Local vrs. Mega Church

[Digging4Truth]

Originally Posted by navygoat1998

If I remember correctly the Assemblies of God when a church is 80 percent of capacity they must start a new work or build a larger building. There is a very large AG church here in Jacksonville that started a new daughter work church in Middleburg for that reason.

That method would grow the overall kingdom faster but this is not always the true end goal of those involved in the decision making process. The cult of personality can often play into this.

[PastorTLArt]

Great points Aquila and Digging!

[Esther]

Different pastors have different gifting in size they can pastor. Not all can pastor even a hundred. Some lots more. Need good leadership skills to pastor a large church.

[Jermyn Davidson]

I don't think there is a such thing as a church that is too large, based on its size alone.

Assemblies of 30,000 can be lead and managed effectively and Assemblies of 50 can be mislead and mismanaged.

My local church is a mega-church. It has its drawbacks and it has its positives too.

[CC1]

Originally Posted by Jermyn Davidson

I don't think there is a such thing as a church that is too large, based on its size alone.

Assemblies of 30,000 can be lead and managed effectively and Assemblies of 50 can be mislead and mismanaged.

My local church is a mega-church. It has its drawbacks and it has its positives too.

At long last a German post I can agree with!

[Aquila]

But we have to ask... since Paul gave us an order to how our gatherings should take place and defined them as a "command from the Lord"... how large can a congregation become before it's unable to allow for the participatory order that Paul established???

To me, that's the deal breaker. I belong to a "network of house churches". Over 70 different regestered house churches are connected through a central "church". We have large meetings wherein the senior pastor preaches, teaches, and casts the vision for the churches. But the network is focused on the house church and the participatory meetings that Paul states are a commandment from the Lord. Our house churches meet far more often than the entire body in one large service. We have a large service on Saturday, two on Sunday mornings, and occasionally one throughout the week if we are focusing on a specific topic. However, most fellowship is done in the house churches. Elders in the house churches conduct baptisms, lead the Lord's Supper, and provide most teaching and mentoring. They also have the authority to enforce church discipline through the house church.

I'm not "against" large buildings or great numbers being members of a church. What I'm concerned with is that so many focus on that large building and the large gatherings... virtually ignoring the participatory model Paul himself admonished the Corinthians to adopt.