When is a church too big?

When instead of equipping people to be launched out into the mission field to share the Gospel, folks are becoming complacent and not going anywhere to share the Gospel. But rather, have set into a pattern of church and pew sitting and program attending.

When the

 

Imo....

.... a church is too large when the shepherd is no longer able to meet the needs of the sheep entrusted to his care. And I mean HIS care, not the care of hirelings [associates] to help with the flock!

The Mega church will reap what they sow ... like a huge manufacturing conglomerate, once the CEO is no longer able to visualize the product being built and put out by the company; that is when mistakes begin to creep into the workplace, and recalls become the norm! And the product looses value in the eyes of those who once held it close to their hearts!

Same for mega churches ... it is impossible for the pastor to know what is really, REALLY being taught, said and disseminated on his behalf by his paid and, or volunteer leaders!

That is of course merely my opinion, but I'd rather have a manageable flock than one that needs a Human-Resource office to hire, fire and do everything else needed to keep the money coming in!

I've been in large churches, and when I was sick and hospitalized, it was frustrating for someone I didn't even know, to come and visit with me and pray! Don't get me wrong, I appreciated a visit, but it should have been my pastor that came to see me, not some man assigned to the people who lived in that area of the county where I lived.

When the personal touch is no longer able to be carried out by the pastor, then it is time to cut back on growth and get back to personal, individualized pastoring, and pastoring by the man hired to pastor!

 

The Shepherd is Jesus, and He is able.
The number of Elders, the actual Scriptural Church leaders, the presbytery, can be increased as needed.

How bout we "get back" to the Scriptural NT church recipe, and we'll be OK

 

Could it be Money! Money! Money!

 

As I said...

....this was merely my opinion!

I have a thriving FB ministry, but in order to keep it intimate; I decided to keep it small. I do not let the numbers go over 250.

I do this, because I have the ability to track who is viewing and contributing to the ministry, and once they disappear; I contact them and inquire as to why they've left. I either get no response, or a loving comment that they felt it was time to move on!

This is a time-consuming job, but it allows me to prune from the group membership those no longer with us, and it helps to maintain a healthy group of viewers and members that contribute.

BTW - some who left have returned.

This is a ministry to me, and it allows me to solicit prayer needs, submit the needs to the prayer team warriors, plus we send out birthday greetings; welcome new folks; congratulate people on anniversaries and at the birth of children and grandchildren; and we are there when a family member passes!

The audience is largely made up of people who are shut-ins, without a church, or struggling with their faith! And this ministry does help people; I know this because I hear it many times a week. Some people have this ministry as an app on their phones [don't know anything about apps] and they take it with them, everywhere. They can access other members, up lifting contributions, and most importantly, get prayer.

I have a young mother dying of liver cancer, and she wanted so badly to be home for Easter for her four daughters. Within an hour, I had nearly two thousand people praying at 70 different FB ministry groups, and God heard the prayers and her pain subsided enough for her to spend the weekend with her family!

So, what I am saying is just this...small is better, as it is manageable and intimate! Something that I think the church of brick, and mortar should be!

BTW - thanks prophet, I always enjoy your contributions to the board. God bless you :thumbsup:

 

I don't think a church can be "too big." I think it can outgrow its facilities, and then it has a choice to make. It can expand those facilities, or it can become a multisite church. Studies are showing that it is makes far more spiritual and financial sense to go the multisite route.

That is when you do a demographics study and determine where "pockets" of your membership and attendees live, and attempt to locate one of the additional sites in each of those areas.

There are a lot of different requirements for a church of decent size that require more than one pastor. No one man can have all the talents required. We have a church of about 1,500 enrolled members and average attendance on any given Sunday around 950. We have a senior pastor, a pastor for counseling and pastoral care, an administrative pastor, a pastor of discipleship, a youth pastor, middle school pastor, children's pastor and a preschool director. That may sound like a lot, but I don't believe we could get along without any of them. All have aspirations of one day being a senior pastor, I believe, except the preschool director, who is the youth pastor's wife. We have a 25-person orchestra, an 80-member choir, and 16 deacons, all volunteers. None of those could be eliminated and have our church function effectively. The number of people on staff and serving the church has absolutely nothing to do with whether it is "too big" or not.

 

It is going to depend on what you believe the church is.

This is my opinion only, but I think the preacher's job is to preach. My shepherd is Jesus, and He pastors me.

I think this comes from so many years in tiny rural churches where the church did all those functions mentioned above, including visiting the sick and dying. Supply preachers preached.

I know many don't see the church that way, but I do. We need, IMHO, to free the man in the pulpit to be just exactly that, and get off our collective duffs and be the church.

Besides, its easier to find a parking space at that kind of church :laugh:

 

I would say it is too big when it stops being a church. I have seen mega churches become social clubs and entertainment centers. I've also seen small churches be so antagonizing they stop being a church and are a exclusive club.

I don't like mega churches as you all may know, to me they lose that close fellowship and become several small cliques. On any given Sunday you see people you will never see again, it is like going to a sporting event with thousands in attendance. You're all there in support of the same issue but you really don't know anyone. I'm sure there is a lot of good things about mega churches though like lots of money to do stuff small churches cannot. I guess it is preference. Still don't like them because I think of my nemesis Rick Warren every time I hear the word Mega. :love2: