(note: this is still a draft document)
Church.
What IS that?
The Church is the Body of Christ… every follower of Jesus Christ, regardless of denomination or location, is a member of The Church.
“Church” is also a local group of believers, meeting to worship the Lord together, to be edified and grow together, to live out His purposes as a corporate body and as individuals.
Ken and I have been a part of five churches thus far - and are starting a sixth. Each church has a unique character and is special and dear to our hearts - for the presence of the Lord in each, and for the people in each. Chronologically, we’ve been in:
- A very large (1000+) and growing, dynamic AoG church
- A very tiny, dying AoG church (now defunct)
- A small house church that meets Thursdays, which we continue to attend
- A slightly larger, but still small, Foursquare church where we learned to dance for the Lord
- A medium-sized, growing, passionate AoG church (our current home while we plant Flowing River)
We’ve learned a lot along the way…from the Lord, from the Word, from people, and from ourselves. One thing that we’ve learned is that we function best as leaders in a smaller group. We’ve also concluded that group members tend to function better in a small group.
We’ve got utmost love and respect for our former “huge” church and its pastors - in fact, we still visit once in a while! This is in no way a slam against them, or against anyone who is involved in a large or mega church at any level. It may well be that some folks really function best in a large group!
But here is what we’ve seen, felt, and experienced.
In a large group, people can get lost. The ones that don’t get lost are the ones who are able to assert themselves. A large group is an extrovert’s paradise, although some of them have a hard time assimilating. Large groups are tougher on introverted people unless they’re very self-assured and willing to jump in and start quietly “doing”. When a large group has a solid leader who is able to provide direction, it functions better. However, the implication is that all members will function at or above a certain level. If one member is not at that level yet, and they don’t make enough noise for the leader to notice, that member ends up being lost in the shuffle. Additionally, because large churches tend to have many moving parts, it can be difficult for some people to feel connected to the church as a whole. They’re a part of their smaller group (for example, the youth group) but don’t feel membership in the whole. Others tend to over-commit, trying to take part in everything the church is doing.
In a large group, the pastor cannot possibly “shepherd the flock”. How effective is a shepherd who doesn’t know his own sheep? Is a man really your pastor when s/he doesn’t even know your name or recognize your face? Some large churches solve this by hiring a team of associate pastors, or by delegating authority to deacons or lay ministers.
There’s more to pastoring than just good preaching (though that’s essential). While many areas can be delegated (and SHOULD be delegated), people like to know that their pastor is really looking out for them. Shouldn’t a pastor be more than a face on the stage?
I think most pastors of large churches want to look out for individuals, and want to be more than a face, but they are faced with the problem of numbers: Is it possible to remember 1000 names in an ever-changing sea of faces? How can you initiate personal contact with that many people on a regular basis? Especially when you’re responsible for 5-10 services a week, you’re the CEO of a gazillion-dollar corporation, the building project requires your oversight, and you’re expected to manage everything to the nth degree.
Surely that can’t be what God intends for His pastors - and it’s surely not what He intends for His people!
Yet, if a church is genuinely engaged in the Great Commission, evangelizing the world and making disciples, surely some of those disciples will join the church and the church will grow. That’s a good thing! We know from experience that it’s very difficult to maintain a church with just a few active members.
To account for the problems of large groups and the (great) problem of a vibrant, growing church, I’ve reached a conclusion: a church should grow to a certain size and then intentionally split by planting a new church in a strategic location. Pastors and leaders for the new church should be grown within the “parent” church, and the parent should help the new church plant get off the ground. Both churches should strive to impact their community for Christ with active evangelism and discipleship programs. As a result of new believers joining the churches, they should grow quickly. When they reach that certain size again, each should plant another church. Then those four churches should grow… and plant… and so on… building a network (not a denomination) of related, supporting churches.
What size should a church grow to and then plant? Not having done this before, that’s hard to say. There comes a point in church growth where “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus” begins to be replaced with concern about “Building, Programs, Problems” … I’d say that would be the breaking point. If the church’s demonstrated primary concern is not Jesus, but He’s relegated to second place by the more “immediate” issues and problems of the establishment, then something’s gone wrong somewhere.
(to be continued)
[tags]church growth, megachurch, house church, church planting, saturation church planting[/tags]