Size matters!

Dan Whitmarsh, my rabble rousing partner in Turlock, is remembeing conversations that we had outlining the reasons that mid-size congregations are optimal.  Apparently, our Covenant collegue Dave Gibbons got hold of the recordings -- and if I didn't know him better I'd accuse him of plagarism. He's reformating NewSong to run more leanly with a smaller platform -- churches of 30-300 people.

In about 1999 I wrote a think piece on small-clustered churches -- churches that multiplied when they got to be 150 people. I revised it slightly in 2002 and I still think it's pretty solid -- although I think the formulas I concocted are too tight -- also there is probably too much centralization -- and I'd tweak the definitions of success to be more ministry-centered. What I wrote sounded too much like it was all about numbers -- when in fact I was merely trying to figure out how numbers affect the vitality and outward focus of churches. It's not all about size but size matters.