(I visited this church in 2010.)
When I first heard that my retreat group was going to visit a mega-church, I giggled. I was serving a parish with 15 parishioners in a storefront, at a church living off its endowment. Somehow, I didn't think there was going to be much for me to learn about being a parish leader by visiting a congregation with an average Sunday attendance of 10,000.
And indeed, at the staff worship on Tuesday morning, it seemed clear I was right. There were 18 of them, plus the 12 of us visiting, making worship service twice as big as my regular Sunday worship. The five hospitality volunteers in the kitchen made up a group the same size as my church council. And the meeting room, filled with round tables and a pass through to the kitchen, was just about double the size of our worship space, where my desk sits in back corner.
After introductions and a tour of the "campus" we settled down to observe their staff meeting. It was stunning. First report, the budget. Giving was down, which could be explained by the recession, but attendance was down, too, to just less than 50% of membership. And the number of pledging units had dropped by 12%. I wrote myself a little note. Our figures, as a percentage, were a bit better than that! We'd added a few givers, and our average giving was holding steady. Our attendance is consistently a bit higher than our membership.
Then the financial officer put down his notes and talked honestly to the group. "You know, its almost like building that great endowment has hurt us. People think it is ok to live off the endowment."
Well yes, I do know that!
The small group ministry team reported next. Less than one third of the 10,000 on the roles were involved in small groups. Three years ago the figure had been 37%. There was reporting of figures for bible focused groups, social action groups, meals groups, and affinity groups like marrieds, stay-at-home moms, and others. And then the whole staff brainstormed questions and suggestions about timing and surveys and new small groups that might attract the missing majority.
Small church, of course, is its own small group, but we also had two break-out groups--a bible study on Sunday afternoons, and a worship team that met right after church. I quickly did the math, 66% of my congregation was involved in small group ministry. I wrote down a couple of the suggestions for getting a few others more involved.
And so the meeting continued, with discussions of the fair, and how to plan Lent and Easter season, and how to support one another in their ministries and how to be visible out in the community.
And it sounded just like our board meetings. We have the same problems, the same challenges, the same hopes for our future. Theirs are all big, ours are all small. But still big church can still struggle, small church can be stable.
When I first heard that my retreat group was going to visit a mega-church, I giggled. I was serving a parish with 15 parishioners in a storefront, at a church living off its endowment. Somehow, I didn't think there was going to be much for me to learn about being a parish leader by visiting a congregation with an average Sunday attendance of 10,000.
And indeed, at the staff worship on Tuesday morning, it seemed clear I was right. There were 18 of them, plus the 12 of us visiting, making worship service twice as big as my regular Sunday worship. The five hospitality volunteers in the kitchen made up a group the same size as my church council. And the meeting room, filled with round tables and a pass through to the kitchen, was just about double the size of our worship space, where my desk sits in back corner.
After introductions and a tour of the "campus" we settled down to observe their staff meeting. It was stunning. First report, the budget. Giving was down, which could be explained by the recession, but attendance was down, too, to just less than 50% of membership. And the number of pledging units had dropped by 12%. I wrote myself a little note. Our figures, as a percentage, were a bit better than that! We'd added a few givers, and our average giving was holding steady. Our attendance is consistently a bit higher than our membership.
Then the financial officer put down his notes and talked honestly to the group. "You know, its almost like building that great endowment has hurt us. People think it is ok to live off the endowment."
Well yes, I do know that!
The small group ministry team reported next. Less than one third of the 10,000 on the roles were involved in small groups. Three years ago the figure had been 37%. There was reporting of figures for bible focused groups, social action groups, meals groups, and affinity groups like marrieds, stay-at-home moms, and others. And then the whole staff brainstormed questions and suggestions about timing and surveys and new small groups that might attract the missing majority.
Small church, of course, is its own small group, but we also had two break-out groups--a bible study on Sunday afternoons, and a worship team that met right after church. I quickly did the math, 66% of my congregation was involved in small group ministry. I wrote down a couple of the suggestions for getting a few others more involved.
And so the meeting continued, with discussions of the fair, and how to plan Lent and Easter season, and how to support one another in their ministries and how to be visible out in the community.
And it sounded just like our board meetings. We have the same problems, the same challenges, the same hopes for our future. Theirs are all big, ours are all small. But still big church can still struggle, small church can be stable.
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