In this type of church, few visitors stay who
cannot relate to the priest in charge. The study, Profile of
Episcopalians-1982, found that 54% of the respondents
said they chose their parish because they “like the rector.”
This percentile probably correctly indicates the influence
that the central pastor or rector has in the entry process of
newcomers in many medium size and larger suburban
churches.

c. Inevitably, one problem results that stifles growth: namely,

the number of newcomers that can be managed within
this system is quite limited. If the rector is the key
evangelist, who is working alone, then only 6 to 10
persons will be assimilated fully into the membership per
year. Also, the priest has the perpetual problem of making
friends with the newcomers only to be faced with the
necessity of moving on to others. The newcomer may
become sensitive to this decrease in attention and
misinterpret this withdrawal as rejection.

d. Most likely the visitor will not be greeted by a

“gatekeeper.” The members might be quite casual about,
perhaps even uninterested in, the new person. The
members think of themselves as a friendly group, but they
may be friendly mainly to each other. Membership will be
granted easily, but actual inclusion in the fellowship circle

12 SIZING UP A CONGREGATION
 and the inner core of leadership will prove difficult. The
priest is expected to serve as shepherd in guiding the new
person through the stages of visitor to membership to
fellowship and to leadership. However, one shepherd will
be able to do little more than maintain a level of growth
that creates a plateau in size.

3. The Basic Needs of a Newcomer

a. The new person will need recognition and support during
the “screening process.” Screening is not necessarily an
overtly hostile act on the part of the congregation, but it
may hurt. It is a natural mannerism through which any
group works out an adequate matching device for
prospective members. Groups have norms and purposes
that are fundamental to their identity. Screening is the way
a group signals to new persons whether or not they will
be compatible in the new social environment. The result
may be incorporation or rejection. The testing process is
difficult and not always pleasant. In the Christian
community we practice screening, but must protect
newcomers from an experience that is inconsistent with
the Christian principles of respect for all human beings
and love of our neighbors. Further, there is a difference
between group life and gospel life. The gospel is for all;
not every group is for all. As the bearer of the gospel, the
church must become a place for all. Perhaps it would be
more realistic to say that the church must become a place
where everyone can find a place.

b. In preparation for the newcomer the leadership needs to

provide for, and be aware of, multi-entry points into the
fellowship circle of the congregation. Each entry point
will be governed and facilitated by a separate group,
perhaps a study class, a men’s, or women’s, or youth
fellowship, a service project, a choir, etc. Whatever the
group, each one offers another opportunity for

SIZING UP A CONGREGATION 13
 newcomers to make contact, to find people with similar
interests and values, to participate in satisfying activities,
and to build new relationships.

c. The visitor does not need to know the names of all the
members. It is adequate to know 8 to 10 people by their
first name. Two or three of these acquaintances should
share some common interest with the newcomer.

4. Suggestions for Response to the Basic Needs

a. Identify members who have exceptional gifts in being a
host/hostess and in pastoral care. Such a person can
remember names, give warmth without the preliminary
foundation stage of friendship, carry on conversation
easily with new acquaintances, and have the ability to
accept graciously a wide range of people without feeling
nervous and judgmental. This person should be fully
accepted in the leadership circle and have extensive
contacts in the fellowship circle.

b. The candidate for this responsibility is commissioned to

the ministry of hospitality in some public way that is
appropriate in the congregation, perhaps at the offertory
in the Eucharist. The hospitality minister (other titles may
be used) is more than a greeter although he or she will
serve with the priest in the narthex and coffee hour.

c. It is the task of the hospitality minister to learn about

newcomers and assume responsibility for their being
welcomed at the church during the first six months. Such
duties are

(1) to match the newcomer with suitable members and

groups,

(2) to make the appropriate introductions, and repeated

introductions, at church gatherings,

14 SIZING UP A CONGREGATION
 (3) to give the newcomer and group leader the necessary
orientation and information in order to facilitate a
comfortable entry.

d. The hospitality minister will host situations that provide

one-to-one contact with the clergy, and help the clergy
make home, or hospital, calls when the newcomer desires
visitation. The priest should take care not to overload the
hospitality minister with other congregational
responsibilities and with too many cases.

e. It will be necessary for the hospitality minister and clergy

to confer with each other regularly to provide in-service
training and an exchange of information that is pertinent
to the new member ministry.

In The Master Plan, Colman points out that Jesus, as a

teacher and trainer, selected a few persons for close and
continuous supervision. Clergy will find that the method of
Jesus is an effective model for enabling mutual ministry and
greater trust between the laity and the ordained ministry.
Such an approach is particularly useful in congregations of up
to 150 active members, that is, the family and the pastoral
churches.

5. Summary and Evaluation

There are substantial reasons for not suggesting that the
priest organize a new-member committee in the
congregations that fit the first and second categories. One
study discovered that churches with new-member committees
do not grow any faster than the churches without such
groups. Why? They may be used as a substitute for the
membership-wide responsibility of inviting and integrating
others. Such committees may represent a recognition that the
character of the community has changed and that efforts to
contact prospective members must become more focused and

SIZING UP A CONGREGATION 15
intentional. However, new-member committees may appear
counterproductive because they are often found in
congregations where the social context makes church growth
almost impossible, or in congregations where the larger
membership has lost its enthusiasm about the ministry it
shares. In such instances, new-member committees are
symptomatic of deeper difficulties which the congregation
needs to face head on.

Finally, we have observed in looking at congregations of

an active membership up to 150 that organization is not a key
issue in their life. Strong family ties and an effective pastoral
leader stand out in vital churches of this size. The
organization is usually low-key and very flexible, perhaps
changing with each task. Major attention is given, not to
organization as such, but to building trust between the key
leaders and the priest and to training in a one-to-one
supervisory style.

It will prove helpful to have a support group for new-

member ministry that may be called a committee, task force,
working group, or something else. The name and the
organizational style are not significant, but this commitment
to evangelistic ministries will provide for the pastor and the
hospitality ministers a group where concerns, dreams,
problems and achievements can be shared. The function is
much more than administration.

The Evangelism Committee, or a New Member

Commission, as a distinctively administrative group, is not
without impact in the appropriate setting. In the next section
on the program church we will begin to see the role of such a
group.

16 SIZING UP A CONGREGATION
 THE PROGRAM CHURCH
150-350
ACTIVE MEMBERS
Usual Context: Larger Towns, Urban
and Growing Suburban Areas

1. The Structure of the Program Church

a. Democratic organization and leadership by the laity are

the keys to effective ministry in the program church. Due
to the increase in size it will no longer be possible for the
central leader to maintain pastoral contact with the whole
congregation. The priest and church staff will be
delegating more responsibility and authority to the laity.
Team leadership will replace centralized leadership. The
church staff and lay leadership will require more training
and pastoral support for their expanded ministry. The
central pastor becomes a pastor to the lay pastors.

b. The congregation will need to make a further transition

from dependency upon the priest in basic ministry

SIZING UP A CONGREGATION 17
 functions, such as counselling, teaching, administration,
membership development, and worship. To use titles for
expressing this change: the “father” becomes facilitator.
The patriarchs and matriarchs come into full power again,
but this time the environment is more democratic than
autocratic. The best leaders are comfortable with the
interdependency of teamwork, and they are responsive to
the dictates and directions that arise from the church
community. The major decisions are made in
representative governing bodies, such as the vestry and
program councils.

c. As the number of parish programs and program leaders

grow, the priest finds that more and more time is taken up
with the formation of dreams and new directions, with the
coordination of many different ministries, and the
administration of goal setting, strategy planning,
resourcing, training, and perpetual evaluation. The
pastoral work of the clergy is carried out in the setting of
administration.

d. The life of the parish progressively tends to center around

separate programs and worship services. Friendships
cluster around these centers of activity. This development
can create a twofold problem: communication and unity.
The many friendship clusters and manifold programs can
give members the impression that too much is happening
outside their immediate circle that they don’t know
about-and it might be true. Anxiety about this lack of
awareness expresses itself in the common complaint about
“a break in communication.” Further, the increase in
activity demands much more coordination in order that
there might be one thrust rather than a situation in which
everyone is “doing their own thing” with little interest in
the rest of the parish.

18 SIZING UP A CONGREGATION
 The priest and program leadership succeed in avoiding
such problems through an adequate means of sharing
information about events and insuring an integration of
program areas. In a sense, the congregation becomes a
“public” and the leadership needs good public relations.
Many methods of communication are available to us, but
the program church must give itself permission to spend
considerable time and money in their employment. It is
not a waste; rather, it is good stewardship.

e. In an effective program church, the whole congregation

affirms a clear statement of the purpose of the parish.
Annual goals and all activities throughout the year reflect
the purpose statement. The entire leadership assumes
accountability for supporting the purpose as a guideline.
The program church will suffer if its purpose is not
intentionally articulated and reviewed publicly. This
purpose statement serves also as a conservator of time and
energy. If a proposed activity, or existing program, does
not conform with the purpose, then there is good reason
to give no further staffing and money in that direction.
Using a purpose statement well is like pruning a plant for
its maximum growth potential.

2. Attracting New Members to the Program Church

a. The program church frequently draws persons by the
visibility and quality of its programs. Consequently, every
leader should be aware of this potential in every area of
programming. For example, always encourage participants
to share their enthusiasm for the program with someone
else. Provide easy ways that a new person can be
introduced to a program and made part of a friendship
circle that is associated with the program.

b. The maxim, “Find a hurt and heal it,” characterizes a

good strategy for reaching out to the community. The

SIZING UP A CONGREGATION 19
 expansion of leadership and the wider range of caring
services in the program church give many resources for
responding to human needs in a variety of critical
experiences, such as Illness, surgery, births, baptisms,
graduations, marriages, divorces, deaths, financial crises,
major transitions in life, recent arrivals in a neighborhood,
need for spiritual direction, etc.

c. It is advisable for a program church to have specific

programs for achieving visibility in the community, for
attracting prospects, and building “bridges of trust”
between the membership and the unchurched population.
Research teams and a task force can be assigned to
exploring the possibilities for programs that might achieve
such goals.

3. The Basic Needs of a Newcomer in a Program

Church
a. A directory that gives a composite picture of the life and
functions of the parish. This information serves as a “road
map,” guiding the new persons to groups that share their
interests and to programs that will meet their own needs,

b. A process of incorporation that makes provision for each

step a newcomer must make in order to find a place, in
the structures and systems of the church organization.
That potential “new friend,” good spiritual nurture, and a
satisfying expression of lay ministry will be hidden in the
organizational layers of the program church. An
incorporation procedure should help new members find
their way. It is easy to get lost and drift out the back door.

c. Recognition and respect for the newcomer as an

individual, rather than merely another potential member.
If the available resources of the present membership are
strained, that is, if they are trying to do too many

20 SIZING UP A CONGREGATION
 programs, the program church could project anxiety
about needing recruits for committees and tasks. The
newcomers will feel needed but used unless there is an
evident concern for their own circumstances. Giving the
impression of exploiting new people is a perpetual danger
in larger organizations.

4. Response to the Basic Human Needs through an

Incorporation Process
The essential functions of an incorporation program are:

a. A Warm Welcome
We can start by identifying and training greeters for
Sunday morning. This group can also conduct small
group sessions to discuss and train the whole membership
in being open and sensitive to visitors. These sessions,
perhaps as informal gatherings in homes, stress fuller
awareness of
(1) the needs and feelings of newcomers,
(2) the dynamics of inclusion and exclusion in groups,
(3) the steps in the parish program for assimilating new
members.

b. Visitor Information
To make follow-up possible, it is essential to devise some
polite method of securing the name, address, and phone
number of visitors. Then, use the method consistently.

c. Follow Up Response
Respond to a visitor in the first through the second week
by mail, phone, or a home visit. It is minimal hospitality
to say “Thank you for your visit” in some manner. Of
course, the content and form of the response will be
determined by the intentions and circumstances of the
visitor. For example, a close relative is in the hospital and
the person is frightened. Act fast! An active Episcopalian

SIZING UP A CONGREGATION 21
 moves into town and expresses the desire for a new
church affiliation. A home call in the first week after the
visit is certainly appropriate. However, if a non-
Episcopalian stops by for worship while visiting a relative
in the congregation, a cordial letter of appreciation is
adequate.

Any visitation program must be carried out by well-

qualified persons, who are in possession of needed
background information on those to be visited, in order
that the initial contact will be handled correctly and
sensitively. That first impression is crucial.

d. Opportunities for Orientation and Education

More churches are conducting perpetual Inquirers’ Classes
for new members and confirmation preparation. Weekend
retreats can also serve the function of providing regular
orientation and exploration of the Christian faith.

It is helpful to offer special learning experiences for adults

who are seeking baptism and for parents who are seeking
baptism for infants. Further, children need specially
designed instruction to understand their baptism. Lay
leaders should participate in conducting all the above
opportunities for teaching our faith.

Some visitors will need a short-term situation that gives

them elementary information about how we worship and
what the different parts of the service mean to us. This
instruction can become a way of sharing Christian views in
a low-key way with the unchurched person. The teacher
can apply to our daily ‘needs some of the Christian values
we celebrate in the Eucharist, such as love for others,
freedom from guilt by confession, having a sense of being
in a larger family at communion, getting ideas for working
out problems from the reading and expounding of
scripture, etc.

22 SIZING UP A CONGREGATION
e. Finding a Place to Belong
The program church has so many entry points for a
newcomer that it may be difficult to find a place to begin.
Some orientation about the options available is helpful to
new members before they attend meetings or accept
committee assignments. Some churches ask members to
serve as “shepherds” for new members. They literally help
them down the path to the “right pasture” and “best
water.” This function is a specialization in the hospitality
ministry that was mentioned in the previous section. The
greater portion of the hospitality of the new church home
will be experienced once the “shepherds” have done their
work in helping the newcomer find a good place to
belong, that is, a cluster of members that share the
interests of that new person.

f. Self Discovery and New Challenges

Make available to recent members an opportunity to
engage in some methods of gifts identification and a
review of their opportunities for ministry.

g. Monitoring Progress and Satisfaction

The most astute church will train experienced leaders to
be “guards at the back door.” The members of the
program church may move in and out of the committees
and friendship clusters without notice. In fact, they may
even move to the back door and leave without notice as
the church grows larger. Often, recently incorporated
members are not watched carefully enough for signals of
discontent, disappointment, unresolved conflict, faith
crisis, etc.

Many losses in membership can be prevented if the most

mature and experienced members keep eyes and ears open
for any danger signals. This is an excellent ministry for
past adult class teachers, past Senior Wardens, and past
Junior Wardens. These leaders bring their observations of

SIZING UP A CONGREGATION 23
 early signs of trouble to the attention of the church staff
in confidential consultations. This ministry assumes and
strengthens a high level of trust between the priest and
the well-established leadership.

Another function of monitoring can be handled at a

secretarial level. For the first year, at least, it is wise to
monitor the progress of the newcomer, with careful
notations being recorded in the membership file. The
assimilation process does not take place accidentally. The
priest and leaders who are responsible for newmember
ministry must be deliberate, reflective, and methodical in
their work.

h. Ministry of the Laity

As the program church advances into a fuller mutuality of
ministry between clergy and laity, it will be possible to
train “Member Care Teams” to work with four categories
of membership development: transfer members, new
members, lapsed members, and the baptized infants and
their families. The Care Teams offer a pastoral ministry
which, in a smaller church, might be provided by the
clergy. The pastoral ministry of the laity provides general
supportive relationships, home visitation, one-to-one
education and spiritual guidance, and reconciliation in
conflict situations. The Care Teams will specialize in one
or two of the four categories. The team will require
intensive training and supervision by the clergy at first.
However, with experience, advanced trainees will become
trainers and supervisors.

i. Administration of the Process

Due to the characteristics of a program church, it will be
natural to establish a commission and/or assign a staff
person to membership development in order to
coordinate the planning, resourcing, and training that will
be required in the program for attracting and assimilating

24 SIZING UP A CONGREGATION
 new members.
The members of this commission should be committed to
membership development and evangelistic outreach. Their
gifts should give them special competency as planners,
educators, and managers.

5. Summary and Evaluation

At this point in our study we can see a pattern in which
each size of church can claim advantages that would not be
present in the other sizes. The family church enjoys very close
ties in the congregation. In fact, everyone in the church
probably knows the other members quite well. The pastoral
church benefits from the consistent care of a central pastor
who is well trained. Further, such a congregation benefits
from a multi-cellular structure which is able to provide more
diversity of talents and association than the one-cell character
of the family church. In the program church it would be
impossible to know everyone in the congregation well, and
the priest is not able to give close attention to every member
as might be expected in the pastoral church. Because of size,
in the program church many members do not know each
other beyond a casual and somewhat superficial level.
However, the program church has the resources to provide
for its members a wide variety of programs and more facilities.
In contrast, it is best for the family church to specialize in its
program because of limited resources. On the other hand, no
other size congregation could offer such lasting bonds
between its members.
These advantages and limitations are important to
consider when we think through the new-member ministry
that might be expected in the family, pastoral, and program
churches. In particular, we want to use the strengths that are
inherent in each category.

SIZING UP A CONGREGATION 25
 THE CORPORATION CHURCH
300-500+
ACTIVE MEMBERS
Usual Context: Cities and Metropolitan Areas

1. The Structure of the Corporation Church

a. The corporation church is characterized by more

complexity and diversity. It includes many characteristics
of the other categories, but in a more extreme form. The
patriarchs and matriarchs return, but now as the
governing boards who formally, not just informally,
control the life of and the future of the congregation. The
central pastor reappears as the head pastor who now has
so much prominence that the personage acquires a
legendary quality over a long pastorate. Perhaps few know
this person closely, but the function does not require it.
The head pastor becomes a symbol of unity and stability
in a very complicated congregational life. The leadership

26 SIZING UP A CONGREGATION
 of the laity now takes a multi-level form in which there is
opportunity for working up the ladder of influence in the
large community. We see the outline of the program
church, but with more divisions of activity and more layers
of leadership ranks.

b. There is a sense of belonging to something awesome

when the community gathers in worship; the head priest is
seen as presiding over the massive family. Much of the
pride and loyalty in the congregation comes from being
part of the majesty that is created by the large proportions
of the church, the numbers, and the authority of the
visible leadership. Newcomers might be attracted by an
impressive worship service, powerful preaching, or a grand
building.

c. The personal relationships between members of the

congregation tend to form around small groups. These
take many shapes and have various reasons for being. The
programs are extensive and may reach into aspects of the
members’ daily life. Perhaps there is a private school, day
care for children, recreation facilities for the family, music
programs and social occasions for youth, choirs for two or
three age levels; perhaps there is affiliated retirement
housing and hospital facilities, and even the possibility of
many helpful business contacts. Most of these programs
generate opportunities for becoming part of a small
group. New persons usually find their way into the
corporation church by way of the cellular groups which
form both spontaneously and purposefully throughout the
parish. On the other hand, some members of very large
congregations enjoy the anonymity that is possible.

SIZING UP A CONGREGATION 27
2. An Interesting Historical Note
It is possible to see the pattern of the corporation church
in the dioceses; and the historical evolution of the diocese
seems to include the characteristics of change in the early
church from a family church, to a pastoral church, to a
program church, to a corporation church.
In our present system we could see the bishop as the head
pastor over a complex coalition of units under governing
boards, immediate staff, and primary leaders-in this case, the
clergy who are responsible to the bishop as well as their own
subdivision of diocesan life. It might be new for us to think of
the dioceses as a congregation, but the historical record
makes it a feasible perspective.

Family: in the post-resurrection church we find a family

church firmly centered around patriarchs, the apostles, and
notable matriarchs such as the mother of our Lord and the
women referred to in the Pauline Letters. The new converts
lived with goods and assets in common, as a family would.
Their homes seemed a natural place for their assembly.
Pastoral: the rapid growth of the Jerusalem church soon
required a council of patriarchs who followed the lead of
central figures, such as St. Peter and St. James. Larger
numbers caused the complaint that pastoral care was not
handled adequately any longer. The response was the first
expression of a program awareness.

Program: it was necessary to appoint some leaders, called

deacons, to be pastoral servants who would attend the needy
in the congregation. Other programs arose. In education, the
sacred teachings were recorded, put in libraries, and itinerant
teachers toured various church houses. In evangelism,
missionaries were commissioned to go beyond the walls of
Jerusalem to other cities and lands. In worship, new buildings
were designed, especially for the new forms of Christian
ceremony.

28 SIZING UP A CONGREGATION
 Corporation: before the end of the first century, the
Christian faith was protected, nurtured, and propagated by a
maze of both one-cell and multi-cellular gatherings. Later on,
due to continued expansion, it became impossible for the
patriarchs and central pastors of a city to assemble the faithful
as a single congregation. The elders, or presbyters, then took
charge of the smaller neighborhood units as deputies of the
central pastor. Here we see the beginnings of the system we
have now: a diocese which is pastored by a bishop who is
represented locally by the other ranks of holy orders, the
deacon and the priest.

3. Major New-Member Ministry Opportunities for a

Corporation Church
a. Whether we are thinking of a local congregation of
considerable size, or a diocese, the significant changes in
membership are often not under the immediate control of
the leadership. Many external factors are at work that
parallel trends in the corporation church. Some factors
might not be easily identified: such as the sudden appeal
of a leader with charisma, the openness of a culture or
sub-culture to the religious ethos of Christianity, the shift
in values in a society from a secular orientation to concern
for spiritual ideals, and the general curiosity in a public
over some highly visible feature of a congregation, or a
religious movement.

b. One cause of rapid growth in new members is easily

determined and analyzed demographically, the population
trend. In an area that has a significant increase in
population a congregation must be established, and
normal growth is nearly inevitable up to the level of the
pastoral church. It is the major responsibility of the
corporation church and the diocese to provide for new
missions in new population centers. A corporation church
without satellite congregations, and a diocese without a

SIZING UP A CONGREGATION 29
 program for establishing new congregations, loses a major
opportunity for evangelism. Without the greater resources
and contacts that the corporation church and the diocese
enjoy, the new-member ministry of the Christian effort, in
general, would be reduced to very slow expansion.
Historically, the greater number of new Christians were
made through establishing new units at the level of the
family church in neighborhoods with the potential of
sustaining a mission venture. A plateau of membership is
common in pastoral and program churches which are
located in areas that have stabilized economically and
socially. In fact, an energetic new-member ministry might
be necessary to maintain a plateau.

c. Another opportunity for mission confronts the

corporation church and the diocese in congregations that
are experiencing a decline in membership. A clear
demarcation should be made in a diocese between
missions that are established for the purpose of a new-
member ministry and missions that have become
perpetually dependent on other congregations who have
more resources. The proportion of resources that should
be invested in such dependent missions can be determined
by a clear mission strategy for the corporation church and
the diocese. Without such a strategy, we could easily get
trapped by the survival syndrome. Every social entity will
seek to survive for the sake of survival, and a Christian
mission is no exception. The survival syndrome, however,
generates only frustration, futility, and failure. A small
group should know who they are and why they exist.
They should know without hesitation answers to the
following questions. Are we a family church in an area
that has a potential for growth, and do we have the
support of a larger group to insure the resources? Are we
a small band of missionaries who are commissioned to
furnish a Christian presence in a declining neighborhood?
Do we have a plan for the number of years that we can

30 SIZING UP A CONGREGATION
 sustain the effort, and clarity about the goals that are
expected of us? And are the goals related to the reality of
the situation?

4. The Basic Needs of, and Suggested Response to, the

New Member in a Corporation Church
I will propose that the needs and responses that form a
newmember ministry in the corporation church are found in
what we have already said about the family, pastoral, and
program churches. The corporation church could be viewed
as a proliferation of family churches, a division of the pastoral
church into more levels of leadership, and an expansion of the
program church into an even fuller range of benefits and
services for its membership. If this perception is true, the
corporation church gives us opportunity to draw the
presentation to a summation.

New Member Ministry in the Corporation Church

The NEED of the New The RESPONSE in the

Member Church

Family Church Feature: Personally ask members of

ADOPTION into a a one-cell unit to accept
one-cell unit the new person.

Pastoral Church Feature: Train members in the art

ORIENTATION and of facilitating the inclusion
guidance in a new of a new person.
social context.

Program Church Features: Provide a step-by-step

FORMATION of a process that clearly
new commitment to presents for the new
the new congregation. person the benefits and
expectations of the
congregation.

SIZING UP A CONGREGATION 31
5. Conclusion
Three words have been selected to give a final conciseness
to our analysis: adoption, orientation, and formation. Of
course, every congregation will need to be aware of these
three functions of new member ministry. What, then, does
size determine in the end? The greater the size of the
congregation, the more intentional effort will be required for
each function. In a small church, the adoption procedure will
include orientation quite naturally. The larger church will find
it necessary to engineer all three steps more carefully.
Attracting and assimilating new members becomes more a
question of management than impulse.

32 SIZING UP A CONGREGATION
 A SELECTED AND ANNOTATED
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Carl S. Dudley, Making the Small Church Effective

(Abingdon). A clear statement of the inner dynamics of
life in a small congregation, particularly in small towns
and rural areas. Points out the values and virtues of such
churches.

Carl S. Dudley, Where Have All Our People Gone?

(Abingdon). An easily understood summary of major
research in the patterns of growth and decline, with some
practical program suggestions mainly applicable to middle-
size churches.

Dean Hoge and David Roozen, Understanding Church

Growth and Decline (Pilgrim). This book summarizes the
work of a group of academic and church researchers who
studied the unprecedented decline in the membership of
the major denominations in the late 60’s and early 70’s.
The study continued from 1967-1978, and the
conclusions were shared in a national symposium in 1978.

Donald McGavran, Understanding Church Growth

(Eerdmans). Dr. McGavran founded the “church growth
movement” by studying the world mission work through
carefully collected data, systematic reflection, and creative
suggestions.

Edward A. Rauff, Why People Join the Church (Glenmary). A

study that has been presented in a personal rather than a
statistical manner. It provides good case histories.

SIZING UP A CONGREGATION 33
John Savage, The Apathetic and Bored Church Member (LEAD
Consultants, Box 311, Pittsford, NY 14534). This
publication contains doctoral research that identifies
significant factors in what happens to members who drop
out of church life.

Lyle E. Schaller, Assimilating New Members (Abingdon).

Good insights from a Protestant perspective for a church
that is ready for careful program planning in suburban
areas.

The Blue Book, Profile of Episcopalians-1982, Appendix

#1, (Seabury Professional Services). Reports of the
Committees, Commissions, Boards, and Agencies of the
General Convention of the Episcopal Church, New
Orleans, LA, September 1982.

Research Centers
The publications of the two following institutes have
proven consistently helpful in understanding the dynamics
of group life and development in a congregation.

The Alban Institute, Inc.

Mount St. Alban
Washington, D.C. 20016

The Center for Parish Development

208 East Fifth Ave.
Naperville, IL 60540

34 SIZING UP A CONGREGATION
LEADERSHIP AND
CHURCH SIZE DYNAMICS
HOW STRATEGY CHANGES WITH GROWTH
[ DR. TIMOTHY KELLER ]

A church’s functional style, its strengths and weaknesses, and the roles of its lay and staff leaders will
change dramatically as its size changes.

One of the most common reasons for pastoral leadership mistakes is blindness to the significance of church size.
Size has an enormous impact on how a church functions. There is a “size culture” that profoundly affects how
decisions are made, how relationships flow, how effectiveness is evaluated, and what ministers, staff, and lay leaders
do.

We tend to think of the chief differences between churches mainly in denominational or theological terms, but
that underestimates the impact of size on how a church operates. The difference between how churches of 100
and 1,000 function may be much greater than the difference between a Presbyterian and a Baptist church of
the same size. The staff person who goes from a church of 400 to a church of 2,000 is in many ways making a
far greater change than if he or she moved from one denomination to another.

A large church is not simply a bigger version of a small church. The difference in communication, community
formation, and decision-making processes are so great that the leadership skills required in each are of almost
completely different orders.

SIZE CULTURES
Every church has a culture that goes with its size and which must be accepted. Most people tend to prefer a
certain size culture, and unfortunately, many give their favorite size culture a moral status and treat other size
categories as spiritually and morally inferior. They may insist that the only biblical way to do church is to
practice a certain size culture despite the fact that the congregation they attend is much too big or too small to
fit that culture.

For example, if some members of a church of 2,000 feel they should be able to get the senior pastor personally
on the phone without much difficulty, they are insisting on getting a kind of pastoral care that a church of
under 200 provides. Of course the pastor would soon be overwhelmed. Yet the members may insist that if he
can’t be reached he is failing his biblical duty to be their shepherd.

Another example: the new senior pastor of a church of 1,500 may insist that virtually all decisions be made by con-
sensus among the whole board and staff. Soon the board is meeting every week for six hours each time! Still the
pastor may insist that for staff members to be making their own decisions would mean they are acting unaccount-
ably or failing to build community. To impose a size-culture practice on a church that does not have that size will
wreak havoc on it and eventually force the church back into the size with which the practices are compatible.

A further example: New members who have just joined a smaller church after years of attending a much
larger one may begin complaining about the lack of professional quality in the church’s ministries and insisting

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that this shows a lack of spiritual excellence. The real problem, however, is that in the smaller church volunteers
do things that in the larger church are done by full-time staff. Similarly, new members of the smaller church
might complain that the pastor’s sermons are not as polished and well researched as they had come to expect
in the larger church. While a large-church pastor with multiple staff can afford to put twenty hours a week into
sermon preparation, however, the solo pastor of a smaller church can devote less than half of that time each week.

This means a wise pastor may have to sympathetically confront people who are just not able to handle the
church’s size culture—just like many people cannot adapt to life in geographic cultures different from the one
they were used to. Some people are organizationally suspicious, often for valid reasons from their experience.
Others can’t handle not having the preacher as their pastor. We must suggest to them they are asking for the
impossible in a church that size. We must not imply that it would be immaturity on their part to seek a different
church, though we should not actively encourage anyone to leave, either.

HEALTHY RESISTANCE
Every church has aspects of its natural size culture that must be resisted.

Larger churches have a great deal of difficulty keeping track of members who drop out or fall away from the
faith. This should never be accepted as inevitable. Rather, the large church must continually struggle to improve
pastoral care and discipleship.

Out of necessity, the large church must use organizational techniques from the business world, but the danger
is that ministry may become too results-oriented and focused on quantifiable outcomes (attendance, membership,
giving) rather than the goals of holiness and character growth. Again, this tendency should not be accepted as
inevitable; rather, new strategies for focusing on love and virtue must always be generated.

The smaller church by its nature gives immature, outspoken, opinionated, and broken members a significant
degree of power over the whole body. Since everyone knows everyone else, when members of a family or small
group express strong opposition to the direction set by the pastor and leaders, their misery can hold the whole
congregation hostage. If they threaten to leave, the majority of people will urge the leaders to desist in their
project. It is extremely difficult to get complete consensus about programs and direction in a group of 50–150
people, especially in today’s diverse, fragmented society, and yet smaller churches have an unwritten rule that
for any new initiative to be implemented nearly everyone must be happy with it. Leaders of small churches
must be brave enough to lead and to confront immature members, in spite of the unpleasantness involved.

There is no “best size” for a church. Each size presents great difficulties and also many opportunities for ministry
that churches of other sizes cannot undertake (at least not as well). Only together can churches of all sizes be
all that Christ wants the church to be.

PRINCIPLES OF SIZE DYNAMICS

Reading books on church size can be confusing, as everyone breaks down the size categories somewhat differ-
ently. This is because there are many variables in a church’s culture and history that determine exactly when a
congregation gets to a new size barrier. For example, everyone knows that at some point a church becomes too
large for one pastor to handle. People begin to complain that they are not getting adequate pastoral care. The
time has come to add staff. But when does that happen? In some communities it may happen when attendance
rises to 120, while in others it does not happen until the church has nearly 300 in regular attendance. It depends
a great deal on expectations, the mobility of the city’s population, how fast the church has grown, and so on.
Despite the variables, the point at which a second pastoral staff member must be added is usually called “the

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200 barrier.” That is a good average figure, but keep in mind that your own church might reach that threshold
at some different attendance figure.

Here are the general trends or changes that come as a church grows larger.

INCREASING COMPLEXITY
The larger the church, the less its members have in common. There is more diversity in factors such as age, family
status, ethnicity, and so on, and thus a church of 400 needs four to five times more programs than a church of
200—not two times more. Larger churches are much more complex than their smaller counterparts. They have
multiple services, multiple groups, and multiple tracks, and eventually they really are multiple congregations.

Also, the larger the church, the more staff per capita needs to be added. Often the first ministry staff persons
are added for every increase of 150–200 in attendance. A church of 500 may have two or three full-time ministry
staff, but eventually ministry staff may need to be added for every 75–100 new persons. Thus a church of 2,000
may have twenty-five staff.

SHIFTING LAY-STAFF RESPONSIBILITIES

On the one hand, the larger the church the more decision making falls to the staff rather than to the whole
membership or even the lay leaders. The elders or board must increasingly deal with only top-level, big-picture
issues. This means the larger the church, the more decision making is pushed up toward the staff and away
from the congregation and lay leaders. Needless to say, many laypeople feel extremely uncomfortable with this.

On the other hand, the larger the church, the more the basic pastoral ministry such as hospital visits, discipling,
oversight of Christian growth, and counseling is done by lay leaders rather than by the professional ministers.

Generally, in small churches policy is decided by many and ministry is done by a few, while in the large church
ministry is done by many and policy is decided by a few.

INCREASING INTENTIONALITY
The larger the church, the more systematic and deliberate the assimilation of newcomers needs to be. As a
church grows, newcomers are not visible to the congregation’s members. Thus new people are not spontane-
ously and informally welcomed and invited in. Pathways for assimilation must be identified or established by
asking questions such as these:
+ How will newcomers get here?
+ How will they be identified by the church?
+ Where will unbelievers learn Christianity’s relevance, content, and credibility?
+ Who will move them along the path?
+ Where will believers get plugged in?
+ Who will help them?

The larger the church, the harder it is to recruit volunteers and thus a more well-organized volunteer recruitment
process is required. Why is this so? First, the larger the church, the more likely it is that someone you don’t
know well will try to recruit you. It is much easier to say no to someone you do not know than to someone you
know well. Second, it is easier to feel less personally responsible for the ministries of a large church: “They
have lots of people here—they don’t need me.” Therefore, the larger the church, the more well-organized and
formal the recruitment of volunteers must be.

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INCREASING REDUNDANCY OF COMMUNICATION
The larger the church, the better communication has to be. Without multiple forms and repeated messages,
people will feel left out and complain, “I wasn’t told about it.” You know you’ve crossed into a higher size
category when such complaints become constant. Informal communication networks (pulpit announcements,
newsletter notices, and word of mouth) are insufficient to reach everyone. More lead time is necessary to
communicate well.

INCREASING QUALITY OF PRODUCTION

The larger the church, the more planning and organization must go into events. A higher quality of production
in general is expected in a larger church and events cannot simply be thrown together. Spontaneous, last-
minute events do not work.

The larger the church, the higher its aesthetic bar must be. In smaller churches the worship experience is
rooted mainly in horizontal relationships among those who attend. Musical offerings from singers who are
untrained and not especially talented are nonetheless appreciated because “we all know them” and they are
members of the fellowship. But the larger the church, the more worship is based on the vertical relationship—
on a sense of transcendence. If an outsider comes in who doesn’t know the musicians, then a mediocre quality
of production will distract them from worship. They don’t have a relationship with the musicians to offset the
lack of giftedness. So the larger the church, the more the music becomes an inclusion factor.

INCREASING OPENNESS TO CHANGE

The larger the church, the more it is subject to frequent and sudden change. Why?

First, smaller churches tend to have little turnover: individual members feel powerful and necessary and so
they stay put.

Second, the larger the church, the more power for decision making moves away from the whole congregation
to the leaders and staff. Too much is going on for the congregation or the board or eventually even the staff to
make all the decisions as a group. As decision-making power comes into the hands of individual staff or volunteer
leaders, change happens more quickly. Decisions can be made expeditiously without everyone signing on.

Further, as we saw above, the larger the church, the more complex it is and therefore the more schedules,
events, and programs there are to change.

LOSING MEMBERS BECAUSE OF CHANGES

The larger the church, the more it loses members because of changes. Why? Smaller churches seek at all costs
to avoid losing members. As a result, certain individuals and small groups often come to exercise power dis-
proportionate to their numbers. If a change were made, someone invariably would experience it as a loss, and
since the smaller church has a great fear of conflict, it usually will not institute a change that might result in
lost members. Thus smaller churches tend to have a more stable membership than large churches do.

In larger churches small groups and individual members have far less ability to exert power or resist changes
they dislike. And (as noted previously) since larger churches undergo constant change, they regularly lose
members because “It’s too big now” or “I can’t see the pastor anymore” or “We don’t pray spontaneously any-
more in church.” Leaders of churches that grow large are more willing to lose members who disagree with
procedures or the philosophy of ministry.

SHIFTING ROLE OF THE MINISTERS

The larger the church, the less available the main preacher is to do pastoral work. In smaller churches the pastor
is available at all times, for most occasions and needs, to any member or unchurched person. In the large

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church there are sometimes more lay ministers, staff, and leaders than the small church has people! So the
large church’s pastors must recognize their limits and spend more time with staff and lay shepherds and in
prayer and meditation.

The larger the church, the more important the minister’s leadership abilities are. Preaching and pastoring are
sufficient skills for pastors in smaller churches, but as a church grows other leadership skills become critical.
In a large church not only administrative skills but also vision casting and strategy design are crucial gifts in
the pastoral team.

The larger the church, the more the ministry staff members must move from being generalists to being specialists.
Everyone from the senior pastor on down must focus on certain ministry areas and concentrate on two or
three main tasks. The larger the church, the more the senior pastor must specialize in preaching, vision keeping
and vision casting, and identifying problems before they become disasters.

Finally, the larger the church, the more important it is for ministers, especially the senior minister, to stay put
for a long time. As noted above, smaller churches change less rapidly and have less turnover. With this innate
stability, a smaller church can absorb a change of minister every few years if necessary. But the larger the
church, the more the staff in general and the senior pastor in particular are the main sources of continuity and
stability. Rapid turnover of staff is highly detrimental to a large church.

GENERALLY, IN SMALL CHURCHES POLICY IS DECIDED BY MANY AND MINISTRY IS DONE BY A FEW,
WHILE IN THE LARGE CHURCH MINISTRY IS DONE BY MANY, AND POLICY IS DECIDED BY A FEW.

STRUCTURING SMALLER
The larger the church, the smaller the basic pastoral span of care.

In smaller churches, classes and groups can be larger because virtually everyone in the church is cared for directly
by full-time trained ministry staff, each of whom can care for 50–200 people. In larger churches, however, the
internal groupings need to be smaller, because people are cared for by lay shepherds, each of whom can care
for 10–20 people if given proper supervision and support. Thus in a larger church, the more small groups you
have per 100 people in attendance, the better cared for people are and the faster the church grows.

EMPHASIS ON VISION AND STRENGTHS

The larger the church, the more it tends to concentrate on doing fewer things well. Smaller churches are gen-
eralists and feel the need to do everything. This comes from the power of the individual in a small church. If
any member wants the church to address some issue, then the church makes an effort in order to please him
or her. The larger church, however, identifies and concentrates on approximately three or four major things
and works to do them extremely well, despite calls for new emphases.

Further, the larger the church, the more a distinctive vision becomes important to its members. The reason for
being in a smaller church is relationships. The reason for putting up with all the changes and difficulties of a
larger church is to get mission done. People join a larger church because of the vision—so the particular mission
needs to be clear.

The larger the church, the more it develops its own mission outreach rather than supporting already existing
programs. Smaller churches tend to support denominational mission causes and contribute to existing para-
church ministries. Leaders and members of larger churches feel more personally accountable to God for the

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kingdom mandate and seek to either start their own mission ministries or to form partnerships in which there
is more direct accountability of the mission agency to the church.

Consequently, the larger the church, the more its lay leaders need to be screened for agreement on vision and
philosophy of ministry, not simply for doctrinal and moral standards. In smaller churches, people are eligible
for leadership on the basis of membership tenure and faithfulness. In larger churches, where a distinctive mission
and vision are more important, it is important to enlist without apology leaders who share a common philosophy
of ministry with the staff and other leaders.

SPECIFIC SIZE CATEGORIES

HOUSE CHURCH: UP TO 40 ATTENDANCE
Character
+ The house church is often called a “storefront church” in urban areas and a “country church” in rural areas.
+ It operates essentially as an extended small group. It is a highly relational church in which everyone knows
everyone else intimately.
+ Lay leaders are extremely powerful and they emerge relationally—they are not appointed or elected. They
are usually the people who have been at the church the longest and have devoted the most time and money
to the work.
+ Decision making is democratic and informal and requires complete consensus. Decisions are made by infor-
mal relational process. If any member is unhappy with a course of action, it is not taken by the church.
+ Communication is by word of mouth, and information moves very swiftly through the whole membership.
+ The pastor is often a “tentmaker” and does church ministry part time, though once a church has at least ten
families who tithe, it can support a full-time minister. The minister’s main job is shepherding, not leading
or preaching.

How it grows
House churches grow in the most organic possible way—through attraction to their warmth, relationships, and
people. New people are simply invited and continue to come because they are befriended. There is no “program”
of outreach.

Crossing the threshold to the next size category

The house church, like any small group, gets to saturation rather quickly. Once it gets to 40+ people, the intense
face-to-face relationships become impossible to maintain. It then faces a choice: either multiplying off another
house-church or growing out of the “house-church dynamics” into the next size category, the small church.

If it does not do either, evangelism becomes essentially impossible. The fellowship itself then can easily become
ingrown and stagnant—somewhat stifling, sometimes legalistic.

An ongoing problem for the stand-alone church of this size is the low quality of ministry to specific groups like
children, youth, and singles. If it opts to multiply into another house church, the two (and eventually several)
house churches can form an association and do things like youth ministry together. They can also meet for
joint worship services periodically.

If it opts to grow out of the house-church size into a small church, it needs to prepare its people to do this by
acknowledging the losses of intimacy, spontaneity, and informality and agreeing to bear these as a cost of mission,
of opening its ranks to new people. This has to be a consensus group decision, to honor the dynamics of the
house church even as it opts to change those dynamics.

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SMALL CHURCH: 40–200 ATTENDANCE
Character
+ The range of this category goes from churches that are barely out of the house-church stage up to churches
that are ready for multiple staff. But they all share the same basic characteristics.
+ While the relational dynamics are now less intense, there is still a strong expectation that every member
must have a face-to-face relationship with every other member.
+ And while there are now appointed and elected leaders, the informal leadership system remains extremely
strong. There are several laypeople—regardless of their official status—who are “opinion leaders.” If they
don’t approve of new measures the rest of the members will not support the changes.
+ Communication is still informal, mostly word of mouth, and relatively swift.
+ The pastor is still primarily a shepherd. While in a larger church people will let you pastor them if you are a good
preacher, in a smaller church the reverse is true: people will listen to your sermons if you are a good pastor.
+ Effective, loving shepherding of every member is the driving force of ministry—not leadership or even
speaking ability. A pastor who says, “I shouldn’t have to shepherd every member, I’ve delegated that to my
elders or small group leaders,” is trying to practice large-church dynamics in a small-church environment.
+ However, as the congregation grows the pastor of a small church will feel more and more need for administra-
tive leadership skills. Small churches do not require much in the way of vision casting or strategizing, but they
do eventually present a need for program planning, mobilization of volunteers, and other administrative tasks.
+ Changes are still processed relationally and informally by the whole congregation, not just the leaders. But since
the congregation is larger, decisions take a longer time than in either the house church or the medium-sized
church. Ultimately, however, change in a small church happens from the bottom up through key lay leaders. No
major changes can be made unless you get at least one of these people to be an ally and an advocate for them.

How it grows
Like house churches, small churches grow through newcomers’ attraction to the relationships in the congregation.
However, in the small church it can also be a personal relationship to the pastor that is the primary attraction for
a new person. The pastor can begin two or three new ministries, classes, or groups, as long as he has secured
the backing or participation of one key informal leader. Together they can begin a new activity that will bring
many new people into the church.

Crossing the threshold to the next size category

This church may eventually face the famous “200 barrier.” To make room for more than 200 people in a church
takes a significant commitment to some or all of the following changes.
+ First change—multiplication options.
• There must be a willingness to question the unwritten policy that every voting member should have a
face-to-face relationship with every other member.
• When a church gets to the place where the older members begin to realize that there are members whom
they barely know or don’t know at all, the complaint may be voiced in a tone of moral authority: “This church
is getting too big.” Another form of this complaint is that the church is getting “impersonal.” Essentially,
this attitude must change if newcomers are to be welcomed.
• Often the key change that a congregation must allow is a move to multiplying options such as more than
one Sunday service, or putting more emphasis on small group ministry than on having one unified corporate
prayer meeting.
• As a general rule, multiplying options generate a growth spurt. The single best way to increase attendance
is to multiply Sunday services. Two services will immediately draw more people than one service did.
Four Sunday school electives will generally draw more people than two Sunday school electives. Why?
Because when you give people more options, more people opt!

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+ Second change—a willingness to pay the cost of an additional primary ministry staff person.
• It is a sociological fact that a full-time minister cannot personally shepherd more than about 150–200
people. At some point any pastor will lose the ability to personally visit, stay in touch, and be reasonably
available to all the people of a growing congregation.
• The minister’s span of pastoral care can be stretched with part-time or full-time specialty or administrative
staff, such as children’s workers, secretaries, administrators, and musicians,. There are variations to this
figure depending on the minister’s personality and energy level and the local culture. For example, a more
white-collar community tends to demand far more specialized programs than does a working-class com-
munity, and therefore you may find in such a place that you need a full-time ministry staff person for
every 100–150 in attendance.
• Eventually that second ministry staff person must be hired. This is commonly another ordained pastor,
but it could be a layperson who is a counselor, overseer of small groups, or supervisor of programs who
does a lot of shepherding work and teaching. It is important to be sure that this second person really can
grow the church and, practically speaking, grow the giving that will pay his or her salary. So, for example,
it may not be best to have the second ministry staff person be a youth minister; it would be better to hire
a small group minister or a minister of evangelism and outreach. Or, if the senior minister is excellent at
outreach, the second staff worker could be a pastor/counselor who complements the gifts of the first minister
and works on the church’s internal growth. Initial staffing must be for growth.
• The tension that often arises in a church this size is that the church is big enough that the pastor begins
to feel burned out but is not yet big enough to financially support a second minister.

+ Third change—a willingness to let power shift away from the laity and even lay leaders to the staff.
• As you get to this size barrier, the old approach to decision making, which required that everyone to come
to a consensus, becomes far too slow and unwieldy. In the consensus model of decision making, it is con-
sidered impossible to proceed with a change if any member is strongly opposed, especially if it appears
that the change would actually result in some people’s leaving the church.
• As a church nears the 200 barrier, there is almost always someone who experiences the concomitant
changes as a loss. Therefore no changes will ever occur unless many of the decisions that used to involve
the whole membership now shift to the leaders and staff. But it is not just that the laity must cede power
to the leaders. Long-time lay leaders must also cede power to the staff and volunteer leaders.
• In a smaller church the lay leaders often know more about the members than the pastor does. The lay
leaders have been there longer and thus have more knowledge of the past, more trust from the members,
and more knowledge of the members’ abilities, capacities, interests, and opinions.
• Once a church gets beyond 200, however, the staff tends to know more about the church members than
the lay leaders do, and increasingly the new members in particular take their cues from the pastor(s)
rather than from the lay leaders.
• The lay officers’ board or elders will no longer be able to sign off on absolutely everything and will have
to let the staff and individual volunteer leaders make many decisions on their own.

+ Fourth change—a willingness to become more formal and deliberate in assimilation and communication.
• For a church to move beyond this barrier it can no longer assume that communication and the assimila-
tion of newcomers will happen “naturally,” without any planning. Communication will have to become
more deliberate instead of by word of mouth alone. Newcomers will have to be folded in more intention-
ally. For example, every new family could be assigned a “sponsor” for six months—a member family who
invites the new family over to their home, brings them to a new members’ class, and so on.

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+ Fifth change—the ability and willingness of both the pastor and the people for the pastor to do shepherding a
bit less and leading a bit more.
• The next-size church requires a bit more vision casting and strategizing and a lot more administrative
know-how. The pastor of the medium-sized church will have to spend much more time recruiting and
supervising volunteers and programs to do ministry that in the smaller church he would have done him-
self. This takes administrative skills of planning, delegating, supervising, and organizing.
• In this next-size church the pastor is simply less available and accessible to every member. Even with the
hiring of additional ministry staff, every member will not be able to have the same access to the senior pastor
as he or she did before. Both the people and the senior minister need to acknowledge and accept this cost.

+ Sixth change—considering the option of moving to a new space and facilities.

• Will such a move be crucial to breaking the next growth barrier? Sometimes, but not usually. Usually
what is needed is planning multiple worship services, staffing for growth, and adjusting attitudes and
expectations in preparation for a new size culture.

MEDIUM-SIZED CHURCH, 200–450 ATTENDANCE

Character
+ In smaller churches, each member is acquainted with the entire membership of the church. The primary
circle of belonging is the church as a whole. But in the medium-sized church, the primary circle of belonging
is usually a specific affinity class or program. Men’s and women’s ministries, the choir, the couples’ class, the
evening worship team, the local prison ministry, the meals-on-wheels ministry—all of these are possible
circles of belonging that make the church fly. Each of these subgroups is approximately the size of the house
church, 10–40 people.
+ Leadership functions differently in the medium-sized church.
• First, since the medium-sized church has far more complexity, the leaders must represent the various
constituencies in the church (e.g., the older people, the young families).
• Second, there is too much work to be handled by a small board. There are now influential leadership teams or
committees, such as the missions committee or the music/worship committee, that have significant power.
• Third, because of the two factors above, leaders begin to be chosen less on the basis of length of tenure
and strength of personality and more on the basis of skills and giftedness.
• Fourth, the role of the lay officers or board begins to change. In the smaller church, the officers basically
oversee the pastor and staff, giving or withholding permission for various proposals. The pastor and staff
then do the ministry. In the medium-sized church, the officers begin to do more of the ministry them-
selves, in partnership with the staff. Volunteer ministry leaders often rise up and become the decision-
making leaders. Chairs of influential committees sit on the official board.
+ As noted above, the senior minister shifts somewhat from being a shepherd toward becoming a “rancher.”
Rather than doing all of the ministry himself, he becomes a trainer and organizer of laypeople doing ministry.
He also must be adept at training, supporting, and supervising ministry and administrative staff. At the
medium-sized church level, this requires significant administrative skills.
+ While in the smaller church change and decisions come from the bottom up through key laypeople, in the
medium-sized church change happens through key committees and teams. Ordinarily the official board or
session in the medium-sized church is inherently conservative. They feel very responsible and do not want
to offend any constituents they believe they represent. Therefore change is usually driven by forward-
thinking committees such as the missions committee or the evangelism committee. These can be very effective
in persuading the congregation to try new things.

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How it grows
As noted earlier, smaller churches grow mainly through pastor-initiated groups, classes, and ministries. The
medium-sized church will also grow as it multiplies classes, groups, services, and ministries, but the key to
medium-sized growth is improving the quality of the ministries and their effectiveness to meet real needs. The
small church can accommodate amateurish quality because the key attraction is its intimacy and family-like
warmth. But the medium-sized church’s ministries must be different. Classes really must be great learning
experiences. Music must meet aesthetic needs. Preaching must inform and inspire.

Crossing the threshold to the next size category

I have said that the small church crosses the 200 barrier through (1) multiplying options, (2) going to multiple
staff, (3) shifting decision-making power away from the whole membership, (4) becoming more formal and
deliberate in assimilation, and (5) moving the pastor away from shepherding everyone to being more of an
organizer/administrator. You can grow beyond 200 without making all of these five changes; in fact, most
churches do. Often churches grow past 200 while holding on to one or more of the smaller-church attitudes.
For example, if the senior minister is multigifted and energetic, he can take care of the organizational/admin-
istrative work and still have time to visit every member of his church. Or perhaps new staff persons are added
but the decision-making is still done on a whole-congregation consensus model. But to break 400, you must
firmly break the old habits in all five areas. As for the sixth change—moving to new space and facilities—this
is usually needed for a medium-sized church to break the growth barrier, but not always.

LARGE CHURCH, 400–800 ATTENDANCE

Character
+ We have seen that in the small church, the primary circle of belonging is the entire church body. In the
medium-sized church, the primary circle is the affinity class or ministry group, which is usually 10–40 in
size. However, in the large church the primary circle of belonging becomes the small group fellowship. This
is different from the affinity class or ministry in the following ways:
• It is usually smaller—as small as 4 and no bigger than 15.
• It is more of a “miniature church” than is the affinity class or ministry. Affinity classes or ministries are
specialty programs, focusing only on learning or worship music or ministry to the poor and so on. The
small group fellowship does Bible study, fellowship, worship, and ministry.
+ Leadership also functions differently in the large church. In the small church, leaders were selected for their
tenure; in the medium-sized church, for their skills and maturity. Both of these are still very desirable! But
in the large church, these qualities must be combined with a commitment to the church’s distinct vision and
mission. The larger the church becomes, the more it develops certain key ministries and strengths that it
emphasizes, and the common vision is an important reason that members join. So leaders need to be
screened for vision as well as other qualifications.
+ In the small church, the board gave or withheld permission to the pastor(s), who did the ministry. In the
medium-sized church, the board is made up of lay leaders and committee chairs who share the ministry work
with the pastors and staff. But in the large church, the board must work with the senior minister to set overall
vision and goals and then to evaluate the overall ministry. Unlike the small church board, they don’t oversee
all the staff—they let the senior minister do that. Unlike the medium church board, they may not necessarily
be the lay leaders of ministry. Instead they oversee how the church and ministries are doing as a whole.
+ In the large church, the roles of individual staff members become increasingly specialized, and that also goes
for the role of the senior minister. He must concentrate more and more on (a) preaching and (b) vision casting
and strategizing. He must let go of many or most administrative tasks; otherwise he becomes a bottleneck.
+ While in the small church change and decisions happen from the bottom up through powerful lay indi-
viduals, and in the medium-sized church they come from the boards and committees, in the large church
they happen “top down” from staff and key lay leaders.

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How it grows
The small church grows mainly through new groups, classes, and ministries initiated by the pastor, sometimes
with the help of an ally. I call this the “backyard approach,” since it grows from informal new fellowship circles.
The medium-sized church grows mainly through ministries that effectively target “felt needs” of various groups
such as youth, seniors, young married couples, and “seekers.” I call this the “side-door approach,” since it brings
in various people groups from your city or neighborhood by addressing their felt needs. The large church,
however, grows through a “front-door” approach. The key to its growth is what happens in the worship services—
the quality of the preaching, the transcendence of the worship experience, and so on.

Crossing the threshold to the next size category

The same five changes mentioned before need to be taken to the next level.
+ First change—multiplying options. Up to the “800 barrier,” churches can still get away with having a mediocre
or poor small-group system. The people may still be getting shepherded mainly through larger programs,
affinity classes, and groups that are run by staff people directly. But if God keeps sending you new people, so
that you are bumping up against the 800 barrier, you must have the majority of your members and adherents
in small groups that are very well run and that do pastoral care, not just Bible study. Multiple services were more
important when addressing the 200 or 400 barrier, but small group life is the key to navigating this change.
+ Second change—multiplying staff. Up to the “800 barrier” churches can still get away with a small staff of
generalists, but after the 800 barrier there must be much more specialization. Staff members must be
increasingly gifted, and not simply workers, nor even leaders of workers, but leaders of leaders. They must
be fairly mature, independent, and able to attract and supervise others.
+ Third change—shifting decision-making power. Up to the “800 barrier,” decision-making power was becoming
more centralized—migrating from the periphery (the whole membership or the whole lay board) to the
center (the staff and eventually the senior staff). Now the decision-making power must become more decen-
tralized— migrating out away from the senior staff and pastor to the individual staff and their leadership
teams. As noted above, the staff must become increasingly competent and must be given more authority to
make decisions in their area without having to run everything through the senior staff or lay board.
+ F
 ourth change—becoming more formal and deliberate in assimilation. Assimilation, discipline, and incorporation
of newcomers must become even more well organized, highly detailed, and supervised.
+ F
 ifth—adapting the senior pastor’s role. The pastor becomes even less accessible to do individual shepherding
and concentrates even more on preaching, large group teaching, vision casting, and strategizing.

THE VERY LARGE CHURCH

Character
+ The very large church has a missional focus. In general, smaller churches give members a greater voice (see
below), and thus the concerns and interests of members and insiders tend to trump those of outsiders. On the
other hand, the larger church gives the staff and executive leaders a greater voice. The more staff-driven a church
is, the more likely it is to concentrate on ministries that will reach nonmembers and that don’t directly benefit its
own constituents—that is, church planting, mercy and justice ministries, and other new services and programs.

+ The very large church has several traits that attract seekers and young adults in particular:
• Excellence. Those with no obligation to go to church based on kinship, tradition, ethnicity, or local history
are more likely to attend where the quality of arts, teaching, children’s programs, and so on is very high.
• C
 hoices. Contemporary people are used to having options when it comes to the schedule or type of
worship, learning, support services, and the like.
• Openness to change. Generally, newcomers and younger people have a much greater tolerance for the
constant changes and fluidity of a large church, while older people, long-term members, and families are
more desirous of stability.

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 • L ow pressure. Seekers are glad to come into a church and not have their presence noticed immediately.
The great majority of inquirers and seekers are grateful for the ease with which they can visit a large
church without immediately feeling pressured to make a decision or join a group.

+ The very large church also has greater potential for developing certain qualities and ministries:
• Being multicultural. A larger staff can be multiethnic (while a single staff/pastor usually cannot). A larger
church with multiple services, classes, or even “congregations” can encompass a greater variety of interests
and sensibilities.
• C
 reating a full-service family support system. Families often need a variety of classes or groups for children
in different age groups as well as counseling services, recreational opportunities, and so on. Larger churches
often attract families for that reason.
• Doing church planting. Larger churches, in general, are better at church planting than are either denomi-
national agencies or smaller churches.1
• C
 arrying out faith-based holistic ministries. Larger churches have a bigger pool of volunteers, finances, and
expertise for carrying these out.
• “ Research and development” for the broader church. Again, the larger church is usually a good place for
new curriculum, ministry structures, and the like to be formulated and tested. These can all be done more
effectively by a large church than by denominations, smaller churches, or parachurch ministries.

ONE OF THE MOST COMMON REASONS FOR PASTORAL LEADERSHIP MISTAKES IS BLINDNESS
TO THE SIGNIFICANCE OF CHURCH SIZE.

+ Of course the very large church has disadvantages as well:

• Commuting longer distances can undermine mission. Very large churches can become famous and attract
Christians from longer and longer distances, who cannot bring non-Christians from their neighborhoods.
Soon the congregation doesn’t look like the neighborhood and can’t reach its own geographic community.
However, this is somewhat offset by the mission advantages and can be further offset by (a) church plant-
ing and (b) staying relentlessly oriented toward evangelism and outreach.
• Commuting longer distances undermines community/fellowship and discipleship. Christians coming from
longer distances are less likely to be discipled and plugged in to real Christian community. The person you
meet in a Sunday service is less and less likely to be someone who lives near you, so natural connections
and friendships do not develop. This can be somewhat offset by an effective small-group system that
unites people by interest or region.
• D
 iminished communication and involvement. “A common pattern is for a large church to outgrow its internal
communication system and plateau . . . as many people feel a loss of the sense of belonging, and eventually
[it declines] numerically.”2 People are no longer sure whom to talk to about things: in a smaller church, the
staff and elders know everything, but in a very large church, a given staff member may know nothing at
all about what is going on outside his or her ministry. The long list of staff and ministries is overwhelming.
No one feels they can get information quickly; no one feels they know how to begin to get involved. This
can be offset by continually upgrading your communication system. This becomes extraordinarily important
in a very large congregation.

1. See Timothy Keller, “Why Plant Churches?” (2002), redeemercitytocity.com, for a more in-depth discussion of church planting.
2. Lyle Schaller, The Very Large Church (Nashville: Abingdon, 2000), 174.

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 • D
 isplacement. People who joined when the church was smaller may feel a great sense of loss and may
have trouble adjusting to the new size culture. Many of them will mourn the loss of feeling personally
connected to events, decision making, and the head pastor. Some of these “old-timers” will sadly leave,
and their leaving will sadden those who remain in the church. This can be offset by giving old-timers extra
deference and consideration, understanding the changes they’ve been through, and not making them feel
guilty for wanting a different or smaller church. Fortunately, this problem eventually lessens! People who
joined a church when it had 1,500 members will find that not much has changed when it reaches 4,000.
• Complexity, change, and formality. Largeness brings (a) complexity instead of simplicity, (b) change instead
of predictability, and (c) the need for formal rather than informal communication and decision making.
However, many long-time Christians and families value simplicity, predictability, and informality, and
even see them as more valuable from a spiritual standpoint. The larger the church, the more the former
three factors grow, and many people simply won’t stand for them.
• S
 uccession. The bigger a church, the more the church is identified with the senior pastor. Why? (a) He
becomes the only identifiable leader among a large number of staff and leaders of whom the average
member cannot keep track. (b) Churches don’t grow large without a leader who is unusually good in
articulating vision. This articulation then becomes the key to the whole church. That kind of giftedness is
distinctive and is much less replaceable even than good preaching. This leads to the Achilles’ heel of the
church—continuity and succession. How does the pastor retire without people feeling the church has died?
One plan is to divide the church with each new site having its own senior pastor. Lyle Schaller believes,
however, that the successors need to be people who have been on staff for a good while, not outsiders.

How it grows
Basically, a very large church continues to grow only if the advantages described are exploited while the disad-
vantages described are resisted and minimized.

A FEW MORE SUGGESTIONS REGARDING VERY LARGE CHURCHES

BE NONJUDGMENTAL
A common problem in churches is that people attach a moral significance to their ideal size culture. They don’t
see a large-church size culture as “different” but as “bad.” For example, some members may feel that a very
large church is an “unfriendly” or “uncaring” church because they can’t get the senior pastor on the phone
personally. However, if everyone in a church of 3,000 could get the pastor on the phone anytime they wanted,
it would not lead to a more caring church at all. He could not possibly respond to all their needs. (On the other
hand, if a pastor in a church of 150 can never be gotten on the phone, he is imposing a larger size culture in a
smaller church, and that will lead to disaster.)

Because a very large church is marked by change, the overall vision may stay the same, but few or no programs
or practices are sacrosanct. Because it is complex, it is not immediately obvious whom to talk to or who needs
to be in on a given decision; many new events may have unforeseen consequences for other programs. Because
there is a need for greater formality, plans have to be written down and carefully executed, rather than worked
out face to face and relationally. In a very large church, all of these traits must be considered the inevitable cost
of ministry. There should be little hand-wringing and no moral significance attached to these traits (calling
change “instability,” formality “being impersonal,” etc.). Different cultures are just that—different, not inferior.

FORM SMALLER DECISION-MAKING BODIES

In general, the larger the church, the fewer people should be in on each decision. Why? The larger the church, the
more diversity of views. If the older processes are followed, decisions take longer and longer to be made, and they
result in watered-down compromises. As a church gets larger it must entrust decision making to fewer and fewer
people just to maintain the same level of progress, decisiveness, and intentionality it had when it was smaller. Many

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Christians consider the size culture of a very large church to be by definition undemocratic or unaccountable. This
is one reason that many churches never get very large, or shrink again once they do.

ALLOW THE DECENTRALIZATION OF POWER

Another mark of a very large church, especially once it surpasses about 1,800 members, is that the “hub and
spokes” structure, in which the senior pastor serves as the captain or “hub” and his staff are the “spokes,”
becomes obsolete. Instead of being a team under the senior pastor, the staff becomes a team of teams. The
power of directors and clusters of directors grows greatly. The church has become too complex for the senior
pastor to supervise directors closely, and power is shifted to specific departments. This has two consequences.
On the one hand, it means that staff leaders have more decision-making power for their own area. Other staff
directors and even the senior pastor have less information and ability to second-guess them or interfere. This
happens increasingly as a church gets larger. On the other hand, it means staff cannot expect to receive as much
mentoring, instruction, and rescuing from the executive staff as they did when the church was smaller.

BRING ON MORE SPECIALIZED, COMPETENT STAFF WORKERS WHO UNDERSTAND THE VISION
Studies show that churches of fewer than 800 members are staffed primarily with seminary-trained ministers,
but the larger a church gets, the fewer trained ministers are on staff. Why is this?

 irst, the larger church needs specialists in counseling, music, finance, social work, and childhood development—
F
whereas seminaries train generalists. Very large churches do not need theologically trained people to learn a
specialty so much as they need specialists who can be theologically trained.

Second, the very large church cannot afford to bring on a newcomer with a steep learning curve as director of a
large ministry. In a church of 500, you may have a youth ministry of 30 kids, so you can hire a young person out
of seminary to be the youth pastor. But in a very large church there may be 300 youth—so the staff director has
to be very competent from the start. The larger a church gets, the more competent the staff needs to be. The call
to the staff changes from “Do what I tell you” to “Go out and make things happen.” Resourcefulness and creativ-
ity become more and more important. The staff often need to be able to inspire followers and to find creative
ways to bring something out of nothing. They must move from being leaders to being leaders of leaders.

Third, the larger the church gets, the more distinctive its vision is. It has a highly honed and carefully balanced set
of emphases and styles—its own “voice.” People who are trained theologically before coming to staff inevitably
come in with attitudes and assumptions that are at variance with the church’s vision. They may also feel superior
to other staff people who are not theologically trained or may underestimate their own ignorance of the church’s
specific context. The larger the church, then, the more important it is to raise and train leaders from within. This
means that staff coming from outside need thorough training in the very large church’s history, values, culture, and
so on, and staff coming from within should be supported heavily for continued theological education.

CHANGE THE SENIOR PASTOR’S ROLE

A very key and very visible part of the large size culture is the changed role of the senior pastor. As stated
earlier, in a very large church the preacher cannot be the people’s pastor. The senior pastor must move from an
emphasis on doing the work of ministry (teaching, pastoring, administering) to delegating this work so that he
can concentrate on vision casting and general preaching. Many churches and ministers never allow this to
happen; indeed they believe it is wrong to make such a shift. While the senior pastor must not become a CEO
and stop doing traditional ministry altogether, he must not try to do pastoral care or provide oversight for the
church at large either. That responsibility must go to others. This is undoubtedly difficult; the senior pastor will
have to live with guilt feelings over it all the time. It’s a burden he must be willing to bear, with the help of the
gospel. Otherwise the pressures of trying to do it all will lead to burnout. The senior pastor, the staff and
ministry leaders, and the congregation must allow this transition to happen.

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BUILD TRUST
Schaller shows that the very large church is more accessible and capable of reaching young people, single
people, the unchurched, and seekers than smaller churches are. He then poses a question: If the need for very
large churches is so great, why are there so few? Why don’t more churches (a) allow the senior pastor to
become less accessible, (b) allow the staff to have more power than the board, (c) allow a small body of execu-
tive staff to have more decision-making power than the larger staff or congregation, or (d) allow directors more
power to hire competent workers and release generalists? His main answer is that the key to the very large
church culture is trust. In smaller churches, suspicious people are much happier. Every decision goes through
a process of consensus that is accessible to any member. Any minority that is unhappy with something can
block it. The larger the church gets, however, the more and more the congregation has to trust the staff, and
especially the senior pastor. Though the staff (and the senior pastor) must do everything they can to be open
to criticism, to be relationally available, and to communicate with people in a way that makes them feel
included and informed, ultimately a very large church runs on trust.

Copyright © 2006 by Timothy Keller, © 2010 by Redeemer City to City. This article first appeared in The Movement Newsletter, and
was reprinted in the Spring 2008 edition of Cutting Edge magazine, Vineyard USA.
We encourage you to use and share this material freely—but please don’t charge money for it, change the wording, or remove the copyright
information.

redeemercitytocity.com | 15
 Lorem ipsum
This resource is designed to accompany the video resources
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