What is the best sized congregation for most people?

Albion said:

Is it the small, intimate congregation in which you are known and you know everyone else--where you really fit in?

Or is it the larger one which offers more activities but in which you can choose to simply lose yourself in the crowd and not be forced to be overly social all the time?

Click to expand...

I like a congregation that's big enough that there are enough people doing stuff so nobody ends up stuck with the same job every single week and you can just go along and sit in the pews as a participant at least some of the time. I don't like congregations so big that it's easy to get lost - it seems to me that if someone can disappear completely and not be noticed the church is too big.

Years ago a friend took me to visit his church during the week. The place was huge - it felt more like a conference center than a church. He spoke very excitedly about how big it was, how the pastor had platinum status with all the major airlines because he took so many flights and so on. My first thought was to wonder how the pastor could possibly lead his church if he was in the air almost every day. Apparently the answer was simple - he didn't. He was very happy to accept free rides from members of the congregation but when members of the congregation needed something he was too busy for them.

I know that's just one church and not necessarily reflective of all huge churches, it just seems to me that if you need a pastoral director, a bunch of senior pastors, then more pastors, still more youth pastors and junior pastors, it's worth checking to make sure you haven't created a business instead of a church.

Albion said:

Is it the small, intimate congregation in which you are known and you know everyone else--where you really fit in?

Or is it the larger one which offers more activities but in which you can choose to simply lose yourself in the crowd and not be forced to be overly social all the time?

Click to expand...

IMO, one size does not fit all.


"Different strokes for different folks." I think God wants the church to grow and be as big as possible - but that's unrelated to whether a certain parish should be. Different people like and thrive in different milieus, and God provides those.


PERSONALLY, I've been a part of two parishes - one big (my Catholic church) that worshipped maybe 500 on a weekend, and on small one (my current Lutheran church) that averages 60-70. BOTH have their advantages, but I like small better. But then I'm a strong FAMILY guy and a small church seems easier to ME to relate to as FAMILY And I think it is perhaps more condusive to mutual, intimate caring. But again, different people thrive in different situations, and I rejoice that the Christian church exists in a rich, wonderful diversity of forms. Soli Deo Gloria.

It's not about the size of the congregation. It's about if the Word is properly proclaimed, Law and Gospel rightly divided and the Sacraments properly taught and administered.

Albion said:

Is it the small, intimate congregation in which you are known and you know everyone else--where you really fit in?

Or is it the larger one which offers more activities but in which you can choose to simply lose yourself in the crowd and not be forced to be overly social all the time?

Click to expand...

I think it’s not so much the size of a congregation rather the depth and accuracy of the teaching.
Smaller groups are more intimate and much more can be communicated to smaller groups.
I was a member of a good sized church and now I attend a smaller church group.

Albion said:

Is it the small, intimate congregation in which you are known and you know everyone else--where you really fit in?

Or is it the larger one which offers more activities but in which you can choose to simply lose yourself in the crowd and not be forced to be overly social all the time?

Click to expand...

I’m not sure which I prefer. I’ve been a member of a church that had a weekly attendance of 800 and I’ve also been a member of churches with 40 total membership. I’ve attended mega-churches with 28,000 membership and weekly attendance of 3000-4000. The mega church which I’ve attended several years in a row was for a pastor’s conference. It was amazing, and because they have it mostly figured out that we are creatures of habit, it was easy for them to not let you get “lost in the crowd”. When I attend, I basically sat in the same pew every day of the conference and the usher got to know me. The usher new everyone in his section of about 40 people. Needless to say, we started to know everyone that sat in our section. We had a little mini-church and felt welcomed, we even looked out for each other and wondered why someone was missing. This church had so much to offer, the children’s building (yes building it was 3 stories high and included an auditorium for about 600 kids) was a mini Disney World. The church was 11 city blocks and even has a metro-station stop.

To each there own, I am following (not a member and I don’t attend) a church right now that has about 20-25 people attend each Sunday. I’m seeing a slow death because it’s controlled by the same people and they don’t want any change. I give it a couple of years, only because they have a lot of money in the bank.

I’ve been through church growth phases, and it was a lot of work. A church that grew from 50 to 400 weekly. It was nice to give up triplicate roles, Sunday School director, Sunday School teacher, and facilities (putting up the chairs and tables). I was also at the church a lot because I was part of the repair crew. After the growth, it was nice to find a place that I enjoyed and felt like God wanted me there.

I think if I had the choice where to be, it would be around 400 weekly attendance.

It seems that both have benefits as well as deficiencies. So maybe its a matter of what you need spiritually rather than one being better than the other