One of Mark Driscoll’s legacies three years ago was a document originating from Tim Keller about the dynamics of church size. The document is available here. Driscoll told of his own experience in a descriptive sense in his ‘Confessions of a Reformission Rev’. Keller’s document attempts to crystallise more generic principles.

In this vein is Gary McIntosh’s ‘One Size Doesn’t Fit All’. Told in the fable style of a pastor from a large church background who finds himself struggling at the helm of a small church, McIntosh gradually builds up a grid of how different factors vary with each church size. Keller’s paper aimed to identify varying dynamics. McIntosh’s book goes to the next stage – thinking about how to lead and manage a church differently to facilitate growth to the next level.

It is not a book that sets out to determine a comprehensive theological foundation for its material. And that said, I felt uncomfortable about its theology assumptions at only a few points. It wasn’t at all difficult to filter its principles through a rigorous theological grid where the Word of God was the foundation of our church meetings.

Yes, it is American. But with 75% of American churches below 150 average weekly attendance, many of its insights are very helpful to our own contexts. Is it possible, for example, that we lack many large churches because our predominant model is that of a small or medium size church?

There are two related insights that I found very powerful. First, the practicalities of how a pastor needs to function differently when operating in churches of different sizes. By this McIntosh is not speaking about the fundamentals such as the teaching of the Word of God, loving people, prayer, or whatever else you would have on a list of fundamentals. He is talking about peripheral issues, such as the method of leadership. But, as my role as Mission Area Leader is teaching me, it is in these areas that so many people struggle and need help.

Secondly, and related, is the thought that often the person who is good and gifted to be the pastor of a church of one size is actually the wrong (oops – wrong word. I mean ‘not optimal’) person to be the pastor of a church of a different size.

Some interesting food for thought.

Banner photo: Ralph Aichinger