Earlier this year, Andrew Nixon wrote an article on the 12 hard truths about ministry in Sydney that he learned from overseeing Connect09. As a result of the feedback he is completing a series of blogs on each of these ‘hard truths’. A list of the past blogs can be found here.

8. Regional or 'mega' churches have a place, but they can never be a substitute for multiple local congregations engaging with local communities. 

A good friend told me excitedly how his church had 2,500 people through the doors at Easter. And that is exciting. I didn't ask how many services that included, but there is no doubt that big churches do have a special buzz and it is brilliant to see gospel proclaiming churches grow.

Big churches are reassuring. It is comforting to know that evangelical churches can pull a big crowd too. And it "feels" like God is at work and things are really happening.

For some demographics, big church, big services, big events are especially appealing. Youth are one such group.* And as the father of one "youth" (and 3 more getting there) I am very sympathetic indeed.

Special cases aside, are "mega" churches the way forward for mission in greater Sydney? This may be a brave call, but I think not.

First, they give us a false sense of how we are doing in an area. With only a couple of percent of the population in evangelical churches, simple stats say a church of 2 or 3 thousand is drawing from across an area supporting a population of 100,000. It might feel awesome being there - as evidenced by my friend's excitement re Easter - but what about the other 98,000 people?

Second, the hard yards of mission in a post-Christian society need to take place "house-to-house" (in urban combat speak) not via "shock-and-awe". It may be possible for a mega-church to coordinate house-to-house mission across the huge area they draw from. but I reckon (healthy) local churches are more likely to: (1) actually do it (see previous point) and (2) do it more effectively.

Third, we know that people love local community. Regardless that they are not so good at it (see Hard Truth # 7), they love the idea. To them, being part of a local church is much more appealing.

Finally, mega-churches seem to be a bit "on the nose" to unbelievers. In my own area, the outcry against Hillsong's proposed new campus in Rosebery was fierce. From conversations, it is not that people hate Jesus; they just hate heaps of cars and people being bussed in for "rock-concerts" every weekend. I would seriously not like to be inviting neighbours to that (had it gone ahead).

A couple of people have suggested to me that in some places, where little churches are struggling, we ought to close them and put resources into one bigger regional church. I'd not want to dismiss anything without looking at each actually situation carefully. But as a broad concept, this is pretty hopeless isn't it?

It is akin to pulling back sparse troops from the front line, in order to feel good about how many of us there are at the command post. That is no way to win a war.

I appreciate that there certainly are times for regrouping, but it must be with a view to getting back to the front line ASAP. So do we really want to close up buildings (and let them out? Sell them?) in order to work on regional churches for a while, before "re-planting" back where we were before?

At the end of the day, mission will generally be best served by local churches (and local people) engaging with local communities. Exactly what that looks like on the ground will vary of course, and I know there will be exceptions. But by and large, 10 local churches of 100 are a better platform for mission than one church of 1000 - even if being at that one feels fantastic.

Good news is, that is us! We have over 400 centres in communities across Sydney and the Illawarra. We are working on planting more. Let's get on the front foot and make the most of what we have!

* The LOUD event held at the Entertainment Centre as part of Connect09 was a recognition of just this point. Heaps of smaller churches with tiny youth groups benefited enormously from coming together, and around 50 kids made commitments to Christ on the night.