Hey man-

Thanks for the comments and the encouragement. I’m glad things are going well for you guys! I’m not arguing with you, but I want to reiterate… I see size as an issue for the Church, and I think it’s a discussion we have to have. Simply assuming that God is blessing so bigger must be better may not be the best thing for the future of the church. It’s a discussion that deserves to be had.

I know for me, in thinking about this whole issue, I am coming to some conclusions that are polar opposites from my medium and mega church past…

I do see size as an issue (as my article stated). I don’t believe (as I said) that even in a small church I can personally shepherd every person… but to me the key issue here is when size becomes such that the relationship of the community to the person has to be standardized (as opposed to individualized) in the form of programs.

Yes- others besides the lead pastor are involved in shepherding. But I believe churches should remain at a size where it’s possible to be known, to be shepherded, where the “cracks” don’t become so large that whole families fall through without anyone knowing.

And while I agree that health is the issue, I’m still thinking that even in that equation, size plays into it. If our size means that we define health as the absence of conflict, as the presence of large numbers of people moving around the bases, then it becomes self-fulfilling. In a large church, conflict is minimized- people don’t feel as though they have a voice. They tend to simply leave rather than make waves. And in terms of spiritual growth, when the benchmarks for spiritual growth become the numbers of people who have taken the classes…
Programs aren’t bad or evil- they have simply become a replacement for relationship. We have no “membership” classes, no bases to run. When people come to our community, we connect them to others for coffee, dinner, dessert, etc for a conversation where we hear someone’s story, tell them ours and share the values of the community. We’re trying to get back to doing in relationship what the church has come to rely on programs to do.

Let me reiterate… I’m thinking size is an issue. It’s possible to get to a size that as a pastor you spend most of your time with staff, talking about administrative details, dealing with events… manager, administrator rather than pastor.

I don’t think it all has to depend on me… I give away most all of the ministry details of our community. But God has called me to a certain role in the lives of my people. I just can’t for the life of me see how that works if things get so large I can no longer do that.

I know this is a sensitive issue… I know I step on toes when I talk about it. I just want us to consider that between the home group and the mega church might be a more optimal size for a church community… it’s something we need to talk about.

thanks again for the comments- these are some of the defining issues in emergent thinking…

bob hyatt
lead pastor: the evergreen community
www.evergreenlife.org