Q Ideas recently posted a great article titled “Why Small Churches Are the Next Big Thing,” which is worth your look. In the mega church movement of the past twenty years we’ve been led to believe that large churches that provide anonymity are the best way to reach people. In some ways, this has been true of the baby boomer generation. But Karl Vaters, the author of the article, proposes that small churches are best suited to reach those in the millennial generation for two reasons: intimate worship and genuine relationships.
Being on the pastoral team of Pioneer Memorial Church, which has over 3,600 members, I can confirm that the relationship part definitely can be challenging. In a large church it’s difficult to sit next to the same people every week, and so connecting can become a little more difficult. Smaller churches have a huge advantage in this sense.
Vaters mentions a huge warning, though: “Millennials won’t give up quality to gain intimacy.”
The generation that has grown up using computers, iPods and iPads are used to quality, but these are all things that a small church can also do. Make sure to check out the rest of the article here.
So if you pastor in a small church, take heart: you just may be positioned to make the bigger impact with this generation.
Thoughts? To leave a comment click here.
[image by sandien]
What’s the size of a small church? Many people see 200+ as a “large” church. In my context (SDA Spanish Churches), “large” churches would be 500-700 and these are very rare.
I feel like we have so many “small” churches that we are so close together. Sometimes they struggle to grow and struggle in their finances, but resist joining efforts or even their membership for the sake of their corner on the market.
In this day, closeness IS important, but is that intimacy the GOAL? If the church is united in mission and purpose and we are part of that mission and purpose, I don’t think we’ll feel “lonely” in a larger church. We’ll always have our group of friends that we hang out with more and if we are involved in small groups or other church activities, we will meet new people.
If we define large, medium or small it may help us understand what we are really talking about or looking for.
Good points, Pedro! Yeah, I think most would define a small church as being 80 or less members. Medium size to be 80-250 or so. And then about 300-700 to be large. Beyond that I think they start to get into the mega church range. Of course you’re right–in our tribe, a 200 member church is considered to be large.
Yeah, unfortunately intimacy is difficult in larger churches. At our church we’re placing a big emphasis on small groups which are helping people to be connected, but it’s still tough. A smaller church with quality services–that would certainly be the ideal.
i read a book by kennon callahan a few years ago called, “Small, Strong Congregations”, and in usual callahan style, his main idea was that mega-churches are out, small congregations are in.
i asked paul borden (GrowingHealthyChurches.org, author of “Direct Hit”) about Callahan’s book, and borden rolled his eyes, and said something to the effect that Callahan doesn’t know what he’s talking about! 🙂
i think a key thought is, “Millennials won’t give up quality for intimacy.” i’ve yet to find a small church that offers quality.
like pedro, i agree that small churches struggle with many issues, resources, quality, finances, able bodies, etc.
anyways good post. something to think on.
Yeah, I’m familiar with Borden. He commented once on my blog, actually!! 😉 I don’t think that mega churches are out, but I do think that smaller–or perhaps I should say medium to large churches–have a greater ability to connect with millennials than the typical mega church. They are looking for the intimacy.
Concerning the quality issues, I don’t think they’re looking for a mega church experience, but simply with less people. I don’t think they’re looking for the same thing…but I think the better word is more like excellence and competence. They don’t need the smoke machines, but want to know that their kids are having a quality experience. They don’t need a pastor who wears flip-flops like they do, but they’d like a good biblical message.
You’re right. In the typical small church, those can be hard to find, but I don’t think it’s impossible.