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Do Christians Become Wimpy as Their Church Grows Larger?

Orginally published on Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 6:46 AM
by Todd Rhoades

Warren Bird writes: "There are lots of church stereotypes out there. A new book, What Americans Really Believe, uncovered a bunch of surprises which will debunk a number of myths. I was most interested in chapter 5, whose subtitle is "supersizing the faith."

Author Rodney Stark is an academic with very impressive credentials. As part of a national research project done through Gallup, his university surveyed a bunch of Christians and then sorted the findings according to the size of church they attended. He then compared the two extremes: churches with attendances under 100 and churches with attendances over 1,000. He also notes that no interpretation would be changed if congregations of all sizes in between were included in his analysis.

It turns out that as church size increase, people's beliefs are more certain. For example, on the question of whether heaven absolutely exists, 92% of people in larger churches said yes, while 79% in smaller churches said yes. Does hell absolutely exists? The replies were 90% and 69%.

What about people’s practices? Those in the larger churches attend services weekly or more often (46% and 39%), more of them tithe (46% and. 36%), and more of them attend a Bible-study group (52% and 43%). So personal commitment is higher with church size.

Is there a lack of intimacy as churches grow larger? When asked if half or more of their friends attend their congregations, survey respondents said yes 41% for larger churches and 25% for smaller churches. The same point is made when when the opposite angle is taken: do they have no friends in their congregations? Agreement was 12% and 22%.

You can read much more from Warren here at the Leadership Network Learnings Blog...

So… do you think Christian get whimpier as their church grows? Has this been your experience?

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There are 4 Comments:

Posted by

Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 8:22 AM

The article assumes some stereotypes. So stereotypically, smaller churches are led by relational leaders and larger churches are led by visionary leaders. (That is not a value judgment, just a difference). A well-defined vision will gather people within clearly defined boundaries. A strong relational base will congregate people with less certainty. In my experience a smaller church is more likely to embrance anyone willing to participate, a larger church is more willing to clearly define who they are and what they value and allow those who differ to find another faith community. I found as a small church pastor I was often the front door to many people’s faith journey that led them to a more focused/specialized congregation for the next step. I am OK with that becasue it is more about the Kingdom, than participation in a specific congregation.
Posted by Peter Hamm

Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 8:36 AM

Piggybacking on the comment above, a relational pastor in a big church can be a very affective thing indeed…

But in our experience, in our region, a smaller church is more likely to reject people based on outward appearance or where they are lifestyle-wise while our larger church is more likely to walk with people on their faith-journey right where they are when they walk in.
Posted by

Monday, October 20, 2008 at 1:50 PM

I think the opposite is true. In larger churches, because of the size and sometimes the lack of connectedness through small groups, Sunday School, outreach ministries, etc. it can be easier for people to just attend for a “feel good” and stay on the outskirts of faith without exploring the depths. Consequently, I think some would be surprised at the beliefs and practices that some of their parishoners hold. Of course, the same could happen in a smaller church too, but I think it’s easier to just blend into the crowd in a large church. The key probably lies in how well and how diligently the church works at connectedness and discipleship.
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Hi... I'm Todd Rhoades. I'm a Christ-follower, husband, father and I love to connect leaders with other leaders. Hopefully you'll find something here at MMI you like and will return often. If you want, you can find out more about me or follow my every step on Twitter.