Last week, I posted on “7 Reasons the Size of Your Church Doesn’t Matter.” I trust that post was encouraging to many of you. At the same time, though, I want to offer a counter opinion today. I do think size matters, and here’s why:
- If you are unconcerned about size, you might be unconcerned about reaching people in general. Frankly, I was hesitant to write last week’s post for this very reason. I never want to leave the impression that status quo is acceptable if the church (large or small) is reaching no one.
- The larger your church is, the more responsibility you carry. As a church leader, you are accountable for caring for the souls of your congregation (Heb. 13:7, 17). The more people you lead, thus, the more weight you bear.
- The larger the church is, the more people there are to send out as witnesses for Christ. This conclusion is simply logical based on numbers, but it’s more than that: it’s a call to accountability. Churches must be wise Great Commission stewards of the lives God gives them to shepherd.
- Larger churches tend to have more potential financial resources. Obviously, that’s not always the case if a small church has several wealthy people. Generally, though, a larger crowd has more dollars available – that is, more funding for the spread of the gospel.
- As churches grow larger, they typically can offer more programs for ministry and more opportunities for service. For example, a family looking for strong college, student, and children’s programs is more likely to find those ministries in a larger church – where multiple opportunities for service are also available.
- Larger churches are more likely to provide internship/training programs for potential pastors. That’s not to say at all that small churches can’t offer the same thing, as many do; it’s simply the recognition that larger churches more often make it happen.
- The more people your church has, the more important pastoral care through small groups becomes. Regardless of the size of your church, every member needs someone to shepherd him or her – even though you may not be that individual shepherd. If increased size means some of your folks fall through the cracks, you’ve neglected your overseer role.
- Increased size usually means a challenge to leadership style. The way a pastor leads a group of 50 is most often different than leading a group of 500 or 5000. Because all of us have primary leadership styles, growth often stretches us uncomfortably – and forces us to seek God’s help and wisdom (. . . which is a good thing).
What reasons would you add to this list?
Larger churches are more likely to have a youth group. This should be one but not the only source of friends for the youth and teenagers.
Larger churches should theoretically be able to provide more age-appropriate instruction. This can occur with more lay people willing/permitted to teach, more clergy, more lay people to perform pastoral care so that the clergy can teach different groups.
Thanks, Mark.
I agree with your observations. However, we should also not have a large church simply for the sake of having a large church. The fundamentals and the foundations of the church are also important. I am of the view that if we have the quality, God will provide the quantity. Then, we should be prepared to be up to the challenges.
Thanks for the insight, Ronald.