Very helpful thoughts here, especially number 5, as it hits on the tension many smaller congregations feel to keep up with the larger congregations–sometimes mega churches–up the road. The balancing point is that we also have to be willing to stretch ourselves to faithfully meet the challenge of where we are.
“5. The desire to do more, not less. As you grow, you will be tempted to do more. Every time there are more people/money/resources, the pressure will be strong to add programming and complexity to your organization.
Resist that. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Often the key to reaching more is doing less. By doing a few things well and creating steps, not programs, you will help more people grow faster than almost any other way. The two books that have helped me see this more than any other resources are Andy Stanley, Lane Jones and Reggie Joiner’s Seven Practices of Effective Ministry and Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger’s Simple Church. These two books helped our team resist the pressure to do more simply because we could.
Often complexity is the enemy of progress.”
A recent post I did on why most churches never break the 200 attendance mark really seems to have struck a nerve. People clearly have strong opinions and emotions about the size of churches. When I…
Read it all: 5 Tensions Every Small & Mid-Size Church Encounters
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