natman wrote:Ramblinman wrote:natman wrote:... That said, the church we currently attend is well beyond 2000 members and appears to be growing.
Nathan, I met a hard shell Baptist from the foothills north of here and he said that it was standard practice for them to split when they reached 100. One half would move out, call a new pastor, find a new place to worship down the road, and grow until they reach 100, etc, etc. Not my choice, but everyone knew everyone there!
Most Baptist churches, even those in large associations, such as the Southern Baptist Convention, are independent, making their own rules, as long as they comply with the greater associations rules. Here in Texas, there are MANY Southern Baptist and Texas Baptist churches that would be considered "mega-churches" by the standards mentioned here.
I did not mean to imply that all Baptist churches nor even the "hard shells" have made planned splits a policy, just this particular offshoot of the Baptists seem to have made it a formal practice.
They are of the Missionary type of Baptist (rather than the Primitive type), so in order for these smaller churches to do mission work in an efficient cost-effective way, there would need to be coordinated planning and fund raising by participating congregations. I know that SBC has home mission and foreign mission boards that do indeed allow cross-congregational effort.
I have spent a lot of time in small churches. As a single, it is either feast or famine when it comes to an active singles group. Some small churches seem to have no problem getting a singles group going, others find that singles are frequently off campus visiting other churches or para-church groups hoping to meet someone.
Some pastors and deacons have no idea what it is like being single and have actually come out and said, "We don't think it is right for singles to want to "use the church" to meet a potential mate. I think a few bad singles may have poisoned the well for the rest of us who do want to participate fully in the life of the church AND find someone whose life is dedicated to Christ. The two goals are not mutually incompatible.
Then again, I have seen mega-churches that have grown so rapidly that many new singles are not discipled in some of the basics that many of us who grew up in church take for granted. I am not eager for a church that abuses the concept of shepherding, but perhaps there is some middle ground between neglect of newcomers and creating "thought police" to keep tabs on us every waking moment.
The sheer number of adults who are single should be a wakeup call to churches that are family-only in focus. Through neglect of the single people, many churches are denying ministry to a huge segment of society.
I am not demanding that the smaller congregations launch a formal singles ministry, but too often, some churches that don't minister to singles are plenty big enough to do so.
But I am not making a case for either mega churches or micro-churches or anything in between.
Large or small can prosper or fail based upon leadership, planning and prayer.