August 7 marked the 8th birthday of CRC’s first every Sunday morning service. On that day in 2016, and never in my wildest dreams, did I ever think we would be where we are today. When we gathered for the first time in the fireside room at the Pat Porter Center all those years ago, I didn’t know what to make of what we were attempting and really didn’t think it would last, let alone find us with our own building and a vibrant, growing congregation 8 years later.
But with growth comes new challenges. Some of which I am experiencing in very real ways and others a lot of you are experiencing, even if you haven’t had the categories to articulate them. So, in order to frame this conversation, I would like to refer to some of the points made in an article by Tim Keller which I read about 15 years ago concerning how a church changes as it grows. It is not an article about how to grow - I’m not interested in church growth strategies anyway, save what is reported in Acts 2:42-47. But I digress. The article describes what happens as a church adds people to its number and what it means for both leaders and congregants alike. It deals specifically with how relationships change, with each other and between leadership and congregants, as numbers grow.
Keller’s comments about what changes take place as the church grows are poignant though not absolute or prophetic. But I think if we can understand what growth means for us at CRC we will be able to handle it well and welcome it as it comes.
Keller suggests number thresholds as indicators of how the culture in a church changes. I’m not concerned with his exact numbers, as they are not absolute, but with the characteristics of each group at the various growth stages. For example, he suggests big changes happen when a church grows beyond 40; obviously an arbitrary number. But his point about moving beyond this threshold is important. For a church to grow beyond that number it usually needs to bring on a full-time minister and it is this move that significantly changes the group dynamic. I’m not sure how big we were when CRC hired me full-time, but the jump from an unpaid preaching pastor to a full-time paid pastor was significant for our church in many ways. This move alone changes things in the church immensely. Now that we have grown well beyond 125 there are more dynamics at play in our group than there were when I started as the full-time minister.
Keller recognizes that as a church gets larger it morphs, becoming different as it adds to its number. When a church grows a difference in communication, community formation, decision-making, and day-to-day ministry begins to show; a difference that affects both lay person and leader. In other words, there is a certain kind of culture that exists at different sizes of the group. As the size changes so does the culture. Some may like the change, others may not. Awareness of these changes will help us as we grow - to anticipate it, welcome it, and plan for it - and it will prevent unrealistic expectations from becoming sources of division.
Keller identifies a number of changes that happen as the church grows. Let me summarize what I think are the most important dynamics for CRC, and then offer some concluding observations.
As our church grows there is…
The increasing need for intentionality -- There are two ways this applies to a growing church. First, there is an increased need to be intentional in welcoming people and assimilating them into the church. At our size it is possible for a new person to come to church without a lot of us knowing they are there. Newcomers are not always visible to us in our service; especially given how much action there is in a small foyer and sanctuary such as ours. The larger the group the easier it is for new people to slip into the crowd and out again without a personal touch. Thus, when we see a new person we cannot assume that someone else will be welcoming to them. We must take this responsibility ourselves. Second, we may not miss someone who has not been attending faithfully. The bigger the church the easier someone may slip out of the church without anyone knowing. This cannot happen. Regular church attendance is necessary to personal growth. We cannot mature without it. Thus, we need to be deliberate about looking around not just for who is there on any given Sunday, but for who is not. Third, we may realize that we don’t know some (or many) of the people who are regular attenders at CRC. We must, therefore, be intentional about moving about the whole church and not just giving our time and energy to those people to which we have grown close. In other words, cliques easily develop as the church grows. We need to fight against this tendency.
The increasing need for ministries -- The more people, the more diverse their ages, the more ministries are needed. When we started, we had very little Sunday morning and mid-week stuff going on. We now have Sunday School for all ages, a youth group, a young adult group, men’s and womens’ mid-week studies, several worship teams, people doing A/V during the service, and people who clean the church each week. (I apologize if I’ve missed a group… which kind of makes my point if I have) The number of ministries we need will only increase as the numbers increase.
The increasing need for lay ministry -- It is easy to think that since we have a lot of people in our church that there are a lot of people who are actually volunteering in our ministries. This usually isn’t the case as churches grow. The usual move from smaller to bigger is this -- a small church has a lot of people helping out; a bigger church has a lot of people sitting out. The old adage of 20% of the people doing 80% of the work in a larger church is truer than we would like to admit. As we grow it becomes easier for people to slip into the background and not help with the increased ministry load that a larger group requires. Obviously, this creates many problems.
The increasing need to plan for and be open to change -- Change is a part of church life. We need to anticipate needed changes, plan for them, communicate regarding them, and implement them in wise ways. But not everyone likes change. Many people will not like the move to a bigger group. It may feel less personal, it may mean less spontaneity in the group, it may mean less access to the pastor (see the next point), it may mean that my opinion is less important. Whatever the case, church growth requires the need to anticipate needed changes, and an openness and acceptance of change by everyone for the greater good.
The shifting role of the paid pastor -- As the church grows, the less available the main preacher is to do pastoral work. Let me explain. In smaller churches the pastor is available at all times, for most occasions and needs, to any member of the church. He can move around the group fairly easily and not have his time crunched too hard. As the church grows the pastor, and the church, must recognize that personal ministry to everyone in the church is no longer possible. Many of the things he was able to do at a small number now need to be done by the elders and others. He must focus more on leadership of a few and on the expanding shepherding ministries that growth demands, and less on day-to-day ministry to everyone.
I don’t think any of the above items are surprising. I think many of us have recognized that these things have already been happening in our church. Which is why it is important to state them in this way. Our church is growing and with that growth comes the need to understand what that means for the group and for each of us individually. These 5 areas are not offered as a scathing review of the way things are, but as a gentle observation of what is happening and will happen all the more as we grow. The more we understand these things the better our church will be.
But it is also a challenge. Each of us need to recognize what God is doing in our church as he grows it to his glory and get on board with it in meaningful ways. It may mean you leave your comfort zone on Sunday morning to greet anyone new. It may mean getting out of the familiar group of friends you have developed and get together with unfamiliar people. It may mean you give up some time to make a ministry better or to disciple others. It may mean you abandon your desire for the church to be what you want it to be and allow it to become what God wants it to be.
The future at CRC is bright. Our church is awesome. There is nowhere I would rather be than at CRC. (I apologize for the rhyme) After the pain of my previous ministry, the last 8 years at CRC have been a soothing balm for my soul. I am thankful for each and every one of you. I am thankful for the men who are elders alongside me, who faithfully challenge and protect me. I am thankful for the generosity and love that many of you have shown me and my family. I’m truly humbled to be your pastor.
My prayer is that the amazing 8 years we have enjoyed will turn into 8 more, and then 8 more again, and then on and on long past my days. I write these things so that we will continue to be the God-glorifying, gospel-centered, bible-based, discipleship-focused congregation that we already are no matter how many people God decides to bring our way.
I assume that someday I will have to write another one of these kinds of blogs reminding us of more things to look out for because of God’s movement among us. Until that day, may God find us faithful in the little things as we anticipate his gift of many great things.
Soli Deo Gloria
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