It Isn’t the Church Size That Matters

It Isn’t the Church Size That Matters

It’s how much grace fits in it

Sometimes people choose a church based on its size, taking into account various factors dependent on their checklist of preferences.

Some might overlook smaller churches as the size is proof of its ineffectiveness, or avoid a larger church as they prefer to know everyone they see at church.

Having attended churches ranging from attendance of 30 to attendance of 700, though, I can honestly say that size doesn’t matter. What matters is one thing: Is the gospel preached and is it lived out?

It is absolutely true that there are pros and cons to both large and small churches, but the cons can be overcome with or without size, and cannot be overcome without grace.

In the church of 30 I attended, I knew everyone, and it was obvious which clique everyone belonged to. Today, I know very few people at church, but I know everyone at our home group and I know they are not part of any church factions. Don’t look for familiar faces; look instead for an atmosphere of grace.

While you often hear of the danger of larger churches insisting on tithes, due to the necessity of paying for building space and the multiple pastors’ salaries, the danger is the same if the pastor is greedy, no matter the size. The smaller church once closed the doors and the pastor announced that service would not be let out until everyone had donated to the cause at hand. Moreover, each family was informed that they would take it, in turn, to provide dinner for everyone else at church, which they would pay for, and which would go toward the pastor’s salary. (As you can imagine, we didn’t stay there long after this set in.)

There can be a certain comfort in knowing everyone at church, but larger churches, if they are thoughtful, will still take steps to ensure that the church feels its unity. For example, our church now always makes video summaries of youth retreats, special events, or conferences, so that everyone can see the overview. They also are very welcoming and friendly, which, since you don’t know most people, means that you will be greeted heartily by people after you’ve been attending for a year and asked if it’s your first time. If you don’t mind (which I don’t), it’s very kind of them.

While the church size at the moment ought not to be an issue, if you are looking for a church home, you ought to take into account the growth of the church over time. For example, one church that we were considering attending after we moved turned out to have had the same attendance rate since 1976, one lady confiding to me that families “just came and went.” This being the third red flag on top of two others, we decamped shortly thereafter. On the other hand, while the church you’re currently attending may be in a gym, it’s a church that has doubled over the past year and shows no sign of stopping.

Again, however, the most important characteristic of any church is its relationship to the gospel. Although it seems obvious, since any church owes its existence to the gospel, most churches pay lip service only to it or offer a feeble altar call at the end of the sermon. Instead of this weak-kneed theology, look for a church where grace is robust and integral to every sermon, where the cross is not seen as a one-time mention, but as central to the thinking and exposition every Sunday. If the preaching is like this, you can hope that the people will be the same, and it is this combination of grace from the pulpit and grace in practice that makes a church, no matter its size.