So, what is the size of your Church in attendance? Does size matter?
Over the past 8 years, I’ve had the privilege of working with churches and their leaders all over the US.
Below are my observation(s) of churches at certain attendance thresholds.
- 100 – This is a group of people who are circling around a good vision-caster. This group likely knows everybody. They are really vision based … and giving can be strong with a key/sending group. One key ideal/vision is the reason for this group to have developed. 6 months in is a tricky season at this level … stagnation can hit around this mark.
- 300 – This group of people essentially are the typical church. 2 to 3 staff. Duct tape systems & processes. Not everyone in the church knows each other. Typically, I see a pastor change here … after one or two attempts of trying to grow the church but unsuccessful. Churches that grow out of this stage … change their mindset on scaling … and start to really believe in the power of small groups AND volunteerism.
- 600 to 800 – This church is now a small organization. 3 to 5 staff. Volunteers emphasis is imperative. Church goes from church of 300 to 600/700 by developing (maybe for 1st time) systems & processes. Refinement of ministries tied to mission/goals likely happens. This is where people who attend are challenged with church not being about them – and an attack on consumerism by attendees. Churches often make the mistake of building something here as THE solution to growth.
- 1,200 to 1,400 – Small organization grows up. 8 to 12 staff. If stagnant for a season of time tied to growth … a pastor change happens. Churches often start the brain damage of church planting or multi-site here. Refinement/expansion of system & process happens here. Elder teams/committees refined/clarified & empowered.
- 2,000+ A Mega-Church. The books & thoughts discussing how a church goes from 2,000 to 10,000 … are all over the place. Focus on unchurched … multi-site … simple church … etc. Original team/staff move on here a lot too. Vision-casting here to a large group of people becomes an art … to inspire yet push for results.
- 10,000+ A Giga-Church. Big organization with layers of people, systems, and process. Leadership development and generational leadership issues should be addressed. Multi-site is likely happening. Legacy giving becomes a focus for future funding sources. Refinements with GAP or SWOT analysis are commonplace within these sort of organizations. Their size is leveraged for church-planting initiatives … as well as a bigger footprint in community impact. Churches this size look for “domain experts” vs. general pastors/practitioners.
NOTE: I am not a church-world expert. I haven’t poured over mountains & mountains of data and research to come up with the info above. I’m also not advocating that the ONLY goal with churches is for them to strive to get bigger.
What do you see? Have extra thoughts? See these stages & the characteristics differently?
