The Family Church has 50 or fewer people. The Pastoral Church has 50-150 people. The Program Church has 150-350. The Corporation Church has more than 350.
Whether we like this or not, this seems to be the case of most churches. Senior pastors go from being the ‘Pastor’ to the ‘CEO’. The only way to change this, is to consider our structure of church. We can still keep that family feel to a large church, especially if the model of church is predominantly Cell groups, for instance.
I don’t like the assumption some make, that, when a church grows in size it automatically loses its missional heart. Sure, it may be difficult to continue to pursue missional objectives when a Church grows, but it definitely need not be that way. Healthy churches, no matter their size, structure or vision will be fulfilling the great commission and serving suffering humanity.
What size church are you in? If you are the leader of this community, how do you lead based on the structure/size of this church?
I find myself currently in a church of less than 50. The Family Church is probably the right label to give this community. I’m certain that as this church grows (which it is doing!), I will either need to change the way I lead, and/or change the way we structure our church.
Will we plant congregations? Will we just invite everyone Sunday mornings? Will we have midweek gatherings for those who don’t connect well with traditional church? Will we have a community that links well with men who fish, ride motorbikes, and go shooting buffalo in their spare time?
The Pastor to CEO leadership tends to be a trend of most growing churches. We must work hard to have communities of faith that are still organic, life-giving and incarnational, while not quenching the work of the Spirit…
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