Previously we have thought about the way a larger church is a more complicated animal which tends to have more pastoral problems and different expectations of those in leadership.
But these are not the only pressures which go with growth.
Pressure 4
Growth, change and leadership
Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, who spoke at this year’s London Men’s Convention, argues: 1) growth causes change; 2) change causes complexity; 3) complexity causes chaos; 4) chaos causes concern; 5) concern causes conflict.
‘This conflict comes in eight different forms... a person or a faction of people want something they perceive that they have lost due to change. They fight to preserve what they lost and in so doing oppose change... Such change can be perceived by some as a loss of power, remuneration, preference, information, visibility, role, sustainable pace, or control...’
Change can cause a sense of loss; a ‘grief’ reaction can set in (anger plus sadness). It will surface in any number of (often unhelpful) ways. People no longer feel that they have a role and give up actively serving, or that ‘pastor only listens to people who agree with him’, or that ‘new members are getting all the limelight’, or ‘we must appose those new changes at the next members’ meting’. Growth can become a setting in which conflict wounds many.
Driscoll argues that instead we should see change, ‘as an opportunity to share those things with others for the sake of Jesus’s gospel and his church... Because we want more people to worship Jesus as God, we must be willing to accept the inevitable conflict that change brings’.
Subtle changes
There are other subtle changes in ‘power issues’ and decision-making too.
Tim Keller says: ‘The larger the church the more decision-making falls to the staff rather than to the whole membership or even to the lay leaders. Generally, in small churches, policy is decided by many and ministry is done by a few, while in the large church, ministry is done by many, and policy is decided by few.
‘The larger the church the more power for decision-making moves away from the whole congregation to the leader and staff. Why? Too much is going on for the congregation or the board or eventually even the staff to make all the decisions in group. Power moves toward individual staff or volunteer leaders and so change happens more quickly.’
As churches grow, many don’t keep up with the changing nature of ‘power’. Churches which still try to operate as ‘they always did’ could find themselves paralysed by a poor decision-making procedure, and a lack of good decisions could seriously hinder gospel growth. Yet it is still important to ‘get ownership’ (see Acts 6.3,5) so that, when others are ‘empowered’ with a responsibility, it can be done well. Many church leaders know what a tightrope act all this can be.
Pressure 5
Growth and resource requirements
What do you need as you get larger? More and more of everything!
The church will need larger/better infrastructure, more and varied personnel, seriously improved aesthetics, and lots more money.
The building may soon prove too small (if it is 80% full, it already is!). Poor infrastructure can hold up gospel growth. Developing a staff can seem a costly way forward, but without it the church will be hindered by the limited capacity of even its best full-time leader. Identifying who you need and what they should do and what are the top priorities are difficult matters (should it be a new youth pastor, an admin worker, a women worker, a worker with the older people, an outreach worker, etc.?) Staff will need a base (an office that is properly kitted out) and they will need supervising and training — and whose job will that be, Mr. Busy Pastor?
Everything the public see will need to be ‘better’, in that a visitor will not judge young Judy’s piano playing as ‘good’, when it is indeed truly awful, just because ‘she is trying hard’ and ‘everyone knows her mum and dad’. Lighting, sound, music, welcome, coffee (yes, that too!) and a host of other ‘critical non-essentials’ will affect visitors and may influence their decision to stay and give the gospel a hearing.
It costs money. People will acknowledge the importance of gospel growth, but a reluctance to give sacrificially will seriously hinder the growth of a larger church as resources become stretched. It won’t appear so overnight — none of the above pressures work like that, but inexorably over time, if the church is to keep ‘on mission’, it will need believers giving sacrificially of their money, time and skill for the Lord’s work. If they came to a slightly bigger church expecting an easier ride than in the smaller one, they will be sadly mistaken! One of the greatest challenges leaders face is motivating people to rise up and overcome these resource ‘spikes’.
You, the leader, will need lots of energy to take all this forward. You will need increased capacity somewhere in your schedule to train others. You may need to develop capabilities you hardly knew you had, and hone new skills. Certainly ‘leadership’ as well as ‘preaching and pastoring’ will be on your reading agenda. You will need to have a stronger vision of the mission of the church to keep it on track amidst all the voices clamouring for your attention — voices which may take the gospel off the top priority list.
Leadership skills
Tim Keller wisely says: ‘[The larger]...church requires: a) a lot more vision-casting and strategising; and b) a more administrative know-how. The pastor of the medium size church will have to spend much more time recruiting and supervising volunteers and programmes to do ministry that in the smaller church the professional minister would have done directly. This takes administrative skills of planning, delegating, supervising, and organising...
‘The larger the church the more important are the minister’s leadership abilities. Preaching and pastoring are sufficient skills of pastors in small churches, but, as a church grows, leadership skills become critical.’
So, it’s not surprising we might struggle with growth! Most of us pray for it, but when it comes it can bring all this (and more), and we find ourselves wondering what is happening, even as God is evidently blessing the gospel. We may even begin to wonder, ‘Will I/the church be able to handle it?’
Next time, we will look at some help for hard-pressed churches and their leaders (whatever size you may be).
References
Mark Driscoll, Vintage Church (Crossway), esp. pp.147-151
Tim Keller, ‘Church Size dynamics’ article presented at the Next Level Conference, Redeemer Church Planting Center, Sept. 2006.
Ray Evans
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