The Spectrum

Today while traveling around to the different churches I was reminded of what Mark Gorveatte once said during a trip up to Bethany. He said, “Don’t focus on church growth. Don’t focus on what size your church is going to be. Instead, focus on church health and allow God to determine the size.”

As I have been going to these churches I have realized that there is nothing specifically wrong with having a “mega-church.” While I might not be particularly gifted with the ability to lead a mega-church, I should not look down on them. All of the larger churches in West Michigan have continued to be influential in planting new churches instead of simply focusing on their own facility. I think, as long as my church maintains the conviction that the Kingdom of God is bigger than we are and that church planting is the most effective evangelism method to-date, then it should not matter how large we are.

All churches, big and small, have pros and cons to them. In larger churches you have a significant budget with which to bless people and challenge the community around you. However, it might be more difficult for someone to get plugged in to a large church. Furthermore, as the lead pastor more of your time would be spent equipping and leading other leaders, and less on ministering to people individually.

Whereas in a smaller church, you have a better opportunity to connect with people on an individual basis. However, you generally have a smaller budget to work with and obviously fewer people, which generally means less of your programs are run with excellence, or in some cases your church cannot afford to run the program at all.

Perhaps there is a happy medium between the two ends of the spectrum, somewhere where you begin to have enough resources to run things well but still have the ability to know everyone.