Does it Count?

Does Church size matter?  Of course it does.  It becomes the way in which we define ourselves, and it is – for good of for ill – the way in which we measure successful ministry.  Whether or not church size should matter is a different question.

As a sign I once saw read, “Not everything that matters can be counted, and not everything that can be counted matters.”

The issue has to do with quantity and quantification.  Size is the demonstration of the success or failure of a particular church or church program.  Think about it this way:  when someone asks a pastor, “How did church go today?” the initial answer usually has something to do with attendance.  “Well, we had about [x number] at the second service.”  Then the pastor will usually make some kind of qualifying remark.  “That was up from last year,” or “It was raining pretty bad this morning, so some people didn’t get out.”  Both statements are designed to deflect what seems to be an implied or perceived criticism for whatever number it is we provided.

This is learned behavior.  In many ways this goes way, way back to the book of Acts.  In that book we read the Pentecost story with wonder and dread –especially the last section:

“So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. ^42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

^43 And fear came upon every soul; and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. ^44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common; ^45 and they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, as any had need. ^46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they partook of food with glad and generous hearts, ^47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”  (Acts 2:41-47)

The reason I say we read this with wonder is because it is an amazing story and testimony to the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.  The dread comes in the number: “there were added that day about three thousand souls.”  Perhaps it is the Western sense of competition, but for many of the pastors, it is as if a bar is set: 3,000. Can we reach those kinds of numbers?  In a day? 

Here is why I ask if the number should even matter.  The point of the story, in my opinion, is not the number.  The point of the story is transformation.  Look at what the Holy Spirit accomplished among such a diverse group of people!  Look at what God did!  Maybe that’s why we get so worked up over the question of ‘how many people were in church today’ because we think we have to have a big number.  If that is the case, then we miss the point of church and worship.  Did people experience the power and presence of the Spirit?

When we focus on the quantifiable, we miss the quality and the spiritual.  The problem exacerbates itself in that when we are caught up in the quantifiable-ness of a church, such as being the ‘biggest church in town.’ With designations like that, the pressure is on to remain the biggest.  More programs, more this, more that.  Keep the numbers up.  Church then becomes about size, and that will eventually translate into finances.  Are the numbers up?  Are the finances strong?

Not that these are unimportant issues, but when they become the driving issues of a church, then size becomes the definition, even the point. 

When I was in seminary, an argument arose in a class over the definition of a successful church.  One student articulated that if a church wasn’t growing, then the Spirit wasn’t present.  Another said that his church (of about 15 people) had a great Spirit about it and that he felt God working among those 15.  The other student then became emphatic and angry, stating that if the Spirit was really in their church, there would be no way that it would only have 15 – it would be more like the 3,000 of the first Pentecost. 

I have served churches from 12 to 130.  Each has its challenges, strengths, and weaknesses.  But in those small churches there is the danger of ‘defeatism’ that comes with an overemphasis on size.  For many, the issue is that the church is “Too small to matter.”  I have to admit that sometimes that mentality is reinforced from other churches, even District Superintendents or Bishops who, in their desire to see the church succeed and grow place a heavy emphasis on size. 

And yet in those small churches, I have found over and over a strong sense of community, dedication, and a sense of hospitality and compassion that sometimes gets lost as the numbers increase.  They may be concerned about numbers, but they also tend to want to live out their faith in deliberate ways that have an emphasis in discipleship absent from churches that merely wish to be known as ‘big.’

Size is a tricky issue.  We want our churches to grow, but I have found that numbers are not always a direct correlation to a congregation that grows in its spiritual journey.  I would like to propose that church growth (with regard to numbers and finances) should always be viewed as a side-effect of a deeper level of discipleship.  Discipleship and a deeper faith should be our goal.  Numbers may come with that, but the numbers are not to be our primary concern. 

Jesus said that he was present where two or more would gather in his name.  Perhaps two is as quantifiable as we should allow ourselves to get.  More than two?  Thanks be to God, and let us leave the rest of the numbers to the Holy Spirit.