Thinking on the Way

I thought I remembered reading something on Craig Blomberg's blog awhile back where he suggested a similar "cap" on church sizes for purposes of mutual accountability and other similar reasons, but I just can't find it. (Perhaps I have the wrong author?) I think that such a size is a good idea. This of course doesn't mean refusing to let new members in, but rather perhaps prayerfully considering opening another church. (And this process is easier said than done; I can't say for sure that it would always be a good idea!)

I think another problem with the whole megachurch concept is that pastors can become like Christian celebrities of a sort with a "cult of personality", and where nobody is willing to hold them accountable (or anybody who tries will be excommunicated or shouted down). There was one church in my metro area where this was largely considered to be the case; the pastor and his wife lived a lavish lifestyle with little to no financial accountability or transparency despite questions from parishioners. Something ended up happening to the church, which is now closed (I don't remember the details; they're not important here), and I fear shame may have been brought to the cause of Christ.

I think you're arguing from a rather small sample size. I know of at least three examples of a pastor being caught in adultery in a much smaller setting - and in one case, the pastor was allowed to stay after apologizing.

Originally posted by One Bad Pig

I think you're arguing from a rather small sample size. I know of at least three examples of a pastor being caught in adultery in a much smaller setting - and in one case, the pastor was allowed to stay after apologizing.

I agree. We had a case similiar to this in my city about a year ago. In this case, the pastor went to prison if I remember correctly. Don't know what happened to the congregation.

The difference: the case in my city only made the local paper. The case I read about was on the front page of a major news website and has since spread to others. The difference is when a mega-church goes bad, its national news.

I did realize I didn't clearly describe what my concern was.

There just seems to be a church size that becomes too big to manage by the members. The church becomes a business with multiple professional staff positions. And too often these positions are filled with friends and family of the senior pastor. Since a church in the US is a legal entity, there is a need to manage the legal obligiations. But there seems to be a church size that takes the church from being the "body of Christ" to the "corporate representation of Christ." I'm just trying to get a feel where people feel this line is crossed.

Originally posted by KingsGambit

I thought I remembered reading something on Craig Blomberg's blog awhile back where he suggested a similar "cap" on church sizes for purposes of mutual accountability and other similar reasons, but I just can't find it.

If you ever find the blog entry, please post a link. I would like to see it.

A couple years ago we had a bunch of news paper articles on a local megachurch and how the pastor and his wife were living in luxury. I don't recall what if anything came of the articles.

At this moment, I am at loss for anything good that ever came from a megachurch.

Originally posted by Thoughtful Monk

I agree. We had a case similiar to this in my city about a year ago. In this case, the pastor went to prison if I remember correctly. Don't know what happened to the congregation.

The difference: the case in my city only made the local paper. The case I read about was on the front page of a major news website and has since spread to others. The difference is when a mega-church goes bad, its national news.

True, but that's not an argument I would use against megachurches.

I did realize I didn't clearly describe what my concern was.

There just seems to be a church size that becomes too big to manage by the members. The church becomes a business with multiple professional staff positions. And too often these positions are filled with friends and family of the senior pastor. Since a church in the US is a legal entity, there is a need to manage the legal obligiations. But there seems to be a church size that takes the church from being the "body of Christ" to the "corporate representation of Christ." I'm just trying to get a feel where people feel this line is crossed.

I don't think size has much to do with that. From what I recall, megachurches develop because they are started or re-oriented toward the primary goal of growth rather than the growth of individual believers; the corporate mind-set is there from the beginning. Churches with more organic growth will tend to found new churches rather than just get bigger (so, for example, someone who had to drive 45 minutes to get to church wouldn't have so far to travel). It's one thing I appreciated about the Southern Baptist churches in my area when I was a Baptist.

Originally posted by One Bad Pig

From what I recall, megachurches develop because they are started or re-oriented toward the primary goal of growth rather than the growth of individual believers; the corporate mind-set is there from the beginning.

Thank you for so clearly saying in one sentence what I have been trying to say in one post and two comments.

I grew up at a multi-thousand member church which spent half its annual budget on foreign missions and had a terrific Sunday School program for discipling children in the faith. I am currently at a 100 member church which started our local crisis pregnancy center, runs a Christian elementary school, and has a Friday night program for underprivileged kids in our community. There's no such thing as a "right size" for a particular church, but there is such a thing as a proper organizational structure and philosophy for a particular size of church. A mega-church may coast for a generation based on the attributes of an attractional senior pastor, but it will crash and burn thereafter if not undergirded with other leadership structures.

Originally posted by RBerman

I grew up at a multi-thousand member church which spent half its annual budget on foreign missions and had a terrific Sunday School program for discipling children in the faith. I am currently at a 100 member church which started our local crisis pregnancy center, runs a Christian elementary school, and has a Friday night program for underprivileged kids in our community. There's no such thing as a "right size" for a particular church, but there is such a thing as a proper organizational structure and philosophy for a particular size of church. A mega-church may coast for a generation based on the attributes of an attractional senior pastor, but it will crash and burn thereafter if not undergirded with other leadership structures.

Thanks for sharing your church history. I agree with what you say about a church needing the right structure. It also certainly needs to be able to change it structure if necessary. Besides being too depending on a (usually the founding) pastor, a church unable to change as needed is probably just as bad.