Mega-Church Vs Small-Church

[Word101]

I belong to a mega-church, but I am always amazed by the number of people, including fellow Christians, who have very strong negative opinions, about each and every mega-church, without any real knowledge about every mega-church?
There is no perfect church on planet earth and no church is good or bad, because of it’s size. Mega-churches tend to be well-known, because of their size, and therefore news about any issues or problems in them , spread far and wide, which sometimes creates the perception that those things only happen in mega-churches. On the other hand, small churches are less known and attract little or no interest, therefore News of any issues or problems in them, does not go far or is hardly noticed or heard of.
All in all churches, regardless of size have similar experiences, negative or positive .

The number of those who ate was five thousand men, besides women and children - Matthew 14:21

The preceding scripture, only gives us the number of men, who were the heads of households, but when we add the men plus the women and children, the number could well be over ten thousand people. This was many centuries ago, when the world population was much smaller than it is today. Jesus preached to mega-crowds, which today would equal the size of a mega-church. So, if Jesus could preach to mega-crowds, why would anyone automatically assume, that there is something wrong with every mega-church, in our time?

Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children - Matthew 15:38

Here again, if we add the number of men plus women and children, the number would be almost or over ten thousand, another mega-crowd. In a perfect world, most churches would be mega-churches, because there are far more people today, than centuries ago, when Jesus preached to mega-crowds. And there is nothing wrong in being a small church, but a small church should not remain small forever, it should grow just like everything else.
We live in a time, when we have mega this and mega that, like mega stores or mega farms, because small stores or small farms can no longer adequately meet the needs of a growing population. Furthermore, goods that used to be produced in small amounts and in small industries, are now mass produced or mega produced.
We are in mega times and that is the trend for the future, the past is not coming back. Mega is not perfect and neither is small.

 

[David Lamb]

I belong to a mega-church, but I am always amazed by the number of people, including fellow Christians, who have very strong negative opinions, about each and every mega-church, without any real knowledge about every mega-church?
There is no perfect church on planet earth and no church is good or bad, because of it’s size. Mega-churches tend to be well-known, because of their size, and therefore news about any issues or problems in them , spread far and wide, which sometimes creates the perception that those things only happen in mega-churches. On the other hand, small churches are less known and attract little or no interest, therefore News of any issues or problems in them, does not go far or is hardly noticed or heard of.
All in all churches, regardless of size have similar experiences, negative or positive .

The number of those who ate was five thousand men, besides women and children - Matthew 14:21

The preceding scripture, only gives us the number of men, who were the heads of households, but when we add the men plus the women and children, the number could well be over ten thousand people. This was many centuries ago, when the world population was much smaller than it is today. Jesus preached to mega-crowds, which today would equal the size of a mega-church. So, if Jesus could preach to mega-crowds, why would anyone automatically assume, that there is something wrong with every mega-church, in our time?

Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children - Matthew 15:38

Here again, if we add the number of men plus women and children, the number would be almost or over ten thousand, another mega-crowd. In a perfect world, most churches would be mega-churches, because there are far more people today, than centuries ago, when Jesus preached to mega-crowds. And there is nothing wrong in being a small church, but a small church should not remain small forever, it should grow just like everything else.
We live in a time, when we have mega this and mega that, like mega stores or mega farms, because small stores or small farms can no longer adequately meet the needs of a growing population. Furthermore, goods that used to be produced in small amounts and in small industries, are now mass produced or mega produced.
We are in mega times and that is the trend for the future, the past is not coming back. Mega is not perfect and neither is small.

I agree that size doesn't (or shouldn't) matter. The crowd of 5000 men, plus women and children, was not a church. A better example in my view would have been from Acts:

“Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added [to them].” (Ac 2:41 NKJV)

"Them" was the local church at Jerusalem.

 

[Salty]

My main concerns:
1) is the distance some are traveling -- if you are going over 30-50 miles - would you neighbors attend with you?
2) What is the motivation to going to that mega church - is it the pastor?

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

My primary consern rests with the churches concentrating on the Word of God only( scripture alone)… so is that a Mega Chuurches 1st and only focus or are they an entertaining the people?

 

[Van]

When I first moved to the town I live in, more than 50 years ago, I joined the "First Baptist Church" which had about 100 regular attenders.
With the Lord's blessing, we called our associate Pastor to be our Senior Pastor, and over the next year or two, we grew to close to 200 regular attenders, but our parking lot size was limited, holding less than 30 vehicles.

We managed, with an abundance of our Lord's blessings, to relocate to a new location, with seating capacity of about 350, and ample parking.
Over the next few years we grew to about 2000 regular attenders in our 3 or 4 services.

The hallmark of our ministry was Bible teaching, discipleship, small group ministry.

But others, just as committed to Christ, reach a much smaller audience with the gospel.

We all serve Christ, and try to be intolerant of destructive doctrines, but we should not become too personally proud of our particular ministry.

 

[Word101]

My primary consern rests with the churches concentrating on the Word of God only( scripture alone)… so is that a Mega Chuurches 1st and only focus or are they an entertaining the people?

The link you are referring to is not a mega-church, that is a personal blog, for people on the go, who may not have enough time to read or search the scriptures. It is like a drive-through bible. The blog which is still under development, will have lists of scriptures by topic. For instance, the first list that is available, has scriptures about divine protection. Others will follow. Thanks for asking.

 

[Word101]

I agree that size doesn't (or shouldn't) matter. The crowd of 5000 men, plus women and children, was not a church. A better example in my view would have been from Acts:

“Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added [to them].” (Ac 2:41 NKJV)

"Them" was the local church at Jerusalem.

Thanks for bringing up Acts. I could have added that to my list of references scriptures.

 

[Ben1445]

My primary consern rests with the churches concentrating on the Word of God only( scripture alone)… so is that a Mega Chuurches 1st and only focus or are they an entertaining the people?

It’s possible to have a lot of people who are focused on God’s Word. I know a handful of churches that don’t qualify, in my opinion, as being entertainment clubs. I know of a few more who, by standards less than my own, could also be considered as such. Not being part of them, I would not have anything to say about my standard in comparison with theirs.
There is also plenty of entertainment in small churches. I know quite a few churches locally that would be considered more sound in teaching but their entertainment is clearly more valued. This is how small churches die.
The problems come with the quality of people, and not the quantity of people, if I may say it that way.

 

[Salty]

Not just entertainment! Locally, here in Syracuse, a once large church fell to about 20 people. (In fact, I attended the week they announced they had sold their their historicist downtown bldg. Over the next 10 years, the pastor had built it up to over 200. He then retired - over the next three years the church got in social issues; as it main concern. This past year, the that church disbanded

 

[Word101]

Jesus commanded His disciples or followers, past, present and future, to preach the gospel and not social or political issues. When a church or preacher focuses on social or political issues, that is not the great commission and it becomes had to attract new members and in some cases membership drops, because social or political issues have always and will always divide people.

Not just entertainment! Locally, here in Syracuse, a once large church fell to about 20 people. (In fact, I attended the week they announced they had sold their their historicist downtown bldg. Over the next 10 years, the pastor had built it up to over 200. He then retired - over the next three years the church got in social issues; as it main concern. This past year, the that church disbanded

lowers

 

[Dr. Bob]

I have been part of a large (would not call it "mega" but the largest fundamental Baptist Church in the State - about 2k) and there were some blessings in program, music, outreach, education that were simply not possible in the church of 50-150 members.

Opted in the last church we founded to operate on the "minyan" principle of the synagogue pattern in apostolic times. Jews in a community could not form a synagogue unless there were ten strong (tithing) families called a minyan. This allowed their tithing and giving to support a rabbi and facility, with the rabbi's tithe supporting the service physical needs. When a synagogue grew larger (at least doubling size to 20 strong families), they would consider dividing and forming another branch congregation. Mostly for two reasons - keep size small to fit in home/meeting place and to keep it "local" so no one had to walk more than 3/4 mile - a sabbath day limit.

Challenge in modern life is size of cities and transient population. When our church grew above the minyan and we considered breaking off to form a new "family" church, it was not long until numbers changed with the job market and instead for 5-6 families in a possible area, there would be only 1 or 2. Over 15 years we had 450+ people in/out as "regulars" in our church but seldom more than 50=60 at any time. The old model of small town with family farms, etc, is passe

 

[Word101]

I have been part of a large (would not call it "mega" but the largest fundamental Baptist Church in the State - about 2k) and there were some blessings in program, music, outreach, education that were simply not possible in the church of 50-150 members.

Opted in the last church we founded to operate on the "minyan" principle of the synagogue pattern in apostolic times. Jews in a community could not form a synagogue unless there were ten strong (tithing) families called a minyan. This allowed their tithing and giving to support a rabbi and facility, with the rabbi's tithe supporting the service physical needs. When a synagogue grew larger (at least doubling size to 20 strong families), they would consider dividing and forming another branch congregation. Mostly for two reasons - keep size small to fit in home/meeting place and to keep it "local" so no one had to walk more than 3/4 mile - a sabbath day limit.

Challenge in modern life is size of cities and transient population. When our church grew above the minyan and we considered breaking off to form a new "family" church, it was not long until numbers changed with the job market and instead for 5-6 families in a possible area, there would be only 1 or 2. Over 15 years we had 450+ people in/out as "regulars" in our church but seldom more than 50=60 at any time. The old model of small town with family farms, etc, is passe

I agree with you, that small congregations, would be ideal, but we cannot dial back the clock. The human population is exploding and everything is trying to keep up with that trend, that’s why many things are now super-size or mega, like mega-stores, mega-apartment complexes, mega-stadiums, mega-aero planes and so on. So, why not mega-churches. Churches like everything else have to adapt to a changing world. The past is not coming back.