Big Church vs. Small Church

I overheard part of a discussion the other day regarding Big Churches vs. Small Churches. One pastor was arguing that big churches are killing small churches. I call this the "Wal-Mart Syndrome" because many of the arguments against big churches are the same arguments you hear against Wal-Mart or other big box stores which come into a new neighborhood and shake things up. I have some thoughts on this whole subject, but first this disclaimer:

(cue deep voice speaking quickly) I am not a pastor. I've never been a pastor. I don't want to become a pastor. I have no idea of what it's like to shepherd a congregation, large or small, nor do I have knowledge of the joys, heartaches and challenges associated therewith. I'm just a businessman and I look at things from a business perspective. (return to normal voice)

As a businessman faced with competition (though I could argue that churches are not really competing with one another), if the other guy is selling 5,000 widgets a week and I'm selling 100, I've got four basic choices in how to respond:

1. Ignore the problem and hope it goes away.
2. Gripe about the problem but don't take action to correct it.
3. Quit.
4. Go and find out what the other guy is doing and see if I can use some of his techniques to increase my sales.

Frankly I think some pastors choose #1 or #2 and wouldn't get caught dead doing #4. They don't like change or don't want to fight the battles that would result from change. They know that changing the status quo may well result in a decrease in members before the increases start. It's a tough situation to be in. They say that changing a church's direction is the quickest road to martyrdom.

Unlike businesses which have a proprietary interest in protecting their trade secrets, big churches have shown a tremendous willingness to share information. Willow Creek, Saddleback Church, Calvary Chapel, and other large ministries go out of their way to tell their stories and show others, who are interested in learning, what they've done. You don't even have to buy a book - you can just walk in and take notes for yourself.

Having said all that, here's the way I look at this stuff. I attend a big church. Why? I like my church, I like the people who attend, the ministry staff, and the fact that the church has the resources to do pretty much anything it wants to do. I had attended an embarrasing number of small churches before moving to the big church and I'll never go back. I don't want to set up and take down chairs in an elementary school multi-purpose room, I don't want my kids in a Sunday School class with five other grades, and I don't want to be the treasurer/usher/choir member/Sunday School teacher/Sunday School Superintendent/board member/nursery worker/gardener/scripture reader...all at once, which is what frequently happens in small churches.

Am I lazy? I don't think so, though some will disagree. I just like having lots of people around with different talents to share the burden and do the things that need to be done so I can concentrate on the things that I do well, instead of having to concentrate on whatever talent this week's crisis requires.

In my line of work I meet with pastors all the time, and I have every kind of ministry client you can imagine. I have a couple of the largest churches in my territory, and dozens of small churches that are hanging on by their teeth. I have just about every kind of evangelical church, as well as every wacky offshoot of religion that you can think of.

I remember one church I visited that had an 850 seat auditorium and a large, two-story educational unit. The church had 30 members with an average age of 75. The only way they stayed alive was by leasing out their education building to a Christian school. At one time they had been a thriving congregation, but as times changed, the church didn't and the people left. From my conversations with them it was obvious that they weren't interested in doing anything different than they had always done, and one of these days the last of them will die and that will be the end of that.

I was meeting with the pastor of a growing congregation that didn't yet own any property and I told him about the failing church with the great facility. My advice to him: take your congregation and go join that other church. Vote the stick-in-the-muds off the board and turn that place into a going concern. Sort of a church world version of a hostile takeover. He didn't pursue that course of action, though I would have loved to see what happened if he had.

When I hear a small church pastor complaining about the influence of the large churches, I have to wonder if those pastors have a misconception about how church attendance works. Here are the myths that I think may be at work:

1. Myth 1: Church attendance is a zero sum game. I think there are some pastors who believe that large churches are only growing because they're stealing people from small churches, as though there is a finite number of church attenders available to all the churches in the market. The fact is you can't swing a dead cat at most churches without hitting 10,000 people within walking distance who have no church affiliation at all. What are the small churches doing to reach out to those people? The big churches have figured out how to do that, and in the case of my church, a huge percentage of the people previously had no church affiliation at all, or are ex-Catholics who never attended an evangelical church.
2. Myth 2: Big churches are increasing their crowds by just providing entertainment and not real ministry. That may be true for a few of them, but not my church. People are attending because they're lives are being transformed by the ministry of the church, and if the presentation is entertaining, all the better. No one has been called to boredom.
3. Myth 3: If given a choice between big and small, people will always choose big. Not true at all. I know many people who have left large churches for the more intimate worship experience they find in smaller congregations. However, if the small congregations aren't meeting the needs of the people, they'll look elsewhere.
4. Myth 4: People attend big churches so they can hide out and not do anything. Undoubtedly true for some, but in a church like mine with over 200 ministries , there are thousands of volunteers who do everything from clean the bathrooms to teaching classes to performing on stage. In addition, most big churches do their best to make the church smaller by encouraging involvement in small groups.

One other important point to remember. It's a free country, and nobody is forced to attend church. People do it voluntarily, and therefore have the right to find the situation that best works for them. If a small church meets the needs, they'll get the members. If they insist on doing things the same way they've done them for 50 years, they'll get the increasingly small number of people interested in doing things that way, and they probably won't get any previously unchurched folks who will be turned off by the unfamiliar language and worship style.

What would my advice be for the small church (reminder - see disclaimer above):

1. Decide just what it is you want to be, and then seek out methods to get you to your goal. You may need books, seminars, personal observation, or coaching from someone who knows what he's doing. There are lots of resources available out there.
2. Don't try to be what you can't be. Everyone thinks that the way to success is to have a praise band and praise singers, and I can't tell you how many times I've been in services with really bad praise groups. Their hearts are in the right place but they just don't have the skills to pull it off. Figure out what you can do well and do that.
3. Look at your church from the viewpoint of a visitor. Be honest with yourself as you look at how someone totally unfamiliar with your church would view your facilities, worship style, and overall attitude.
4. Get rid of the deadwood. If you have folks that only have the gift of gripe, move them out. It's better to have smaller numbers with a more dedicated core group of people who will work with you to get things done. That's a base you can grow on.

Let's remember that we're all in this thing together and it serves no purpose to fight.